The three central characters, Sachi, Matsu and Stephen, all handle their loneliness, solitude and isolation differently, but there are similarities as well. All of them have been affected or afflicted by diseases that cause quarantine or isolation and lead to loneliness. These emotions shape these characters’ lives. Matsu is a very quiet, contemplative man. He does not often speak, but when he does, it’s with a certainty and wisdom. He seems out of place everywhere besides his garden and it, quite literally, is his sanctuary. Matsu deals with his loneliness by spending time in and building a relationship with his flower garden. The garden is an outlet for his emotions in a very similar way to Stephen and his painting. Many times Stephen finds Matsu as he did one day in December-“ As I entered the bamboo gate, Matsu was in the garden, kneeling by the pond,” (81). When Matsu’s sister Tomoko kills herself because she contracts leprosy, her suicide hits him hard. Not only is she his sister, but she also asks him to get their father’s fishing knife to commit seppeku. He had this final warning that Tomoko might take her life after the leprosy spread to her face. When Sachi is also afflicted with leprosy, another love in his life is isolated away to Yamaguchi leaving him to the solitude of Stephen’s grandfathers house and its garden. In some ways his loneliness is of his own device, because he has the choice to leave or to find companionship, yet he chooses to stay in his solitary way of life. With time, Matsu builds the relationship with Sachi, and they almost seem like lovers although its never that plainly put. Perhaps it is the contrast of their long lives of loneliness, solitude and isolation. When Sachi contracts leprosy in her teens, she is traumatized by how terribly her family treats her. They disown Sachi, and she feels deep disgrace. As a result, she is ostracized by her family and the village people, almost commits s