As soon as the crush was over, Nagato entered the gate. And when the two merchants had a.s.sured themselves that he was inside, they turned their steps in the same direction.

Naturally, the guards at the front gate were exceptionally severe. The people who pa.s.sed in and out were not used to seeing the wartime glitter that shone from the spear halberds, and even the eyes of the warriors stationed there. The guards all wore armor and if anyone looked suspicious, they stopped that person with loud shouts and yells.

"Wait a minute! Where are you going?" the guard asked the two merchants.

"I am Sos.h.i.tsu of Hakata," the older man said courteously. When he bowed his head the younger man did the same "I am Sotan, also of Hakata."

The guards looked as though they couldn't understand anything from that introduction alone, but their captain, who was standing in front of the guardhouse inside, motioned them through with a smile.

"Please, come in."

The Omotemido Hall was the main building of the temple compound, but the real center was n.o.bunaga's quarters. Outside of the room from which n.o.bunaga's voice could be heard, a brook murmured from a spring in the garden, and from the buildings a little farther beyond, the bright laughter of women occasionally wafted over on the breeze.

n.o.bunaga was speaking to a messenger from his third son, n.o.butaka, and Niwa Nagahide: "That will be of some help to my old hand, Nagahide. Have him informed that everything is secure. I'll be going to the western provinces in a few days myself, so we'll be meeting there soon."

n.o.butaka and Niwa's army was to sail for Awa the next morning. The messenger had come to give that report along with the information that Tokugawa Ieyasu had traveled from Osaka to Sakai.

n.o.bunaga looked around at the color of the sky as though he had just noticed it, and said to a page, "It's dusk. Roll up the blinds on the western side." Then he asked n.o.butada, "Is it hot where you're staying too?"

n.o.butada had come to the capital a little before his father and had taken lodgings at the nearby Myokaku Temple. He had been stationed there the evening his father had entered the capital, which was yesterday, and today as well, and he seemed a little tired. He had thought he would announce his leave, but his father said, "Why don't we have tea tonight in private? For the last two nights we've had guests, and it saddens me when there's not enough leisure. I'll invite some interesting people for you." n.o.bunaga was going to entertain his son, and he was not about to take no for an answer.

If he had been allowed to express what was really on his mind, n.o.butada might have Said that he was only twenty-five years old and did not understand tea as his father did.

He had an especially strong aversion to those tea masters who wasted their leisure hours during wartime. If he was going to have the pleasure of being with his father, a tea master was not welcome. To be honest, in his heart he wanted to leave for the campaign right away. He did not want to be behind his younger brother, n.o.butaka, by even an hour.

It seemed that n.o.bunaga had also invited Murai Nagato, not in his official capacity of governor of Kyoto, but as a friend. But Nagato was unable to forget the stiff formality that was usual between lord and retainer, and the conversation remained awkward. Awkwardness was one of the things n.o.bunaga detested. With daily events, the pressures of administering the government, guests coming in and out, and lack of sleep-when he was able get away from public duties for a moment, he could not stand to be confronted with such formality. These situations always made him think fondly of Hideyoshi.

"Nagato?" n.o.bunaga said.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Isn't your son here?"

"He came with me, but he's a bit of an ignoramus, so I had him wait outside."

"That kind of reserve is really boring," n.o.bunaga muttered. When he had asked the man to bring along his son, obviously it was in order to talk lighfheartedly, not in order have a formal interview between lord and retainer. He did not order Nagato to call his son in, however.

"I wonder what happened to our guests from Hakata," n.o.bunaga said. He stood up and walked into the temple, leaving n.o.butada and Nagato where they were.

Bomaru's voice could be heard in the pages' room. His older brother, Ranmaru, seemed to be scolding him for something or other. By this time, all of Mori Yoshinari's children were adults. It had been rumored recently that Ranmaru hoped to receive Sakamoto-presently an Akechi castle-which had been his father's domain. The report was circulating widely, and even n.o.bunaga was outraged by the thought of it. So to dissi[ate the public rumor, he now rethought his own rather unseemly policy of keeping Ranmaru dressed as a page and having him constantly at his side. To amend this would be for his own sake as well.

