Ichiro Yamada struggles after the end of World War II. As a Japanese American, he is viewed in a poor light by many people. He lives in a Japanese community in Washington. He spent two years in a Japanese internment camp (a US government program to round up Japanese people during the war). Then, when the same government tried to deploy him to fight for the US in Europe, he denied it, and spent two years in prison.
Now he is out, but he can't seem to connect. He is somewhat Americanized, so he feels distant from his family. He is certainly too Japanese for the Americans, and now he worries he is too American for his own Japanese community. He is often insulted by his community for dodging his draft to serve in WWII, but we learn that he is not completely alone. He has Kenji.
Kenji actually did fight for the US in Germany, and though he sustained serious injury, he doesn't hate Ichiro for dodging the draft. He introduces him to a girl who may or may not be single, depending on whether her husband comes back from war. He re-enlisted to stay in Germany, so she thinks he will not come back. Ichiro ends the novel by continuing his life with these two friendships to help him along the way.
