If the Master did not know of the move to Hakoné today, well, that was
that. There was a gathering in another room, there were nervous footsteps
in the corridors, Otaké disappeared for a long interval. Having nothing
better to do, I waited beside the Go board. Soon after what would ordinarily
have been lunch time, a compromise was reached: today’s session would be
from two to four, and with two days’ rest the party would go to Hakoné.
“We can’t really get started in two hours,” said the Master. “Let’s wait
till we get to Hakoné and have a decent session.’
It was a point, but he could not be allowed to have his way. Just such
remarks had been responsible for the discord that morning. The spirit of the
game should have precluded arbitrary changes in the schedule. The game of
Go tended to be controlled these days by inflexible rules. Elaborate
conditions had been set for the Master’s last game, to keep his old-
fashioned willfulness under control, to deny him a special status, to ensure
complete equality.
The system of “sealing the players in cans” was operative and must be
followed through to the end. It was proper that the players go directly from
the Kōyōkan to Hakoné. The system meant that they might not leave the
appointed site or, lest they receive advice, meet other players until the end
of the game. It might be said therefore to guard the sanctity of the contest.
It could as well be said to deny human dignity, and yet, in the balance, the
integrity and probity of the players were no doubt served. In a match
expected to last three months, the sessions to take place at five-day
intervals, such precautions seemed doubly necessary. Whatever the wishes
of the players themselves, the danger of outside interference was real, and
once doubts arose there would be no end to them. The world of Go did of
course have its conscience and its ethics, and the likelihood seemed small
that there would be talk of a game lasting through multiple sessions, least
of all to the players themselves; but again, once an exception was made
there would be no end to exceptions.