"Will you be going out into the garden?" Ranmaru asked.

n.o.bunaga had been standing on the veranda, and Ranmaru quickly ran out from the pages' room to place some sandals on the steppingstone. It was good to have someone so quick-witted and gentle in his service, n.o.bunaga thought; he had grown used to that kind of solicitude over ten or so years.

"No, I'm not going into the garden. It's been hot today, hasn't it?"

"Yes, the sun really burned down on us."

"Are the horses in the stable all healthy?"

"They seem to be a little low-spirited."

n.o.bunaga looked up and strained his eyes at the evening star, perhaps having sudden thoughts of the faraway western provinces. Ranmaru stared up blankly at n.o.bunaga's profile. n.o.butada had also come in and was standing behind the two men, but Ranmaru's gaze showed that he had forgotten about the younger man's very existence. It was almost as though he were looking at his master for the last time. If his spirit had had the power of self-consciousness, he might have been even more aware of his strange intuition of that moment, and of the goose b.u.mps that were even now appearing on his skin. It was just about the time Akechi Mitsuhide was arriving at Oinosaka.

The smoke from the stoves in the huge kitchen began to envelop the inside of the temple. Firewood was alight not only in the stoves but also in the baths. And not just at the Honno Temple: in the hour just before nightfall, smoke from cooking fires trailed off into the sky both inside and outside of the capital.

n.o.bunaga poured water over himself in the bath. A single white flower on a vine showed itself through the bamboo lattice of a high window cut out of the wall. After his hair was arranged and he had donned fresh clothes, n.o.bunaga walked back along the bridged corridor.

Ranmaru came up and announced that Sotan and Sos.h.i.tsu of Hakata were waiting for him in the tearoom.

"They've been here since before dark, and the two of them swept the path from the tearoom to the entrance and polished the veranda themselves. Then Master Sos.h.i.tsu watered the path and made a flower arrangement, while Master Sotan went to the kitchen and gave instructions for the dishes they would present to you."

"Why wasn't I informed earlier?"

"Well, they said that since they were the hosts, we should wait until everything was ready."

"It appears they have some sort of plan. Was n.o.butada told about this? And Nagato?"

"I'll invite them right away."

When Ranmaru left, n.o.bunaga went to his quarters but very quickly redirected his steps toward the tearoom.

The building did not have the appearance of a tearoom. The building had been designed as a drawing room, and a smaller s.p.a.ce had been created for the tea ceremony by the placement of folding screens.

The guests were n.o.bunaga, n.o.butada, and Nagato and his son. The lamps added a refreshing atmosphere to the room. After the tea ceremony had been concluded, the hosts and their guests moved to a larger room, where they talked late into the night.

n.o.bunaga was still very hungry. He devoured the dishes placed before him, drank wine-which appeared as if it had been made of melted rubies-and occasionally took a European cake from the well-stocked plate, all the while conversing nonstop.

"I'd like to take a tour of the southern lands, with you and Sotan as my guides. Surely you've traveled to those places a number of times."

"I think about it all the time but haven't been able to go," Sos.h.i.tsu answered.

"Sotan, you're young and healthy. Have you been there?"

"Not yet, my lord."

"Neither of you have been there?"

"No, even though our employees are constantly going back and forth."

"Well, I would think that would be a disadvantage for your trade. Even if someone like me had such hopes, there would never be a good time to leave j.a.pan, so there's really nothing to be done. But you own ships and branch stores and are always free to travel. Why haven't you gone yet?"

"The rush of work you have with the affairs of the country is of a different nature than ours, but somehow we've been prevented in one way or another by our household affairs and will be unable to leave for one year or so. Nevertheless, on the day Your Lordship settles all of the many affairs you attend to, I'd like to go with you and Sotan and give you a grand tour."

"Let's do that! That's been one of my desires for such a long time. But Sos.h.i.tsu, are you going to live that long?"

As the page poured out the wine, n.o.bunaga joked with the old man, but Sos.h.i.tsu was not to be bested.

"Well now, rather than worrying about that, can you a.s.sure me that you're going to put everything in order of before I die? If you're the one that's too slow, I may not be able wait."

