The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

Samurai's Garden

Love, Loyalty, and Loss that Transcends Time and Nation:

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama is a tale of bridging cultural divisions, namely those of the historical tensions between Japan and China. It is set right on the cusp of World War II. Over the course of the book, a young Hong Kong student named Stephen recovering from tuberculosis forms a friendship with a number of the local residents while recuperating at his grandfather's house in Tarumi, Japan. He forms a particularly strong bond of respect and devotion with the house's caretaker and gardener Matsu, hence the title of the book: The Samurai's Garden. The book's theme is that friendship proves to be stronger than the cultural tensions between different peoples. Through cultivating love and generosity within the heart, and bestowing unconditional love, regardless of physical appearances of beauty or nationhood, emotional and spiritual healing can be achieved, even in the most unlikely of circumstances, for the most unlikely of people.

Every day I work in the garden with Sachi, I feel stronger" says Stephen of Matsu's old, dear friend Sachi (Tsukiyama 57). As the Chinese student finds strength rebuilding a Japanese garden, even while Japan is at war with China, Tsukiyama suggests that there are no essentially Chinese or Japanese values, only human values, such as the courage shown by Matsu's friend Sachi, which proves instructive to Stephen. Like Stephen, Sachi is wounded by a physical ailment. Stephen's illness is not visible to the world, unlike Sachi's illness Sachi is affected with the disfiguring disease of leprosy. Initially, the illness has seemed to destroy her beauty. When Stephen first meets her, he is shocked at the white puckers on her skin, which she tries to hide with a scarf. People are prejudiced at times against Sachi, and call her appearance monstrous. But Stephen soon can appreciate the extraordinary loveliness of her face that is not destroyed and more importantly the loveliness within her soul, including her love for Matsu. Sachi is still beautiful because Sachi is still capable of helping others, and for that reason she still has and inspires hope. Matsu's care for her is also inspiring to Stephen, as Matsu cares for all wounded people, just as he tends to his garden: "I realized how good she must feel, to live a normal life and not have to hide among the wounded" (Tsukiyama 61-62) Despite his initial discomfort with her appearance, Stephen grows to think that Sachi is beautiful. Like Stephen, Sachi's illness is feared by many because it is contagious -- another reason Stephen has been sent away is not just to recuperate, but because of the fear that he may infect his young sister. Sachi's courage in the face of social exclusion and the love she feels for Matsu inspires Stephen to have courage to rebuild his life, even while the world is falling apart and he struggles with his illness.

By talking to Sachi, Stephen learns more about the complexities of Matsu's character. Matsu is initially a closed and rather taciturn man, but this surface appearance conceals great strength. "I believe Matsu always had inner strength, even as a young boy," says Sachi (Tsukiyama 80). Like Sachi, the gardener has been able to weather adversity while still holding within his heart compassion and love towards others. He is clearly the samurai of the title, and in the garden he tends there is a symbolic representation of his fidelity: "thee bridge represented the samurai's difficult path from this world to the afterlife. When you reach the top of the bridge, you can see your way to paradise...to simply live without fear has been a true paradise" (Tsukiyama 58). Stephen, like Sachi, experiences a sense of freedom from physical pain and shares in a mutual spiritual liberation in the garden in the presence of Matsu. Stephen also gains a new sense of freedom in his painting that he lacked before coming to Japan.