Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Chapter 7 Summary

Nihonmachi (1942)

  • Henry always looks forward to Saturdays because it's the only day of the week when he gets to hear Sheldon play. He runs out in the morning as soon as possible to watch his friend entertain the crowd and tourists.
  • Things are going pretty great for Sheldon; he even got a gig at the Black Elks Club with a famous musician named Oscar Holden.
  • Sheldon asks Henry about Keiko and teaches him to say "How are you today, beautiful?" in Japanese because he thinks Keiko is Henry's girlfriend. Of course this totally embarrasses Henry.
  • Then Henry walks over to Japantown and starts exploring. When he gets to the park, he spots Keiko and tries out his new Japanese phrase on her—only to discover that she doesn't even speak or understand Japanese. Oops.
  • She shows him her sketchbook and among all the pictures of flowers, crowds, and other things, Henry finds a picture of himself.