The Samurai's Garden

Matsu tells Stephen that there was trouble the day before, explaining that Kenzo brought a letter for Matsu to deliver to Sachi in Yamaguchi. Kenzo was shocked to see her. She invited him in for tea. Stephen admits that he knows about the scuffle. Matsu explains that Kenzo and Sachi were once engaged and that he was and has been their go-between; Kenzo’s shame at abandoning her when she became ill was too great, and he never visited her. Matsu has never admitted his feelings for Sachi to Kenzo. Matsu says that Sachi will never return. Stephen offers to speak with her. “I will not have Sachi hurt anymore” (70), says Matsu.

Stephen tries to paint. Matsu works in the garden. Both feel the emptiness left by Sachi’s departure. Stephen decides to visit Sachi in secret; he wakes before Matsu and leaves a note, saying he has gone for a walk.

When Stephen arrives at Sachi’s house, she is happy to see him. He lies, saying that he is concerned that she might be ill. She invites him in and brings tea. She tells Stephen that her presence in Tarumi has dishonored everyone, that Kenzo is convinced that she and Matsu have been deceiving him for many years. Impulsively, Stephen touches Sachi’s scars. He tells her that Matsu needs her. She responds by exposing her whole face, which is more scarred than Stephen realized: “Does Matsu need this?” (76), Sachi asks. Stephen finds her even more beautiful than before and answers yes.

Sachi leads Stephen to her garden. She works on the stones, changing their patterns, her face uncovered. Stephen thinks of Mah-mee, feels her pain, and resolves to write to her when he returns to Tarumi. He begins working on the stones with Sachi. Referring to Matsu’s idea that she make the garden, Sachi says that she had always thought it would be Kenzo, not Matsu, who saved her. But, she reveals, when Tomoko took her life by seppuku because her great beauty was threatened by leprosy, Matsu’s kind, respectful silence – rather than Kenzo’s more outgoing, popular personality – helped Sachi to recover from her friend’s death. They became friends, and Matsu gave her Tomoko’s lucky stones after the funeral. Matsu did, in fact, have dreams of moving away from Tarumi, but because of Sachi, he never left.

Stephen admits he has lied to Matsu about visiting Sachi. She tells him that he may visit again, with Matsu’s knowledge.

Matsu is working in the garden when Stephen arrives. Stephen confesses to his trip to see Sachi. Matsu is pleased that she is all right. He informs Stephen that his father has come.

Stephen’s father is waiting in the study, which has become Stephen’s painting studio. His business suit and fedora seem out of place among the painting supplies. He is pleased with Stephen’s health and his artistic progress. He tells Stephen that he knows about his mother’s letter and that a Japanese woman would never do such a thing. Stephen snaps back that perhaps a Japanese woman would not be so aware of what her husband was doing.

Stephen’s father reveals that he has been seeing a woman, Yoshiko, for twelve years and that Stephen’s mother was never to have known, but that with the war, money has become tight. Stephen is shocked: this is a long-term affair, not a fling. Stephen’s father assures him that he loves them all, and that he is here not to apologize but to explain that he has always weighed his decisions carefully. He says that there will be no divorce, that nothing will change. For Stephen, his father’s integrity has eroded. 

Stephen and his father discuss the war. The troops are moving toward Canton. Stephen considers his father’s dual life in Japan and China and knows that when his father must choose, his choice will be China. Stephen juxtaposes his own relationships with Matsu and Sachi against the savagery of the Japanese army. He wonders if he must soon return to Hong Kong. His father invites him to Kobe for the holidays; Stephen is noncommittal.

When Stephen wakes the next morning, his father has already left for Kobe. He feels that he has failed both of his parents: he has not been able to accept his father’s mistress as his father wishes, and he has not convinced his father to leave Yoshiko for his mother.

Matsu asks if Stephen would like to visit Tama, a Shinto shrine, later in the day. Stephen’s family is not religious; he attended Catholic school when younger but doesn’t identify strongly with any belief. Stephen says yes and begins a letter to Mah-mee.

The letter focuses on Stephen’s father’s visit and the upcoming holidays. He tells his mother that his father’s bank account withdrawals were to help a friend with her business. He hates the lie and having to tell it. He asks after Pie.

As Matsu and Stephen walk through town toward the mountain shrine, they pass Kenzo’s teahouse tensely. No one emerges. At the shrine, they move through three red torii gates and purify themselves with water before entering. Inside the shrine, surrounded by incense smoke and prayers written on white slips of paper, is a stone table with a wooden box containing the fox deity Inari. Matsu prays and makes an offering. He shows Stephen how to pray, clapping three times and pulling on a rope. Stephen does not know whom or what to pray for, so he prays simply for “all of us” (90).

Stephen and Matsu eat lunch outdoors. Matsu admits that he thought the shrine visit would be good for Stephen. Upset, Stephen asks if Matsu knew about his father’s affair. Matsu says that he does not concern himself with Stephen’s father’s private life. Stephen snaps at Matsu, then apologizes. Matsu says he knows that it was “the anger speaking, not the man,” that Stephen’s new knowledge doesn’t change how his father feels about him, and that it is “sad to think that sometimes one person’s happiness must come at the expense of others” (91).

Stephen asks if Matsu came to pray for Kenzo, and Matsu says no, that their friendship will have to rely on its history. Stephen thinks of his parents and wonders if he might be able to change the future for them.