Stephen wakes feeling anxious and helps Matsu prune a black pine in the garden. Matsu asks if Stephen has stopped wanting to swim, and Stephen confides that his friendship with Keiko has ended. Cutting the pine, Matsu asks, “Isn’t it interesting, Stephen-san… how sometimes you must cut away something in order to make it grow back stronger?” (193). Matsu goes on comparing human beings and plants, saying that all are part of nature and that humans can learn from it, that longer-lived humans encounter complications plants do not. He tells Stephen that if Keiko is important, she will remain with him, and that there will be many others. “No reason for you to quit swimming” (193), Matsu says. 

Stephen writes that the mail is slow; he has received nothing from Kobe or Hong Kong for a long time. Pie’s birthday is next month, so he goes to Tarumi’s general store to find a gift to send her. After having stayed away from town, he again hopes to see Keiko. He finds nothing for Pie at the store so buys some tinned foods to bring back to the house.