Shizuku is a book-mad schoolgirl working on a Japanese translation of the lyrics to John Denver's 'Take Me Home Country Roads'. At the start of the movie she notices that every book she borrows from the library has already been booked out to someone called Seiji. On the bus to the library one day she notices a cat riding the bus alone. When it gets off at her stop she follows it to an antique shop, where she meets the owner and his grandson Seiji, the person who had been borrowing the library books. Seiji is an aspiring violin maker and wants to go to Italy to pursue his craft. Just as Shizuku starts to fall for him he gets his wish and moves to Italy, but Shizuku takes Seiji's dedication as the inspiration to write her first novel. As subject matter she chooses the adventures of 'The Baron' - a statue in the antique shop, of a top-hat wearing cat.