"It should be soon," n.o.bunaga said, smiling, delighted by the old man's banter.

Sos.h.i.tsu was able to speak his mind in a way that n.o.bunaga's generals could not. From time to time during the conversation, n.o.butada and Nagato would feel uneasy about that, wondering if it was truly all right for these merchants to be speaking as frankly as they were. At the same time they wondered why these commoners had n.o.bunaga's favor. It was highly unlikely that n.o.bunaga tolerated them as friends just because they were tea masters.

n.o.butada was bored by the conversation. Only when the talk between his father and the two merchants turned to the subject of the southern lands was n.o.butada's interest engaged. Those things were all new to his ears, and inspired him to youthful dreams and ambitions.

Regardless of whether their understanding of the southern lands was deep or not, the intellectuals at that time had an interest in them. The very essence of j.a.panese culture was being rocked by a tidal wave of innovations from overseas, foremost among which was the gun.

Much of what was known about the south was brought by missionaries from Spain and Portugal; but men like Sos.h.i.tsu and Sotan had started their trade without waiting for the missionaries. Their ships crossed to Korea and traded with China, Amoy, and Cambodia. The men who had told them of the wealth beyond the sea were not the missionaries, but j.a.panese pirates who made their lair near Hakata, in Kyushu.

Sotan had inherited his business from his father and had established branches in Luzon, Siam, and Cambodia. It is said that he is the man who imported waxtree nuts from south China and who developed a method of manufacturing wax, thereby making the lamp fuel that caused the nights in j.a.pan to shine so much brighter. Improving the metallurgical techniques brought in from overseas, he is also credited with bringing about the refinement of iron smelting.

Sos.h.i.tsu was also involved in overseas trade and was related to Sotan. There was not a lord on the island of Kyushu who had not borrowed money from him. He owned ten or more large ocean-going ships and a hundred smaller vessels.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that n.o.bunaga had picked up almost all of his knowledge about the world beyond j.a.pan while drinking tea with these two men. Even now n.o.bunaga was absorbed in conversation, reaching out for one European cake after another. Sos.h.i.tsu observed how many he was eating and remarked, "Those are made with something called sugar, so you should be careful about eating too many of them before you go to bed."

"Is sugar poisonous?" n.o.bunaga asked.

"If it isn't a poison, it certainly isn't healthful, either," Sos.h.i.tsu answered. "Foods from the barbarian lands are thick and rich, while our j.a.panese foods have a blander taste. These cakes are much sweeter than our dried persimmons or rice cakes. Once you get a taste for sugar, you won't be satisfied with our own sweets anymore."

"Has a lot of this sugar already been imported to Kyushu?"

"Not so much. With an exchange rate of one weight of sugar to one weight of gold, we don't get much of a percentage. I'm thinking of shipping in some sugar plants and trying to transplant them to a warm region, but, like tobacco, I'm wondering if sugar would be a good thing to popularize in j.a.pan."

"That's not like you," n.o.bunaga laughed. "Don't be so narrow-minded. It doesn't make any difference whether they're good or bad. Just lump them together and ship them in, and they'll bring a special quality to the culture. All sorts of things are finally being brought in from the western and southern seas right now. Their penetration to the east is unstoppable."

"I applaud your tolerance, my lord, and adopting that way of thinking would certainly be a great help to our business, of course. But I wonder if we should leave it at that."

"We should, without a doubt. Bring in everything new as fast as you can."

"As you wish, my lord."

"Or failing that, chew it up well and then spit it out," n.o.bunaga added.

"Spit it out?"

"Chew it well, take what's of good quality into your stomach, and spit out the dregs. If the warriors, farmers, artisans, and merchants of j.a.pan understand that principle, there'll be no problems in importing anything."

"No, that's no good." Sos.h.i.tsu waved his hand emphatically. He was against this altogether, and was quick to give his opinions about the direction of the government. "You, my lord, the ruler of this country, may feel that way, but recently I've seen some worrisome signs, and I, for one, cannot agree with you."

"What do you mean?"

"The spread of false religions."

