Mitsuko, a schoolgirl, defends her half‑Chinese transfer student friend Yu‑Lian from bullies. That evening she discovers Emily, an old American doll that had been given to a Japanese child during a 1921 exchange program. To escape the anti‑Western “doll burnings” of the war period, the doll was hidden and later rescued by a courageous young girl, Mitsuko’s grandmother. The next day, at show‑and‑tell, Mitsuko tells the story of Emily and encourages Yu‑Lian.