Snow Falling on Cedars

Hooks asks Etta about a visit she received from Kabuo in 1945 after he returned from war. Kabuo was attempting to obtain the seven acres, insisting his father was only one payment from outright ownership and that it was wrong of Etta to sell the land. Etta remained firm that she repossessed the land just as a bank would and sent the Miyamoto family the equity they had earned from the sale. Etta tells Hooks that both she and her son felt Kabuo gave them threatening glances whenever either of them saw him from then on. She claims her son remained cautious around Kabuo.

Ole Jurgensen—the farmer to whom Etta sold the land—testifies next. He insists that Kabuo had no legal claim to the seven acres when Jurgensen purchased it from Etta. Jurgensen adds that when he spoke with Kabuo about this in 1945, Kabuo went away angrily, vowing to get his land back. When Jorgensen had a stroke, he decided to sell his farm. Carl Heine approached him about buying it, and Jorgensen accepted a down payment on September 7, months before the trial. Soon after, Kabuo arrived, asking to purchase the land, which had been advertised for sale.