The Big Wave

On a mountainside in Japan, Kino lives on his family’s farm. The terraced fields of their farm overlook the ocean and a fishing village on the beach. Above the fields, the family lives in a quaint farmhouse. Kino works with his father on the farm and looks out over the beautiful ocean beneath them. Some days, Kino joins his father in the fishing village, where they sell vegetables and rice and buy fish.

In the village, Kino meets with his friend Jiya. Jiya lives in one of a row of houses on the beach. Though the houses stand by the water, none have windows that face the sea. Jiya and his father, a fisherman, explain that the sea must always be feared and respected. Kino does not understand. For him, the ocean is a place of beauty and joy where he and his friend can swim and play.

Kino and Jiya often swim out to Deer Island just beyond the beach, which is wooded and filled with wild deer. They play in the woods and on the beach, collecting beautiful colorful stones. As they play, Jiya always watches the water carefully in case it becomes angry. They think of the island as theirs, though it truly belongs to the Old Gentleman, a wealthy old man who lives in a castle on a knoll of higher ground just outside the village. They rarely see the Old Gentleman, but they have peeked into the castle gardens, which are “beautiful beyond anything they could imagine” with “deep green moss shaded by pine trees and bamboos” (5). They wonder if the Old Gentleman would object to their use of his island, but as he never goes there himself, they decide it is safe.

Jiya warns Kino to watch for the ocean to become angry. Kino laughs but Jiya explains: “Sometimes the old ocean god begins to roll in his ocean bed and to heave up his head and shoulders, and the waves run back and forth” (6). Though Kino does not understand, all the fishermen in the village fear the ocean’s anger and the destruction that could come at any moment.

One day when they stay out on the island too late and must swim home in the dark, Jiya’s father becomes worried. However, Kino finds that his own father is never worried when he returns home late. Kino asks his father why Jiya’s family fears the ocean. Kino’s father explains that no one understands the ocean and therefore people must be cautious around it, just as those who live in the mountains must be wary of the volcano nearby. 

The volcano is 20 miles away and is so tall that Kino can see it on a clear day even from the farm. Kino and his father visited the volcano last autumn, and Kino recalls standing at the mouth and looking down into its smoke, which frightened him. Kino’s father says this is the same as fearing the ocean and adds that they must learn to live with these dangers, as death is inevitable.

Time passes and Kino attends school in the winter, where he studies with Jiya. In the summer, he works on the farm and helps his mother and sister, Setsu, plant rice seedlings. On other days, he joins Jiya and Jiya’s father on their fishing boat. He finds these trips exciting, awed by the expanse and beauty of the open sea. On these days, he thinks he would prefer to be a fisherman rather than a farmer. On other days, he watches the ocean heave, recalls the fathomless depths, and is glad to be a farmer.