The play is a comedy concerning racial prejudice involving Mrs. Jacoby, a Jewish widow from Brooklyn, New York and Koichi Asano, a millionaire widower from Tokyo. Mrs. Jacoby is sailing to Japan with her daughter and foreign service officer son-in-law who is being posted to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. She still considers the country the enemy responsible for the death of her son during World War II, but her feelings change when she meets Mr. Asano on board the ship. When she advises her family of Mr. Asano's desire to court her, Mrs. Jacoby's daughter, whose loyalty is to her mother rather than her husband, objects to the possibility of an interracial marriage.
Awards and nominations
Tony Award for Best Actor in Play (Cedric Hardwicke, nominee)
Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (Gertrude Berg, winner)
Tony Award for Best Scenic Design (Donald Oenslager, winner)
Tony Award for Best Direction (Dore Schary, nominee)