My friend Kaori teaches first grade in Misawa, a small city in northern Japan. There's an American air base right next door. Last month, she gave her class of six-year-olds one assignment. "Draw a hero." She expected Superman. Eleven kids drew Americans they had seen at the supermarket. She sent me the photos. Here are seven, with their explanations, translated as exactly as I could. 1. [A giant man. One kid on his shoulders, one under his arm, a cooler, a folding chair, and two bags.] "American dads can carry everything. My dad carries the umbrella." — Haruki, 6 (Teacher's note: Haruki's father has asked to see this drawing. We have decided he does not need to.) 2. [A woman with grocery bags up to both shoulders. One bag is in her teeth.] "Americans never go back to the car twice. It is against their law. My mom goes twice. I still love her." — Mei, 6 3. [A boy falling off the monkey bars. A huge speech bubble.] "He yelled 'I'M OKAY!' before he hit the ground. I fell off last week and yelled 'I'M OKAY!' I was not okay. But I felt better." — Yamato, 6 4. [A woman waving at a stranger's baby. The baby is laughing so hard it is drawn in a circle.] "Americans say hi to every baby. Even babies they don't know. The babies always laugh. I think babies speak English." — Kokona, 6 5. [A dad in a Hawaiian shirt dancing. His arms and legs point in every direction. His daughter is covering her face.] "She said, 'Daddy, stop.' He did not stop. He was not embarrassed at all. He is the bravest man I have ever seen." — Taiga, 7 (Teacher's note: Taiga has started practicing this dance at home. His father has asked us to make him stop. We have not.) 6. [A man standing very straight. His ice cream is melting all the way down his arm.] "At the base festival, music played at 5 o'clock, and every American stopped. Even this man. His ice cream was melting. He did not move. I don't know why. But I think it was something important." — Souma, 6 (Teacher's note: It's called Retreat. The flag comes down, and everyone stops. I didn't know. I looked it up at my desk and cried a little.) 7. The last one is from Sakura. She's the quietest girl in the class. She didn't say a word the whole hour. She pressed so hard with the blue crayon that the paper tore. [A man with no cape. Soaking wet. Holding his jacket over an old woman.] Last winter, Sakura's grandmother slipped in the supermarket parking lot. Freezing rain. Groceries everywhere. People looked away. In Japan, that's how we're polite. Then a young American came running across the lot. He knelt in the puddle. He put his jacket around her. He picked up every egg, even the broken ones. Then he followed their car all the way home, to make sure she got inside. He never said his name. Sakura only remembers what he said. "You're okay, ma'am. I got you." Her grandmother still has the jacket. Inside the collar, in marker: MILLER. She washed it. Ironed it. Took it to the base gate three times. He had already left Japan. So it hangs by her front door. Every morning on her way out, she bows to it. Under the drawing, in pencil, Sakura wrote: "Superman can fly. This man was all wet. I think the real ones get wet." Kaori put all eleven on the wall. Superman went to the hallway. America, you think your heroes are on TV. A class of six-year-olds in Japan just told you they're in the parking lot. Carrying too much. Dancing badly. Standing still while the ice cream melts. Getting wet. You never wore a cape. Our kids noticed anyway.