No doubt Kumé had come because word of the Master’s illness had
reached Tokyo. Maeda Nobuaki of the Sixth Rank, a disciple of the
Master’s, was also present. The judges, Onoda and Iwamoto, both of the
Sixth Rank, were in attendance that August 5. Takagi, Master of Renju,
stopped by on his way through Hakoné, and Doi, chess player of the Eighth
Rank, who was staying at Miyanoshita, came calling too. There were
games all through the inn.
The Master took Kumé’s advice and settled for mahjong, the others in
the foursome being Kumé himself, Iwamoto, and Sunada, reporter for the
Nichinichi. The others played as gingerly as if they were cleaning a wound,
but the Master, as always, quite lost himself in the game. Alone among the
four, he spent long periods in meditation.
“Please,” said his wife uneasily. “If you overdo it your face will swell up
again.”
He did not seem to hear.
I was learning Mobile Renju
from Takagi Rakuzan, Master of Renju.
Skillful at all manner of games and adept at inventing new games as well,
Takagi enlivened any gathering. I learned of his ideas for a puzzle to be
called “cloistered maiden.”
After dinner and far into the night, the Master played Ninuki Renju
with Yawata of the Go Association and Goi of the Nichinichi.
Maeda left in the afternoon, after a brief conversation with the Master’s
wife. Since the Master was his teacher and Otaké his brother-in-law, he
feared misunderstanding and rumors, and so avoided the two players. And
