Snow Falling on Cedars

Snow Falling on Cedars is the bestselling novel David Guterson published in 1994, and it won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. The story was later adapted into a film of the same title. Because the defendant’s wife, Hatsue, was played by Yuki Kudoh, the movie attracted considerable attention in Japan.

The novel was translated into Japanese in 1996, but the Japanese title, 殺人容疑 (“Suspicion of Murder”), felt disappointingly bland, and many Japanese readers were let down by it.

The story takes place in December 1954 on a small island in northern Puget Sound, Washington State. Kabuo Miyamoto, a second‑generation Japanese‑American fisherman, is arrested on suspicion of murdering Carl Heine, another fisherman from the same community.

A local journalist, Ishmael, watches the trial with complicated feelings. He once loved Hatsue when they were young. Their innocent relationship was torn apart after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when anti‑Japanese sentiment and racial prejudice overwhelmed their world. They were simply too young to withstand the pressures of wartime.

Ishmael eventually discovers decisive evidence proving Kabuo’s innocence. Yet he hesitates, unable to come to terms with his unresolved past with Hatsue.


 In the novel, Hatsue and Kabuo are portrayed as very “Japanese” in a stereotypical way. Many Japanese readers would find it strange that Hatsue is described as practicing tea ceremony, calligraphy, and flower arranging, while Kabuo is depicted as a kendo expert. These details feel exaggerated and unrealistic. Also, I have never heard of the male name “Kabuo.” It’s unfortunate that such inaccuracies detract from an otherwise strong novel.

Personally, I think the film adaptation is better than the book. The youthful love between Ishmael and Hatsue is portrayed beautifully, and the lawyer Nels Gudmondsson is a memorable character. The heavy snow falling throughout the trial is both visually striking and emotionally moving.

In the film, Kabuo’s name was changed to Kazuo — a much more common Japanese name.

 

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