That the Master seemed to grow larger when he seated himself before the
Go board had to do of course with the power and prestige of his art, the
rewards of long training and discipline; but his trunk was
disproportionately long. He also had a large, longish face, on which the
individual features were bold. The strong jaw was especially conspicuous.
These various characteristics were apparent in the pictures I took of the
dead face.
I was most apprehensive through the days when they were being
developed. I always had my developing and printing done at the Nonomiya
studio in Kudan. When I delivered the film I described the circumstances,
and asked that the film be treated with particular care.
After the Kōyō Festival I returned home for a time and then went again
to Atami. I gave my wife strict instructions that if the pictures of the dead
face were received in Kamakura she was to send them immediately to the
Juraku in Atami, and that she was neither to look at them herself nor to let
anyone else see them. I thought that if my amateur photographs showed the
Master to disadvantage I would not wish to do injury to his memory by
having people see them or even hear of them. I thought that if they turned
out badly I would burn them without showing them to the Master’s widow
or disciples. It was not at all unlikely that I had failed, since the shutter of
my camera was defective.
I had come at a telephone summons from my wife when, with other
participants in the Kōyō Festival, I was having a lunch of turkey sukiyaki in
the plum orchard. She told me that the widow wanted me to take pictures of
the dead man. After my visit that morning, it had occurred to me that, if the
widow wanted photographs or a death mask, I myself might take
