The Samurai’s Garden and Suicide’s Impact

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Tomoko is affected by Japanese culture’s demand that she commit suicide when she shames her family and wants to give them their honor back.  Tomoko had contracted leprosy and felt that she had shamed her family.  Sachi explains to Stephen what Tomoko did, “‘Tomoko had committed seppuku.  She had sliced herself open with her father’s fishing knife.’”  (Tsukiyama 79).  Tomoko felt that she had to commit suicide in order to give her family back their honor.  Japanese culture’s unfair demand that Tomoko kill herself ultimately led her to do it.  Tomoko’s shame led to her demise, but Japanese culture is truly responsible.  Sachi tells Stephen of a moment when she could have killed herself, “‘But at that moment I knew I didn’t have the courage of Tomoko…’”  (Tsukiyama 137).  Sachi says she believes that what Tomoko did was courageous.  In Western culture, killing oneself is viewed as the coward’s way out, but in Japanese culture, it is viewed as a courageous and honorable act.  The different view that Japanese culture holds explains why so many Japanese lepers felt they had to kill themselves to honor their families.  Tomoko felt pressure from herself and her society to kill herself and that eventually led to her death.  Honor and shame are the main reasons Japanese culture demands suicide and Kenzo also falls victim to the culture.

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Kenzo is affected by Japanese culture’s ideals of honor, shame, and suicide when he is shamed by the love of his life and his best friend.  Kenzo sees Sachi and Matsu walking together and feels betrayed that his best friend whom he entrusted to look after Sachi is sneaking around with her behind his back.  Stephen describes what he sees when he enter Kenzo’s teahouse after Matsu and Kenzo’s fight, “Above the counter, not more than three feet away from us, hung Kenzo’s limp body.”  (Tsukiyama 99).  Stephen and Matsu walked in to Kenzo’s teahouse to find that he had committed suicide after having a huge fight with Matsu and Sachi.  Kenzo decided to kill himself because he was ashamed that the love of his life, from forty years ago, had chosen to leave Yamaguchi with Matsu instead of him.  Kenzo had loved the memory of Sachi, but he made no effort to see or communicate with her after she left for Yamaguchi.  Kenzo’s shame for letting his love get away was enough to cause him to kill himself.  Stephen describes Kenzo’s burial ceremony, “We bowed several times and repeated the chants, praying that the soul of Kenzo would find supreme happiness.”  (Tsukiyama 109).  The people of the village want to pay their respects and honor Kenzo after his death.  Kenzo’s death is not seen as cowardly, but as courageous and honorable because he killed himself over shame as Japanese culture demands.  Kenzo’s shame overshadowed any good in his life and he felt he could not live knowing that his shame would always be with him.  Japanese culture requires one to kill oneself when their shame is too great to bear and Kenzo did just that.  Kenzo’s death was unfortunate and unnecessary, but he did what he thought he had to do to retain his honor he had worked so hard to gain.

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            Japanese culture states that honor and shame are significant and that when one lacks honor and acquires shame they must kill themselves.  Tomoko and Kenzo both followed their culture’s demands and willingly paid a great price for it.  Tomoko was ashamed of her appearance and wanted to bring honor back to her family, while Kenzo was ashamed that he let the love of his life get away and wanted to die with his honor intact.  Tsukiyama successfully lets her readers see how Japanese culture can fatally, but honorably, lead to the end of one’s life.

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