<P> Set on the fictional San Piedro Island in the northern Puget Sound region of the state of Washington coast in 1954 , the plot revolves around a murder case in which Kabuo Miyamoto , a Japanese American , is accused of killing Carl Heine , a respected fisherman in the close - knit community . Much of the story is told in flashbacks explaining the interaction of the various characters over the prior decades . Carl 's body had been pulled from the sea , trapped in his own net , on September 16 , 1954 . His water - damaged watch had stopped at 1 : 47 . The trial , held in December 1954 during a snowstorm that grips the entire island , occurs in the midst of deep anti-Japanese sentiments following World War II . Covering the case is the editor of the town 's one - man newspaper , the San Piedro Review , Ishmael Chambers , a World War II US Marine Corps veteran who lost an arm fighting the Japanese at the Battle of Tarawa . Torn by a sense of hatred for the Japanese , Chambers struggles with his love for Kabuo 's wife , Hatsue , and his conscience , wondering if Kabuo is truly innocent . Through extended flashbacks , the reader learns that Ishmael had fallen in love with Hatsue when the two attended high school together right before the war . They had been secretly dating at this time and lost their virginity to each other . </P>
<P> Set on the fictional San Piedro Island in the northern Puget Sound region of the state of Washington coast in 1954 , the plot revolves around a murder case in which Kabuo Miyamoto , a Japanese American , is accused of killing Carl Heine , a respected fisherman in the close - knit community . Much of the story is told in flashbacks explaining the interaction of the various characters over the prior decades . Carl 's body had been pulled from the sea , trapped in his own net , on September 16 , 1954 . His water - damaged watch had stopped at 1 : 47 . The trial , held in December 1954 during a snowstorm that grips the entire island , occurs in the midst of deep anti-Japanese sentiments following World War II . Covering the case is the editor of the town 's one - man newspaper , the San Piedro Review , Ishmael Chambers , a World War II US Marine Corps veteran who lost an arm fighting the Japanese at the Battle of Tarawa . Torn by a sense of hatred for the Japanese , Chambers struggles with his love for Kabuo 's wife , Hatsue , and his conscience , wondering if Kabuo is truly innocent . Through extended flashbacks , the reader learns that Ishmael had fallen in love with Hatsue when the two attended high school together right before the war . They had been secretly dating at this time and lost their virginity to each other . </P>
when does snow falling on cedars take place
when does snow falling on cedars take place
1954
1954