The story is set in Japan, beginning in the early 1990s up until the present day (2008), with each act centered on a boy named Takaki Tōno.

On their last evening of summer vacation in 1962, high school graduates Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander meet their friends, confident drag-racing king John Milner and unpopular but well-meaning Terry "The Toad" Fields, at Mel's Drive-In in Modesto, California. Set to travel " Back East " with Steve in the morning to start college, Curt has second thoughts about leaving. Laurie, Steve's girlfriend and Curt's sister, is hurt when Steve suggests they see other people while he is away to "strengthen" their relationship. En route to the high school sock hop, Curt sees a beautiful blonde woman driving a white Ford Thunderbird who mouths "I love you", leading him to desperately search for her throughout the night. Leaving the dance, he is coerced into joining a group of greasers called "the Pharaohs" in stealing coins from arcade machines and hooking a chain to a police car, ripping out its back axle. During a tense ride, the Pharaoh leader tells Curt that the blonde is a prostitute, which he does not believe. Allowed to take care of Steve's car while he is at college, Terry cruises around the strip and picks up the rebellious Debbie. Telling her he is known as "Terry the Tiger", he spends the night trying to impress her, lying about the car and purchasing alcohol with no ID. The car is stolen while they share a romantic interlude and later, after the alcohol has made Terry violently sick, he attempts to steal it back. The thieves beat on Terry until John shows up and fends off the attackers. Terry eventually admits the truth to Debbie and reveals he rides a Vespa scooter; she suggests it is "almost a motorcycle" and says she had fun, agreeing to meet up with him again. Seeking cruising company, John inadvertently picks up Carol, a precocious 12-year-old who manipulates him into driving her around all night. He lies to suspicious friends that she is a cousin he is stuck babysitting, and they have a series of petty arguments until another car's young male occupants harass her as she attempts to walk home alone, and John decides to protect her. The racer, Bob Falfa, wants to compete for John's drag-racing crown. During his night of challenging anyone he comes across, Bob picks up an emotional Laurie after a long-brewing argument with Steve. Leaving the Pharaohs, Curt drives to the radio station to ask the omnipresent disc jockey " Wolfman Jack " to read a message on the air for the blonde. A station employee tells him the Wolfman does not work there and the shows are taped, claiming the Wolfman "is everywhere". He says the Wolfman would advise Curt to "get your ass in gear" and see the world but promises to have the Wolfman air the request. As Curt leaves, he realizes the employee is the Wolfman, who reads the message to the blonde asking her to call Curt at the Mel's Drive-In payphone. After taking Carol home, John is goaded by Bob into drag racing along Paradise Road outside the city with a crowd of spectators. Terry starts the race and John takes the lead but Bob's tire blows out, causing his car to swerve into a ditch and roll over before bursting into flames. Steve rushes to the wreck as Laurie and Bob crawl out before the car explodes. While John helps his rival to safety, Laurie begs Steve not to leave her and he assures her that he will stay with her in Modesto. An exhausted Curt is awakened by the payphone and finally speaks to the mysterious blonde, who hints at the possibility of meeting the following night, but Curt replies that he is leaving town. In the morning at the airfield, he says goodbye to his parents and friends; after takeoff, he sees the white Thunderbird driving along the road below, and gazes thoughtfully into the sky. An epilogue reveals the four male friends' fates: in 1964, John was killed by a drunk driver; in 1965, Terry was reported missing in action near An Lộc, South Vietnam; Steve is an insurance agent in Modesto, and Curt is a writer living in Canada.

The emotional story of a boy, his grandfather, and his dog. The boy's dream of becoming a great classical painter appears shattered when his loving grandfather dies.

On June 17, 1972, Frank Wills, a security guard at the Watergate complex finds a door's bolt taped over to prevent it from locking. He calls the police, who find and arrest five burglars in the Democratic National Committee headquarters within the complex. The next morning, The Washington Post assigns new reporter Bob Woodward to the local courthouse to cover the story, which is considered of minor importance. Woodward learns that the five men — James W. McCord Jr. and four Cuban-Americans from Miami—possessed electronic bugging equipment, and are represented by a high-priced "country club" attorney. At the arraignment, McCord identifies himself in court as having recently left the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the others are also revealed to have CIA ties. Woodward connects the burglars to E. Howard Hunt, an employee of President Richard Nixon 's White House Counsel Charles Colson, and formerly of the CIA. Carl Bernstein, another Post reporter, is assigned to cover the Watergate story with Woodward. The two young men are reluctant partners but work well together. Executive editor Benjamin Bradlee believes that their work lacks reliable sources and is not worthy of the Post' s front page, but he encourages further investigation. Woodward contacts a senior government official, an anonymous source he has used before and refers to as " Deep Throat ". Communicating secretly, using a flag placed in a balcony flowerpot to signal meetings, they meet at night in an underground parking garage. Deep Throat speaks vaguely and with metaphors, avoiding substantial facts about the Watergate break-in, but promises to keep Woodward on the right path to the truth, advising Woodward to " follow the money ". Woodward and Bernstein connect the five burglars to corrupt activities involving campaign contributions to Nixon's Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP or CREEP). This includes a check for $25,000 paid by Kenneth H. Dahlberg, who Miami authorities identified when investigating the Miami-based burglars. However, Bradlee and others at the Post still doubt the investigation and its dependence on sources such as Deep Throat, wondering why the Nixon administration should break the law when the president is almost certain to defeat his opponent, Democratic nominee George McGovern. Through former CREEP treasurer Hugh W. Sloan Jr., Woodward and Bernstein connect a slush fund of hundreds of thousands of dollars to White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman —"the second most important man in this country"—and to former attorney general John N. Mitchell, now head of CREEP. They learn that CREEP was financing a " ratfucking " campaign to sabotage Democratic presidential candidates a year before the Watergate burglary, when Nixon was lagging Edmund Muskie in the polls. While Bradlee's demand for thoroughness compels the reporters to obtain other sources to confirm the Haldeman connection, the White House issues a non-denial denial of the Post' s above-the-fold story. Bradlee continues to encourage investigation. Woodward again meets secretly with Deep Throat and demands that he be less evasive. Very reluctantly, Deep Throat reveals that Haldeman masterminded the Watergate break-in and cover-up. He also states the cover-up was not only intended to camouflage the CREEP involvement, but also to hide "covert operations" involving "the entire U.S. intelligence community", including the CIA and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He warns Woodward and Bernstein that their lives, and those of others, are in danger. When the two relay this information to Bradlee and tell him of the depth of the conspiracy, Bradlee realizes that a constitutional crisis is coming, but tells them to move forward with the story. During the second inauguration of Richard Nixon on January 20, 1973, Bernstein and Woodward type the full story, while a television in the newsroom shows Nixon taking the oath of office for his second term as president. A montage of Watergate-related teletype headlines from the following years is shown, ending with the report of Nixon's resignation and the inauguration of Gerald Ford on August 9, 1974.