Cio-Cio-San, the young Japanese bride of dashing American officer Lieutenant Pinkerton, discovers that her romantic paradise has been shattered when he abandons her shortly after their marriage. She lives in the hope that he will return one day. Cio-Cio-San and her young boy saw Pinkerton's ship in the harbour three years later. She eagerly awaits his arrival–but Pinkerton and his American wife Kate are simply coming to take the boy and nurture him in America. Cio-Cio-San says her final goodbyes to her son and then commits suicide.