This study examines lessons on KoreaJapan relations treaties designed and implemented by two pre-service elementary teachers, J and L, from a narrative theory perspective. Conceptualizing lesson design and enactment as a narrative practice of emplotting historical events, it explores the meanings constructed in these lessons and considers how the history of KoreaJapan relations might be taught in elementary classrooms. Using Paul Ricoeur’s theory of mimesis-specifically configuration (Mimesis II)as its analytical framework, the study analyzes the lesson narratives of these preservice teachers, who sought to embody the curriculum-excluded narrative of “treaty conclusion, colonial rule, and post-liberation diplomatic restoration.” Although encountering the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea and the Claims Agreement for the first time, they emplotted multiple factors within their distinct thematic orientations rather than merely listing historical events. Consequently, J constructed a reflective narrative centered on self-discovery, whereas L developed a praxis-oriented strategic narrative aimed at overcoming structural constraints. The findings suggest three implications. First, emplotting a coherent and theme-driven lesson requires narrative competence that weaves historical knowledge into pedagogically meaningful form. Second, historical internalization and externalization must interact to foster historical agency and identity. Third, lesson construction and interpretation require a cyclical process of writing and reading mimesis encompassing prefigured contexts (Mimesis I), configured narratives (Mimesis II), and students’ meaning-making (Mimesis III).