Overcoming Isolation in The Samurai's Garden, by Gail Tsukiyama

The Samurai’s Tale by Erik Christian Haugaard is about a boy named Taro, the protagonist in the story. The major characters in the story are Taro, Yoshitoki, Lord Takeda Katsuyori, Lord Akiyama Nobutomo, and Togan. The setting of the story is in Japan, in around the 16th century. In the beginning of the story he was presented as a gift by the great Lord Takeda Shingen to Lord Akiyama after his parents had been killed. By using his wits and suppressing his fierce pride, Taro slowly escalates the ranks of his lord’s household until he achieves his greatest goal—becoming a samurai like his father and Lord Akiyama, whom he has come to admire. The life of a samurai is not so easy, Taro finds himself sacrificing opportunities of love and friendship

Throughout life, we all go through hardships and things we think that we’ll never be able to overcome. More often than not, the cause of such feelings stem from our home and personal lives. For example, in Gail Tsukiyama’s The Samurai’s Garden, Sachi developed leprosy, a terrible disease that left white rashes all over and was believed to be contagious, and was no longer capable of living a normal life with her family. Her fiance, Kenzo, was greatly upset and as Sachi remembered, he “backed away from me and walked out” (Tsukiyama 136). In Japanese culture, it is expected for a person in a situation like Sachi commit an honorable suicide, also known as seppuku. Seppuku takes all of the shame and guilt that was brought down on a person and

The Japanese warrior, known as the samurai, has played a significant role in Japan's history and culture throughout the centuries. Their ancestors can be traced back to as far as can be remembered. Some stories have become mysterious legends handed down over the centuries. In this report you will learn who the samurai were, their origins as we know them, how they lived and fought and their evolution to today. It will be clear why the samurai stand out as one of the most famous group of warriors of all times.

The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama tells the story of a young man who is sent away from his friends and family to a small village in Japan, in the attempt to get better from his illness. Through his self isolation, Stephen is able to learn from the two elderly people he meets there, and slowly comes to accept himself for who is he, regardless of what other people thought. Through the use of internal and external conflict in The Samurai’s Garden, Gail Tsukiyama uses Stephen’s character, specifically through his interactions with Matsu and Sachi, to convey the message that sometimes one will need to leave what they are comfortable with, and place themselves into isolation in the attempt to rediscover who they are while still knowing that

The samurai were the feudal warriors of ancient Japan. For thousands of years they upheld the code of bushido, the way of the warrior. Samurai were around for thousands of years, but when did they disappear? Does the code of bushido still exist to this day? Exploring the history of the samurai will give an explanation to what has happened to these formidable warriors.

In this day and age, people tend to avoid being different. Fitting in with the status quo when it comes to physical attractiveness is considered the proper thing to do, yet in The Samurai’s Garden, the characters show their beauty in a unique way. Due to their circumstances, Sachi, a once beautiful member of a leper colony, Stephen, a young Chinese student diagnosed with tuberculosis and Matsu, a quiet man who chooses to live in near seclusion, are all regarded as outcasts. However, these challenges give them a chance to grow and mature into truly beautiful people, especially on the inside. Through unveiling Matsu and Sachi’s distinct personalities, Stephen discovers another dimension to beauty; through this, Tsukiyama conveys that the most

The Samurai’s Garden, written by Gail Tsukiyama, incorporates the various aspect of myth throughout the plot, from how the Japanese worship to the rituals they perform. Stephan-san, a young Chinese man, when he first arrived in Tarumi Japan, discovered the Japanese ritual of being clean. The Japanese in this book had a strong desire to be sanitary in every aspect of their life both physically and morally. They used to be physically clean to visualize being spiritually clean. Another part of the mythology in this novel was the worshipping of the kami deities. These deities dwelled in the shrine near Tarumi and Stephan-san along with Matsu traveled to the shrine to worship and pray to the kami fox deity, the Inari. Two facets of The

The Samurai’s Tale is about a young boy named Taro, who had became the hero of the story. The main characters in the story was Lord Akiyama, Lord Takeda Shingen, and Togan. This story took place in Japan around the 16th century. The story began with Taro, Murakami Harutomo, arguing with his mother about what she had been telling him to wear for an event that was going to happen without him knowing about. Later that day Taro saw that soldiers came attacking his house, his mother leaving him with Yone in a chest trying to keep them safe in a storehouse that had laid behind the house. A soldier then found them both and took them out of the chest, then as they walked out of the store hold, he found his mother on the ground dead. A plot twist that

The gardens of both Matsu and Sachi symbolize them, and this gives the reader an insight on each of their respective personalities. Matsu’s garden turns more riveting and reveals more secrets as one goes deeper through it while Sachi’s garden illustrates that beauty can be in all forms. These descriptions of the garden mirror their owners and give more information about them. One example is that in the later portion of The Samurai Garden, it is revealed that Matsu was one of the primary founders of Yamaguchi. Like his garden, Matsu’s tale only becomes more

Secrets fill the garden. In Gail Tsukiyama’s novel “The Samurai’s Garden”, she uses metaphors to show the audience the garden and its’ curator in a mysterious light. Tsukiyama’s character Stephen gazes upon Matsu’s garden with wonder and amazement. He compares it to another world, “The garden is a world filled with secrets… Matsu’s garden whispers at you, never shouts; it leads you down a path hoping for more, as if everything is seen, yet hidden” (Samurai 31). Tsukiyama creates another world within the fences of the garden. She integrates the secrets of its’ caretaker into the aura of the garden. The metaphor to another world impacts the reader by allowing the reader to see the mystery and beauty that shrouds it. The cloak of beauty shows

Lord Takeda Shingen- The Lord of Kai, a ruthless warlord whose ambition is to rule all of Japan.

In Giles Milton’s novel, Samurai William, the reader is taken to the other side of the globe to experience the history of old world Japan. Though out the book, Milton provides reason for complex historical events and actions, while still communicating the subtleties and mysterious customs of the Japanese. The novel also closely examines the wide range of relationships between different groups of Europeans and Asians, predominantly revolving around the protagonist, William Adams. The book documents the successes and failures that occur between the two civilizations, then links them back to either the positive or negative relationship they have. As the book goes on, the correlation is obvious. Milton shows us the extreme role that religion,

Cameron, C. M. (2002). American samurai: myth, and imagination in the conduct of battle in the First Marine Division, 1941-1951. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Throughout History, there have been many different groups or events that are still widely known today. Groups of people such as the Indians or Vikings are popular groups which are referenced constantly in today’s society. However, none of these groups is more known or referenced than the Japanese Samurai. Originating in 646 AD, these Japanese warriors developed from a loose organization of farmers to the dominant social class in Feudal Japan. Along with their dominant military and political standing, the samurai brought with them a unique code or moral belief that became the core of Samurai culture. Because of this, the Samurai and their principles still affect modern day Japanese society with social customs today

     One of the main characters suffered most from this theme of isolation indefinitely. Poor Sethe. Through her life she was forced to make many indelicate decisions which could have