Snow Falling On Cedars

Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American, is on trial for the murder of Carl Heine who is, like Kabuo, a fisherman from San Piedro Island.

Carl’s boat has been found in daylight, on the water with its lights on. His body is discovered in his own fishing net. There is long quarrel between Kabuo’s and Carl’s family over the ownership of a piece of land. When it becomes clear that Kabuo’s boat was in the area at the time of the incident, he is suspected of the murder.

The chance for Kabuo not to get in prison is very low. On San Piedro Island Japanese aren’t welcome, because of the war and especially because of Pearl Harbor.

One big point in the trial against Kabuo is the batteries, which were on Carl’s boat, but didn’t fit into his battery holder. In Kabuo’s they do fit. Another point against Kabuo is the wound on Carl’s head. The doctor says that it is caused by kendo, a stick fighting, which Japanese are trained in it from when they’re kids. An important aspect for Kabuo’s innocence is that some blood was in Carl’s lunge when he was found. That’s evidence that Carl drowned before he died.

After the process, Hatsue, Kabuo’s girlfriend, asks Ishmael to write an article about the process and about the unfairness during the trail. He’s a journalist and even though he could get in troubles by writing that article, and even though he still loves Hatsue, he writes it. At the next day on the process, Kabuo gets accused for not saying the truth. After Kabuo’s lawyer gives evidence and after Ishmael’s article in the newspaper about the unfairness in the process, it comes clear that Carl died because of an accident.

What happened in the night of his death: Carl wanted to get his lantern from the top of the boat and he fell down. After hitting the boat with his head, he loosed consciousness, fell into the water and drowned.