woman. He has descendants who are to this day respected citizens of the islands of Kauai and Oahu By the time Japanese immigrants began arriving in droves, Yone was owner of the largest store at Lihue and his credit among all races of people was excellent.
Yone had risen from the lowly coolie class in Japan and so was unable to acquire the three "R's" in his youth. He must have been of superior mental endowment for his success could not be accredited solely to his rich Hawaiian wife. He could not read or write but he had a prodigious memory and was full of ideas that would have been a credit to an educated man. He wanted to keep up with the current thoughts and events of the world. As he became wealthy and could entrust the routine of the store to his employees, he sought culture in his own way.
One day, while Seikichi was talking to Obasan, the cook, the conversation turned to gossip about island personages. "Arata-san, you have heard about Dan Yone?"
"Yes, like everybody else I have heard a lot about him as a successful businessman on this island, and particularly as he is also from my own province of Yamaguchi Ken."
"Do you know that he is trying to get someone who will read the newspapers to him?"
"Is that so? And how much is he going to pay for that sort of work?"
"Well, that is the funny part about this proposition. He does not want to openly hire anyone in that capacity. That is too much for his pride. He does not want to openly declare that he cannot read, although it is a public secret that he cannot even sign his name. He wants someone to come to him as a friend. Maybe he is not reluctant to pay for the service. He is just peculiar and eccentric."
"I should think there are any number of men at Lihue who can merely read the newspaper to him."
"No, it is not merely reading papers dealing with petty thievery or broken romances. He is interested in the editorials of the Tokyo papers to which he has subscribed regularly. Very few men can read the editorials intelligently, I have heard, for you know I can only sign my name. But I am a woman, and women are not supposed to be educated anyway, Yone-san is looking for some educated man. I thought that if you came to know him he might open the way for your ambition. He may find a job for you at his store for all you know."
"It is an idea all right. Thanks for the tip."
"By the way, if you ever should see him, don't ever say 'boss.' I heard that the only way to please him and become friends with him is to address him as 'oyabun.' He must have a gambler's instinct or an admiration for the old time gangsters, for otherwise he would not want to be so called."
To Arata, this was news and it occurred to him that possibly Dan Yone might be a rung in the ladder to aid him in the ascent and realization of his dreams. There was no sense in getting the required amount of capital if he could get the same business started by getting the backing of some established personage. Perhaps his mythical benefactor might turn out to be eccentric Yone. How to make the contact, how to win his confidence and get started on his business career, required the most carefully planned approach.
After several weeks of deliberation, Seikichi took sick leave from the plantation and repaired to Lihue. He found the Yone store. It was imposing in size for a country mercantile establishment: painted green and bordered with white in contrast to the usual white washed walls of the neighboring houses. He rented a room at a cheap hotel and the next day entered the store and pretended to look over the goods on the display shelves. There were a number of workers of different nationalities. The manager was a Portuguese called "Shige" who spoke Japanese fluently. In addition, one Chinese, one Chinese-Hawaiian, and three Japanese salesmen and clerks completed the staff. They were all busy wrapping merchandise to be delivered to different camps in out-of-the-way locations. The salesmen had gone out taking orders when the plantation laborers were at home in the evenings and now were ready to deliver these purchases.
Just then a graying man of about sixty came in from the inner office. Painfully leaning on a cane, he brushed by Arata who said casually, "Oyabun, you seem to be having trouble. What is the matter?"
Yone seemed to be in good humor and civilly answered, "Oh, it is this confounded neuritis. Doctors don't seem to be able to help me much. What I need is a good old-fashioned masseur, but there is none around."
"In that case I can help, for I know something about massaging."
"Really! Come in then. Seems that I have never seen you before. You are a stranger in this town, are you not?"
On a couch in the inner office, Arata utilized his knowledge of yawara, the ancient term for jujitsu. Aspiring to become an army officer, Seikichi had been trained in the art of yawara for defense and attack, and as a part of that training, he was instructed in the rudiments of bone-setting, correction of joint dislocations, and massage. He used it to good advantage and Yone began to feel much easier as the circulation in the muscles increased and stagnation and soreness became alleviated.
"By your dialect, you must be from Yamaguchi," said Yone.
"Why yes, I am from Mitajiri."
"Well, well, I am from that part of the country myself and a very good one it is. Tell me how much training you have in massaging? You massage like a man; very effective."
"Not much, but I did some yawara training in my younger days as I wanted to join the army, but I was a little too short to become an officer."
"Too bad! And how much schooling did you get?"
"Enough of general education and an additional course or two in the Chinese classics."
"Is that so. Well, if you have time while you are in Lihue, come around every day. You have been very good in easing my pain today and you will be doing me a great favor if you will continue doctoring me. There is a pile of papers that came in the last boat which have been lying around untouched. If you can read the editorials to me while I rest here easily, I shall be much obliged."
The Tokyo Asahi Shimbun was a leading Japanese newspaper. It had been some time since Seikichi had perused a Japanese paper and it was a pleasure to read aloud to Yone the interesting news items and the current editorials of the leading metropolitan papers of Japan. Illiterate as Yone was, his comprehension of world events was good, and he grasped without difficulty the core of the discussions in the press. Evidently he had kept up with the changing opinions and moods of his home country better than Arata had been able to do. After the Sino-Japanese War, there was a big post-war boom. Yet the latent, subconscious tenseness of the nation which had knuckled down to a serious preparation for an out-and-out struggle against the "Russian Bear" was perceived between the lines of the editorials. Yone commented now and then and Seikichi was able to discern his listener's line of thought.
"We must fight the Russians. The blood of the thousands of heroes that was spilled on the bleak hills of the Liaotung Peninsula will not be assuaged until the insult of the Tripartite Alliance, that forced the return of the hard-won spoil to China, can be returned in kind. The more we delay and vacillate, the stronger will the Russians become entrenched in Manchuria. It is win or die. We must fight."
"But you must not forget that the Russians have the largest army in the world and their Kossack cavalry is ferocious and famous. What chance would Japan have if she does not thoroughly prepare for the struggle?"
"Don't talk to me like the fools who are overcautious: the clique headed by Ito Hakubun who attempt in this day and era a reconciliation with Russia. Their intent is so clear. To think that Ito Hakubun is also from Yamaguchi Ken! You who once aspired to become an army officer ought to have more guts. The worst feature of bookworms is that they are too cautious. I am not educated but I have the
