Three Weeks in Hanalei Bay Each Late Autumn

Three Weeks in Hanalei Bay Each Late Autumn is the period Sachi returns to Hanalei after the death of her son, Takashi. Beginning a few days before the anniversary of his death, each three-week stay turns the site of her loss into a recurring place of remembrance and a durable structure for the life she continues elsewhere.

The First Stay

After Takashi’s death, Sachi remains in Hanalei for a week. She rents a cottage, cooks simple meals, and buys a vinyl chair, sunglasses, a hat, and sunscreen. Each day she watches surfers from the beach. When the frequent heavy rain interrupts her, she sits in her car until it passes, then returns to the shore. The practical, repeated movement between car and beach marks the beginning of a routine organized around watching the sea.

An Annual Pattern

Sachi begins returning at the same season every year, arriving a few days before the anniversary and staying for three weeks. Her days are devoted to watching surfers from a vinyl chair. She stays in the same cottage, eats at the same restaurant, and reads. The pattern continues for ten years. What begins as a solitary response to bereavement becomes familiar to the small town: residents recognize Sachi as the Japanese mother whose son was killed by a shark nearby. Over time, she also finds a few people with whom she can discuss personal matters.

Remembrance and the Future

The visits preserve a close connection to the place of Takashi’s death without resolving the loss into a completed past. Sachi’s return is repeated rather than restorative: the same season, cottage, restaurant, chair, and daily view recur, while the anniversary gives each stay its place in time. In the closing reflection, she thinks of the three weeks at the end of autumn alongside the waves, iron trees, trade-wind clouds, and albatrosses over Hanalei Bay. The annual journey has become not only a practice of remembrance but the future she expects and can imagine for herself.