Go Wizardry

From Kidō, December 1975

Edo Town Go Club

Written and drawn by Tani Ikuo

Rōnin [samurai without a warlord to serve]: I don’t want to make this a meaningless site of slaughter…

Samurai: Shut up, shut up!

Working man: Hey, hey, what’s happening? Over there.

Crowd noises: Mumble, mumble… Wha— Wha—

Old man: I can’t say. A barmaid at a pub was being teased by those samurai and then…

Old man: That rōnin [stepped in]… [The old man uses the word, go-rōnin, using the honorary prefix, indicating respect for the fighter’s prowess.]

Working man: Huh?!

Samurai: Be prepared to die!

FX: Swish! Clang! [The rōnin moves quickly with a swish of air and clamps the sword.]

Rōnin: Hmm.

FX: Lick

Rōnin: This has a nice taste… A superior piece of work by Bizen Osafune [a master swords smith of the Edo Era based in Okayama].

Samurai: GULP!

Rōnin: That kind of masterpiece of a sword should be used for more important things.

Assembled samurai: FX: SHUDDER!

Samurai running away: Oooh! Yikes!

FX: General amazement

Working man: Hmm.

Go club in the next town…

Sign: Go

Old man sitting at go board: Welcome. What level do you play at?

Working man: What level you ask… Well then

FX: Getting puffed up

Working man: Oh! What wonderful go stones!

FX: ZIP! [Sound of working man dashing to the board]

Working man: Ugh! This flavor! This is the kind of shell that is rare!

FX: Gnaw!

Working man: Is it oyster shell? Scallop shell? Hmm.

Old man: I hope that your teeth are strong, really.

Old man: That is made of plastic, I tell you…

FX: Gnaw, gnaw

Working man: P-plastic??

Working man: Ooh! This is a masame kaya board! [Kaya, the yew evergreen with hard, fine-grained wood, is prized for making go boards. Masame refers to the appearance of the grain on the board: straight across the top and curved on the side in accordance with the shape of the tree.]

Working man: This is the fine work of a master craftsman, I must say!

Old man: Ah ha! It looks like you have an expert eye, I say.

Old man: In that case, would you mind looking over these for a little bit?

Old man: They were left in the sun and ended up in this warped condition, you know.

FX: THUD!

Man at door: Huh? What are you doing at this kind of place, older brother?

FX: Scrape, scrape