winter was approaching, the Dankōen in Itō was chosen as the new game
site.
The Master and his wife, escorted by a disciple, Murashima of the Fifth
Rank, and by Yawata, secretary of the Go Association, arrived at the
Dankōen on November 15, three days in advance of play. Otaké of the
Seventh Rank arrived on November 16.
The tangerine groves were beautiful in the hills, and down at the coast
the bitter oranges were turning gold. It was cloudy and chilly on the
fifteenth, and on the sixteenth there was a light rain. The radio reported
snow here and there over the country. But the seventeenth was one of those
warm late-autumn Izu days when the air is sweet and soft. The Master
walked to the Otonashi Shrine and Jonoiké Pond. The expedition was
unusual. The Master had never been fond of walking.
On the evening before the first Hakoné session he had called a barber to
the inn, and at the Dankōen too, on the seventeenth, he had himself shaved.
As at Hakoné, his wife stood behind him supporting his head.
“Do you dye hair?” he asked the barber. His eyes were turned quietly on
the afternoon garden.
He had had his white hair dyed before leaving Tokyo. It may have
seemed rather unlike the Master to dye his hair in preparation for battle, but
perhaps he was bringing himself together after his collapse.
He had always clipped his hair short, and there was something amusingly
incongruous about the long hair carefully parted and even dyed black. The
Master’s tawny skin and strong cheekbones emerged from the lather.
Though not as pale and swollen as at Hakoné, it was still not a healthy
face.
I had gone to the Master’s room immediately upon my arrival.
