Snow Falling on Cedars Characters

Ishmael is kind of an odd duck protagonist, since he's not terribly central to a lot of what happens. The story is largely focused on the murder trial and all the historical events and prejudices t...

Hatsue is the wife of Kabuo Miyamoto, who spends most of the book on trial for killing Carl Heine. She was once an exceptionally beautiful young girl, but apparently her loveliness is now "fading"...

He's on trial for his life for most of the book, accused of murdering his old buddy Carl Heine, Jr. over a land dispute between their families. Like Carl, Kabuo is the strong, silent type, and the...

Carl is at the center of the novel, as he's the reason Kabuo Miyamoto is on trial. Prior to his death, he was a well-liked fisherman who, like many of the other male characters, had fought in World...

Judge Fielding seems like a good egg. Even though he's described as appearing to be half asleep for most of the trial, he's actually pretty honed in on everything that's going on. He frets about ma...

He is Hatsue's father. Right before the family is sent to a Japanese internment camp, the FBI arrests him on bogus charges of having prohibited materials (but really, it was just because he's Japan...

She's Hatsue's mother. She disapproves heartily of Hatsue's romance with Ishmael (when she finds out about it) and demands that Hatsue end it immediately. Understandably, given the injustices and r...

He's the bailiff in the courthouse during the Miyamoto trial.

She's the stenographer in the courtroom during the Miyamoto trial.

He's the father of Carl Heine, Jr. (what, the name gave it away?) and husband of Etta. He finds his wife's xenophobic and racist leanings pretty gross. He sells Zenhichi Miyamoto the strawberry acr...

Susan is Carl Heine, Jr.'s widow. She is known for her beauty, and she seems to be a nice woman and a caring mother. She does not seem to share her mother-in-law's violent anti-Japanese feelings.

She's the mother of Carl Heine, Jr. and wife of the late Carl Heine, Sr. She testifies for the prosecution in Kabuo Miyamoto's murder trial. She has some intense anti-Japanese American sentiments t...

He's the sheriff in charge of the investigation of Carl Heine's death. Through his memories and testimony, we find out a lot about the day of Carl Heine's death.

He's the sheriff's deputy. He helps Art get Carl's body out of the water and assists Art Moran in the investigation into Carl's death.

Arthur is Ishmael's dad. Prior to his death, he ran the San Piedro Review (the paper that Ishmael now runs and reports for). He was a fierce opponent of bigotry and champion of San Piedro's Japanes...

She is Ishmael's mother. She's very sweet, religious, and bookish, and she really just wants Ishmael to get married, have kids, and get his life together (since he's been kind of a mess since the w...

Horace is the coroner who examines Carl Heine's body. He is the one who makes the connection between the wound and the kendo strikes he saw Japanese soldiers make with their gun butts during World...

These are fishermen who are around when Art Moran goes around looking for information about Carl Heine at the docks on the day of his death. Dale Middleton and Leonard George testify against Kabuo...

Vance is another fisherman who testifies against Kabuo at the trial.

Ishmael was calling Lillian's husband, Reverend Groves, to get Sunday's sermon topic when Lillian answered the phone and told Ishmael about Carl's death.

She trains Hatsue in tea-making, calligraphy, and scene-painting. She also gives Hatsue a lot of life lessons and advice on how to conduct herself.

These two are friends of Hatsue's family. Hatsue's father, Hisao, and these gentlemen do a lot of calling back and forth as conditions start to deteriorate for San Piedro's Japanese and Japanese Am...

Their movie theater is mentioned a couple of times because it became the target of some anti-Japanese sentiment in the wake of Pearl Harbor. Unaware that there was a planned blackout in effect (in...

These are the FBI agents who visit the Imadas and end up arresting Hisao on bogus charges.

Ilse has purchased strawberries from Fujiko for years. When the Imadas and other Japanese Americans are forced to leave San Piedro for internment camps, she sees off the boat that takes them from t...

Ernest's a soldier from Delaware that Ishmael serves with in World War II. He is killed during the Battle of Tarawa.

These guys are soldiers who serve with Ishmael in the Battle of Tarawa.

Eric is a soldier who serves with Ishmael at the Battle of Tarawa and a friend of Ernest Testaverde's from back home. He bleeds out on the beach with his fellow soldiers watching, since they are fo...

He's a hematologist who did the blood analysis in the Carl Heine investigation. He testifies for the prosecution.

He trained Kabuo Miyamoto in hand-to-hand combat during World War II. He testifies for the prosecution, saying that Kabuo was physically able to kill a man much larger than himself (and seemed to h...

He owns the filling station in town. Ishmael goes to him to hire someone to put chains on his car during the big snowstorm.

He works at the coast guard station where Ishmael goes to do research on his storm story. He helps Ishmael get set up with the records he needs.

He's a radioman at the coast guard station where Ishmael goes to research his storm story. He offers to help Ishmael search maritime records for storm information, but Ishmael declines.

He is Kabuo Miyamoto's father. He made a deal to purchase seven acres of strawberry fields from Carl Heine, Sr., but he was unable to finish paying it off before being sent to the detention camps d...

She's the checkout clerk at Petersen's when Hatsue and Ishmael first see each other after the war.

She's the clerk at Petersen's who tells Hatsue about Carl's death.

He's the sole member of the jury who is not convinced of Kabuo's guilt when they begin deliberations.

He's another juror for the Miyamoto trial. He thinks Kabuo is guilty.

He's another juror for the Miyamoto trial. He thinks Kabuo is guilty.

She's another juror for the Miyamoto trial. She thinks Kabuo is guilty.

He's another juror for the Miyamoto trial. He thinks Kabuo is guilty.

He's another juror for the Miyamoto trial. He thinks Kabuo is guilty.

She's another juror for the Miyamoto trial. She thinks Kabuo is guilty.

He's a strawberry farmer with whom Ishmael and Arthur Chambers chat at one point in the novel.

He is the president of the San Piedro Gill-Netters Association. He testifies for the defense.

He is the prosecutor in the Kabuo Miyamoto trial.