<P> In 1904, a U.S. naval officer named Pinkerton rents a house on a hill in Nagasaki, Japan, for himself and his soon - to - be wife, "Butterfly". Her real name is Ciocio - san (cio - cio, pronounced "chocho" (t͡ʃoːt͡ʃoː), the Japanese word for "butterfly" (蝶々, chōchō); san is a plain honorific). She is a 15 - year - old Japanese girl whom he is marrying for convenience, since he intends to leave her once he finds a proper American wife, since Japanese divorce laws are very lax . The wedding is to take place at the house . Butterfly had been so excited to marry an American that she had earlier secretly converted to Christianity . After the wedding ceremony, her uninvited uncle, a bonze, who has found out about her conversion, comes to the house, curses her and orders all the guests to leave, which they do while renouncing her . Pinkerton and Butterfly sing a love duet and prepare to spend their first night together . </P> <P> Three years later, Butterfly is still waiting for Pinkerton to return, as he had left shortly after their wedding . Her maid Suzuki keeps trying to convince her that he is not coming back, but Butterfly will not listen to her . Goro, the marriage broker who arranged her marriage, keeps trying to marry her off again, but she does not listen to him either . The American consul, Sharpless, comes to the house with a letter which he has received from Pinkerton which asks him to break some news to Butterfly: that Pinkerton is coming back to Japan, but Sharpless cannot bring himself to finish it because Butterfly becomes very excited to hear that Pinkerton is coming back . Sharpless asks Butterfly what she would do if Pinkerton were not to return . She then reveals that she gave birth to Pinkerton's son after he had left and asks Sharpless to tell him . </P> <P> From the hill house, Butterfly sees Pinkerton's ship arriving in the harbour . She and Suzuki prepare for his arrival, and then they wait . Suzuki and the child fall asleep, but Butterfly stays up all night waiting for him to arrive . </P> <P> Suzuki wakes up in the morning and Butterfly finally falls asleep . Sharpless and Pinkerton arrive at the house, along with Pinkerton's new American wife, Kate . They have come because Kate has agreed to raise the child . But, as Pinkerton sees how Butterfly has decorated the house for his return, he realizes he has made a huge mistake . He admits that he is a coward and cannot face her, leaving Suzuki, Sharpless and Kate to break the news to Butterfly . Agreeing to give up her child if Pinkerton comes himself to see her, she then prays to statues of her ancestral gods, says goodbye to her son, and blindfolds him . She places a small American flag in his hands and goes behind a screen, cutting her throat with her father's hara - kiri knife . Pinkerton rushes in, but he is too late, and Butterfly dies . </P>

In her aria un bel di from madame butterfly cio-cio-san sings of