The Valley of the Broken Cherry Trees

Zenta and Matsuzo Mystery #3

by Lensey Namioka

In Japan during the last quarter of the sixteenth century, two unemployed samurai attempt to discover who is mutilating the cherry trees in the valley of Lord Ohmori.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Detective

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Namioka was born in Beijing, the daughter of linguist Yuenren Chao and physician Buwei Yang Chao. The family moved often in China. In 1937, the Chaos were living in Nanjing, and fled westward in the face of the Japanese Invasion. They eventually made their way to Hawaii, then Cambridge, Massachusetts. Namioka attended grade school in Cambridge and excelled at mathematics.

Namioka attended University of California, Berkeley, where her father was a professor of Asian Studies. Here she met and married Isaac Namioka, a fellow graduate student in mathematics. The Namiokas moved to Ithaca, New York, where Isaac Namioka taught at Cornell University, and Lensey Namioka taught at Wells College.

In 1959, the Namiokas' first daughter Aki was born, followed by a second daughter Michi, who was born in 1961. The family moved to Seattle in 1963, when Isaac Namioka accepted a position at the University of Washington.

In the 1970s, on a visit to Japan, Namioka visited Namioka Castle. The experience inspired her to learn more about the samurai. This study culminated in The Samurai and the Long-nosed Devils, which was published in 1976. Namioka expanded this book into a whole series of books about samurai. Namioka also wrote a series of books about a Chinese American family named Yang, and several books about young women and girls facing difficult choices.

Lensey Namioka is the only person known to have the first name "Lensey." Her name has an especially unusual property for a Chinese person born in China: there are no Chinese characters to represent it. Lensey's father, Yuenren Chao, was cataloguing all of the phonemes used in Chinese. He noted that there were two syllables which were possible in the Chinese language, but which were used in no Chinese words. These syllables could be written in English as "len" and "sey." His third daughter was born soon after, and he named her "Lensey."

Reviews

[C.J. Milbrandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zenta travels to the inn of an acquaintance in a valley famous for the beauty of its cherry blossoms, only to find it filled by a party of nobles. The lord and his entourage are causing extra work, and rumors are flying because someone has been vandalizing the ancient cherry trees. Zenta and Matsuzo are determined to find the culprit.

Proud samurai and poor ronin. Innkeepers and artists. Politics and posturing. Monks and Noh masks. Tea houses and teachers. I enjoy the setting of these mysteries, steeped as they are in Japanese culture from a bygone era. I've collected the whole series for my shelf and look forward to the next mystery.

[Michael Kerjman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whatever bloodthirsty and disrespectful to human lives ancient feudal Japan was (well, a past tense is being used) a book is a very educative and useful example of mastering courtesy nowadays, while two unattached samurais hung around a country.

[itsumoAoi]

Lensey Namioka's resume :
Zenta and Matsuzo rest at a rural inn, expecting to enjoy the spectacular cherry blossoms nearby. They soon are involved in puzzling mysteries: court intrigue, an invitation to join an assassination, and the unexplained mutilations of the ancient cherry trees

[Lilly [Hiatus due to School] · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great series especially as I was interested in Japanese culture and history. I remember being sad when I read the last book in the series.