"You mean the missionaries? Have the Buddhists been making demands on you, too, Sos.h.i.tsu?"

"You're being a bit too disdainful. This problem is truly distressing the nation."

Sos.h.i.tsu went on to tell the story of the child who had fallen into the moat a few hours before, and how the self-sacrifice of the missionaries had impressed the people.

"In less than ten years, thousands have abandoned the altars of their ancestors and converted to Christianity. And this has occurred not only in Omura and Nagasaki but also throughout Kyushu, in remote areas of Shikoku, and even in Osaka, Kyoto, and Sakai. Your Lordship has just said that it would be all right if whatever we brought into j.a.pan were chewed up and spit out, but religion is unique and probably cannot be treated in that way. No matter how much the people chew, their souls are going to be drawn into this heresy, and they won't give it up, even if you crucify them or cut off their heads."

n.o.bunaga was completely silent. His expression indicated that this was a problem of such gravity that it could not be discussed in a few words. He had burned Mount Hiei and, using a violence that had been beyond the reach of former rulers, had brought Buddhism to its knees. He had dealt with the clergy with a rain of h.e.l.lfire and swords, but he himself knew better than anyone else that, wherever he went, the resentment toward him was unlikely to dissipate.

On the other hand, he had permitted the missionaries to build a church, he had publicly recognized their work, and from time to time he had even invited them to banquets. The Buddhist monks raised a hue and cry about which of them n.o.bunaga considered to the foreigners-the Christians or themselves.

n.o.bunaga loathed explanations. He hated to hear something spelled out, but he respected a direct intuition between people. In fact, he was elated by it.

"Sotan." He now turned to converse with the other man. "What do you think about this? You're young, so I imagine that you naturally see things differently from Sos.h.i.tsu."

Sotan looked cautiously at the lamp for a moment, but then answered quite clearly.

"I agree with you, my lord, that it would be all right to chew this matter of foreign religion well and then spit it out."

n.o.bunaga turned and looked at Sos.h.i.tsu like someone who had just had his opinions confirmed. "Don't worry. You have to grasp the larger scheme of things. Centuries ago, Lord Michizane advocated the combination of the j.a.panese soul and Chinese know-how. Whether we import the customs of China or artifacts from the West, the colors of fall and the cherry blossoms of spring do not change. Rather, when rain falls on a pond, the water is renewed. You're making the mistake of gauging the ocean by the moat of the Honno Temple. Isn't that true, Sos.h.i.tsu?"

"Yes, my lord, one must measure a moat by a moat's standards."

"And the same with culture from overseas."

"As I get old, even I have become like a frog in a well," Sos.h.i.tsu said.

"I think you're more like a whale."

"Yes," Sos.h.i.tsu agreed, "but a whale with narrow vision."

"Hey, bring some water," n.o.bunaga ordered the page sleeping behind him. He was not yet finished with the evening. Though they had not eaten or drunk for a while, the excitement of the conversation had continued on its own.

"Father," n.o.butada said, sliding over to n.o.bunaga. "It's gotten awfully late. I'm going take my leave."

"Stay a little longer," n.o.bunaga said, restraining him more than he would have ordinarily. "You're just over at Nijo, aren't you? Even if it's late, you're almost right next door, Nagato lives right in front of the gate, and our guests from Hakata are hardly going back there tonight."

"No, just me..." Sos.h.i.tsu looked as though he were getting ready to leave. "I have an appointment tomorrow morning."

"Then the only person staying is Sotan?"

"I'll be on night duty. There's work left for me, tidying up the tearoom."

"I see. You won't stay for my sake. You're carrying that expensive tea equipment with you, and you must stay here to guard it tonight."

"I won't contradict you, my lord."

"Speak frankly," n.o.bunaga laughed. Suddenly looking behind him, he stared at the hanging scroll on the wall. "Mu Ch'i is very good, isn't he? You rarely see such skill nowadays. I've heard that Sotan owns a painting by Mu Ch'i called Ships Returning from Faraway Ports. I wonder if anyone is worthy of owning such a famous painting?"

Sotan suddenly laughed out loud, as though n.o.bunaga were not there.

"What are you laughing about, Sotan?"