The Samurai's Garden

“I wanted to find my own way, so this morning I persuaded my father to let me travel alone from his apartment in Kobe to my grandfather’s beach house in Tarumi.” 

Stephen does indeed want to find his own way. Here he points to the actual trip between Kobe and Tarumi (his father’s home and the one that will become Stephen’s for a year). But he also hints at the natural separation that must occur between a boy and his father as that boy becomes a man. 

“Stepping through the bamboo gate, I found myself in the garden. The sweet perfumes were immediately intoxicating. A silk tree, still heavy with summer blossoms, and two large black pine trees shaded the house. An oval-shaped pond, with hints of movement that flashed orange and silver beneath its surface, dominated one side of the garden. It was surrounded by pale green moss. A wooden bridge arched across its width, and lines of odd-shaped, waterworn stones created two paths, one leading through the secluded garden right up to the front door, while the other disappeared around the back of the house. White sand formed soft beds in the crevices.” 

This is Stephen’s first moment in the samurai’s garden, rich in image and metaphor. He will live and work there; paint there; begin to fall in love there; witness the relationships between Matsu, Sachi, and Kenzo there; and finally leave there having re-created it on canvas and gifted it to Matsu, its creator.

“With each stroke against the salty water, I felt a new surge of energy travel through my body. I swam back and forth, my arms thrusting forward with each stroke as I disrupted the calm of the sea with my furious motions. The coolness of the water felt good against my body. As I relaxed, a sense of freedom emerged which had been buried under my illness.”

Stephen swims frequently at the beach in Tarumi. This ritual heals both his body and his mind. He finds freedom in the water and emerges from his illness into his new life. It is on the beach that he first meets Keiko; often, it is there that he reflects on his experiences among the people living beyond the dunes.