The Samurai's Garden

Stephen writes that the mail is slow; he has received nothing from Kobe or Hong Kong for a long time. Pie’s birthday is next month, so he goes to Tarumi’s general store to find a gift to send her. After having stayed away from town, he again hopes to see Keiko. He finds nothing for Pie at the store so buys some tinned foods to bring back to the house. As he leaves, two old men are speaking about the war. It amazes Stephen that they mention only Japanese victory, and not the incalculable Chinese losses.

Stephen swims for the first time in weeks. The water has grown cold with the deepening of autumn. Back at the house, as Stephen takes a hot outdoor bath, Matsu arrives from the post office with a letter from Stephen’s father and one from King.

King’s letter is over two months old. He tells Stephen of the bombs, blackouts, and rationing in Canton and how they have scared the students at Lingnan away until only a handful are left. A childhood friend of theirs, Vivian Hong, has died in a bombing. He himself will be returning to Hong Kong soon and hopes to see Stephen there. He marvels at writing to Stephen in Japan, the source of so much misery in China. Stephen tries to remember Vivian and cannot. He longs for playing cricket and going to the movies with King back in Hong Kong, feeling that he belongs nowhere.

Ba-Ba’s letter starts out with standard greetings and queries about Stephen’s health. Farther along, Ba-Ba says that he will be taking a short trip from Kobe to Tokyo and asks if Stephen would like to join him.

Stephen responds by letter that he would like to join his father in Tokyo; a telegram from Kobe confirms the trip. Stephen recalls a childhood memory of a trip alone with his father, or perhaps an uncle or a servant. He was fearful in a teeming marketplace and pulled along by a large hand, knowing “only that it was big and warm as it pulled me away from any harm” (197-8).

Matsu and Stephen have visited Sachi in Yamaguchi for Stephen to say goodbye before his trip. Matsu accompanies Stephen into Tarumi for the train to Kobe; from there, Stephen and his father will go to Tokyo for three days. Matsu gives Stephen Fumiko’s phone number and address in case of emergency.

As Stephen rides the train toward Kobe, away from Tarumi for the first time in more than a year, he remembers a childhood trip with his family to Tokyo and wonders what he and Ba-Ba will talk about for three days.

Ba-Ba meets Stephen at the Kobe station, and Stephen carries his father’s valise. Stephen notices that there are more soldiers than there were the year before; they eye him and his father. The two have coffee before boarding the train for Tokyo, and Stephen shows Ba-Ba his arm – he has put on weight and is feeling well.