A compulsive book thief meets his match when a young woman pretending to be a bookstore clerk catches him in the act. A strange relationship ensues, in which the two challenge each other to undertake increasingly risky thefts. A seemingly omniscient bookstore owner takes them under his wing and has the young pair explore a series of absurdist performances as an alternative to physical love. Shot on real locations in Tokyo's Shinjuku district and incorporating footage from actual street protests, Diary of a Shinjuku Thief paints a vivid portrait of Japan's 1960s counterculture, with Oshima bringing together leading figures from the movement to concoct a radical mix of Godardian free-form cinema, underground theatre and documentary.