At six-and-a-half feet tall, Inudo seems like the ideal Japanese American. He is good at basketball, honors his parents, got all A’s at Harvard, and makes Japanese girls swoon. He is all-American, bothered by other Japanese Americans calling Japan their “homeland,” but he wants them to remember the cruelty of internment camps. Inudo’s mother, however, is disappointed in her son, who has yet to become a senator despite having graduated from Harvard a year ago. Older family members tell her that his academically rigorous life has led to an early “retirement.” When he begins dating and living with a white woman named Jane, Mrs. Inudo becomes even more disappointed. 

Inudo gets a job as a security guard for the Taiwanese trade office in San Jose, where he learns how America has abandoned Taiwan. He begins to work with Taiwanese Americans to gain attention for their cause. He decides to call Washington directly to speak with Senator Hirahimo, who promises to see what he can do. Huey “Bo” Huang, touched, begins to cry. 

Inudo and Bo then fly to Washington to speak with the senator; Jane also joins, as she is a journalist and wants the story. Inudo and Bo speak to a crowd, urging them to support mutual defense pacts across Asia, and the crowd applauds. Upon returning home, Inudo continues to write letters to Washington, and his mother yearns to see her son in Congress. 

Inudo continues to work with Bo and decides he wants to develop policy for small island republics aside from Taiwan as well. Jane tries to be patient with Inudo’s big dreams but then cheats on him with Bo, which Inudo realizes but ignores. He eventually stops eating meals with her and stops telling her where he goes when he leaves their apartment. He begins to stop working, and news ultimately breaks in the Washington Post that Inudo has organized for a Disneyland to be built in Taiwan, which will protect the country from outside interference. Jane interviews Inudo before they say their goodbyes, and Inudo’s mother continues to yearn for him to be a senator.