Henry Lee is the protagonist of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Henry is first introduced as an older man, but the book jumps back in forth between his childhood memories and his adult life. As a young Chinese American boy growing up is Seattle during World War II, Henry faces much racism and bullying. Henry becomes friends with a Japanese American girl named Keiko, who he eventually falls in love with, and who he decides to track down decades later. Henry is very loyal, and he sticks to the people he loves.
Keiko Okabe is Henry’s Japanese-American friend. Despite the racism and hate she faces, she is brave and stands up for what she believes in, she saves her family's photo album; she defends Henry when his peers bully him;