A member of the Nazi Party living in Japan named Wolfgang Kaufmann is ordered to find the documents. He expects his son, Japanese-German Adolf Kaufmann, to become a strong supporter of Adolf Hitler and the German Reich. However, Adolf Kaufmann is reluctant to follow his father's wishes, as his best friend Adolf Kamil is the son of German Jews. Wolfgang dies after complications regarding a search for the aforementioned document: with his dying breath, he forces Adolf Kaufmann (hereafter referred to as Kauffman) to go to Germany in order to join the Hitler Youth. While at the Hitler Youth academy, Kaufmann sees Kamil's father brought to execution after he comes to Europe to try and bring Jews to Japan through Shanghai. Kaufmann is forced to execute Kamil's father with a pistol as a loyalty test. As Kaufmann becomes more and more indoctrinated, in contrast his mother Yukie becomes more distant from her late husband's German ties. A test to Kaufmann's loyalty to the Reich comes when he falls in love with a German Jewish-Chinese girl, Eliza. He successfully smuggles her to his friend Kamil in Japan, but is unable to get her family to go. The Imperial Army invades China and begins the Second Sino-Japanese War, ushering in a period of fevered militarism and paranoia in Japan. During this time, Kamil becomes the confidant of one of his teachers, Ms. Ogi, who is involved in the Japanese anti-war movement.