Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

The story returns to 1942. After his kiss with Keiko, Henry sneaks into Camp Minidoka and spends the evening in the Okabes’ house. They are thrilled but not too surprised to see him. In the morning Henry tells Keiko that he wants to sneak her out of the camp, and Keiko tells him not to ask her that because if he does, she just might go with him. Over breakfast, Mr. Okabe says that the Japanese internees have been asked to swear loyalty to the United States despite being interned and that many Japanese will be joining the US Army. Mr. Okabe himself is considering it. They also tell Henry that although conditions are better here than at Camp Harmony, they are still very much aware that they are prisoners. One internee was killed for trying to stop a construction truck.

During their conversation, Henry becomes embarrassed that he has done things out of order and asks for permission to court Keiko. Mr. Okabe laughs and says he has already given his full permission, as evidenced by the fact that Henry spent the night on their floor.

Henry spends the day with Keiko. They agree to write to each other and wait for each other until the war is over. Henry finds himself suddenly thinking and talking not as a boy but as a man who has someone to provide for. They kiss again and confess love for each other, and Henry leaves.

Henry returns home to a darkened, silent house. In his bedroom he finds an expensive suit laid out on his bed with a ticket for a boat to China in the pocket. Henry’s mother tells him his father now believes it is safe for Henry to begin his education in China. The plan is for Henry to leave within a week and be gone for three or four years. Henry compromises: He will go to China when the war is over and Keiko has returned safely.

Over the next year Henry writes to Keiko every week, but there are long gaps of time between her responses. At the post office, he often talks with the clerk, a young Chinese girl who admires Henry’s faithfulness to his girlfriend. In the meantime, Sheldon urges him not to give up hope. This becomes increasingly difficult, however, as Keiko’s letters come slowly and the distance between them seems to grow even greater.

For the first time in years, Henry runs into Chaz Preston, who tells him that his father is planning to buy the old Panama Hotel. Letters from Keiko have slowed, and Henry has taken a part-time job at a restaurant to help support his family. He tells his father, who still has not spoken to him since Henry’s betrayal years earlier, that Mr. Preston plans to buy the Panama Hotel. When his father smiles in response, Henry knows that plans have indeed been made for the sale of the hotel.

After some consideration, Henry approaches his father again. He says he’ll go to China to study on one condition: that his father uses his influence within the International District to stop the sale of the Panama Hotel. Henry’s father agrees, and the next day Henry writes to Keiko, telling her to meet him that March in front of the Panama Hotel. It has been a long time since he has heard from her, and he figures that by March she will have been released from the internment camp or that she will have time to write and explain why she can’t come.

On the arranged date, Henry waits for Keiko at the Panama Hotel. Instead, someone else arrives to meet him: the young girl from the post office who has been posting Henry’s letters since Keiko moved to Camp Minidoka. She is carrying the letter Henry mailed to Keiko, which has been marked “returned.” For the first time, Henry notices her not just as an employee but as a person—a beautiful Chinese girl. She hands him some starfire lilies, the kind Henry buys for his mother, and tells him her name—Ethel Chen.

By V-J Day, Henry and Ethel have been dating for five months. Henry’s parents and Ethel’s parents both approve of the relationship. Henry still plans to travel to China to complete his studies, but now it is Ethel who will be waiting. Amid the hectic celebration of the end of the war with Japan, Henry impulsively asks Ethel to marry him, and she accepts. Then, in the middle of the crowd, he spots a young Japanese woman who may have been Keiko. When he looks again, she is gone.

When he returns home, Henry again finds the doctor in their apartment. Henry’s father does not have long to live. His father’s dying words to him are, “I did it for you” (263). Henry suddenly understands that what his father did was to end his relationship with Keiko—by intercepting his letters to her and her letters to him at the local post office. His father also arranged for him to become close to Ethel, though Henry is not sure if Ethel was a willing partner in the conspiracy. Her love for him seems pure, and Henry decides that he cannot break off his relationship with her—a decision that feels both bitter and sweet at the same time.