As World War II ends, Kaede, beautiful daughter of Japanese immigrants, is about to graduate from the University of So Paulo, Brazil as the universitys first Asian valedictorian. As a leader in a movement to replace the countrys wartime autocracy with a popular democracy, Kaede is opposed by powerful political interests. Will she and the democratic movement survive?

Further complicating Kaedes life are three determined suitors: Roberto, fellow graduate and democratic party leader; Senor Salles, plantation owner who is part of the governing elite; and Masaru, childhood friend who, unbeknown to Kaede, heads a secret society of Japanese immigrants engaged in persecution of fellow immigrants considered disloyal to their ancestors. To whom shall Kaede go?