Dear Lorien,

My smile here is completely inappropriate, isn’t it? ;-)

But seriously, the saddest image in the world is that of a child’s gravestone, don’t you think? This one is found at the graveyard of the Mantokuji Soto Zen Mission in Pa’ia town, on the north shore of Maui.

1923 was a long time ago… even before the Second World War. I wonder what 2-year old Shinichi died of, that year; perhaps a common childhood ailment that didn’t have a cure at the time? An accident? Whatever it was, it surely must have yielded a deep and impenetrable grief in his parents. I wonder about his parents, too. Were they first-generation Japanese immigrants to Maui, working the sugarcane or pineapple fields in Pa’ia? If so, Shinichi would have been Nisei—a second-generation Japanese-American immigrant.

One of the most intriguing things about this cemetery is how close its edge is to the sea. I think when they first put graves here, there was a fair bit of land between the edge of the graveyard, and the beach. But over the decades (Mantokuji was established in 1906), the relentless erosion due to tides, waves, wind, storms, has eaten away at the land and now the graves nearest the beach are falling into the ocean.

This, I think, is an apt symbol of humanity—our works, our lives, our moments. Everything will all end up in the mother ocean—particularly everything here on the Hawaiian islands, which in due time will be atolls, and then vanish below the surface of the Pacific. In this photo to the left, you can see how this erosion is working (click on it to see a larger version): clearly, Shinichi’s headstone and coffin will—if not recovered or otherwise moved—fall down onto the rocky beach, and then eventually to the ocean depths.

I wonder if his relatives, his descendants, are still around to do something about this? Lloyd says he knows a number of Arakawas; in fact, he was with several at church this morning. He says he’ll ask them next time he sees them. I apologize if this post has made you sad. I promise happier images in the coming days, as my visit here winds down.

your friend,
Flat Stanley