Tokyo is known as one of the most orderly cities in the world. But 72 years ago, when World War 2 had just ended, it was a lawless place where people were driven by necessity and greed. To shed light on Tokyo in year zero - the 12 months that followed the end of the war - NHK analyzed more than 100,000 pages of declassified CIA documents and studied dozens of hours of newly discovered footage shot by the American occupation forces and private individuals. Those pictures show Tokyo like a black hole that swallowed people, materials, and money. In this film a young Japanese man, Takeshi from the 21st century, travels back in time to Tokyo in 1945. Cutting-edge videocompositing techniques place the actor within the images in old film footage, giving viewers an immersive, vicarious experience. Takeshi first experiences the black market that had sprung up in the ruined city. People dive into illicit businesses in order to survive. Many women can only feed their families by working as prostitutes. Street urchins, who work for Yakuza gangs, are rounded up by officials. A hundred people starve to death each month. Meanwhile, the families of the occupation forces live in luxury. And a cache of gold bars is pulled from Tokyo Bay... The film reveals how the desperate people of a ruined city laid the foundations of the Japanese capital of today.