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Michiko
Fumiko is the older sister of Matsu and Tomoko. Stephen first meets Fumiko when she returns to Tarumi for the annual O-bon festival. Though Fumiko does not share Tomoko’s youthful beauty, Stephen appreciates the beauty in Fumiko’s vast “experience,” seeing the wrinkles in her face as proof that she has been “enriched through time.” Though Stephen does not get to spend much time with Matsu and Fumiko as a duo, he is moved by the tangible, unspoken bond that the two siblings share.
Fumiko Quotes in The Samurai’s Garden
The The Samurai’s Garden quotes below are all either spoken by Fumiko or refer to Fumiko. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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43. Summer: August 16, 1938 Quotes
The thickness of age showed on her body, and like Matsu’s, there was a certain strength in it. But it was Fumiko’s face that captured my attention. It was one I would have loved to paint. She was beautiful, not in the way that Tomoko must have been, nor did she have the roughness of Matsu. Her attraction wasn’t in the form of perfect features, but from the deep wrinkles, age spots, and eyes that have seen much of what life has to offer. Fumiko had a face that had been enriched through time.
“I’m very happy to meet you,” I bowed again.
“You are just as Matsu described you,” she said, looking toward him.
“And how did he describe me?” I asked, speaking louder, above the noise of the crowd.
“That you looked just like your oji-san.”
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Fumiko Character Timeline in The Samurai’s Garden
The timeline below shows where the character Fumiko appears in The Samurai’s Garden. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
43. Summer: August 16, 1938
Matsu’s sister Fumiko plans to visit for the yearly O-bon Festival (a Japanese tradition honoring the dead). Fumiko...
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Fortunately, Fumiko disrupts Stephen’s glum mood with her warm, wrinkled smile (she has a face, Stephen thinks,...
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When they get back to the house, Fumiko makes lunch while she and Matsu reminisce. Matsu confesses that he did not “understand” either...
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44. Summer: August 17, 1938
The next morning, Matsu and Fumiko wake early to make food for O-bon. As Stephen watches them work, he is touched...
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At his parents’ gravestones, Matsu begins to chant as Fumiko sets out the various food offerings. Then, Matsu walks away; without looking up, Fumiko says...
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52. Autumn: October 19, 1938
After saying goodbye to Sachi, Stephen catches the train to Tokyo, with Fumiko’s number tucked inside his pocket just in case. When Stephen arrives, his dad is anxious...
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