The Mystery of the Demon Mask: Chapter 1

First Published: December, 1999 by Dark Horse Comics

• Miyamoto Usagi
• Jei
• FIXME Unknown character char-ishida

Go

In Japan, the board game go is attributed to the Chinese Emperor Shun (2255-2206 B.C.). Legend has it that it was invented to strengthen the weak mind of his son Shang Kiun. It was brought to the Japanese Islands around the year 735 A.D. with the return of the envoy Kibi Daijin. It became a game for the warrior class, and by the thirteenth century it was played by the greatest generals to the meanest foot soldiers. Boards were carried on campaigns, and when the day's fighting was done the soldiers would retire to fight another type of battle. All three of the great generals, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu Tokugawa were devotees of go. Private and state-endorsed go academies were founded, and the highest masters of the land appeared annually to "combat" before the shogun. This ceremony was referred to as go zen go, "playing the game before the exalted presence." The custom was maintained until the fall of the Shogunate in 1868.

Go has been likened to western chess. However, whereas chess concerns a single battle, go is an entire campaign and so a severe loss on a portion of the board does not mean a loss of the game. The player can take to another part of the field and may even secure a decisive advantage. Battles occur in various parts of the board as positions are besieged and armies are cut off and captured in an effort to acquire the most territory and surround the most vacant spaces possible. A typical game can take an hour or two, but, as in chess, a championship game may be played over a period of days. There is record of such a game lasting nine days. It is said that a player would have to play ten thousand games to reach the lowest professional rank. At a rate of one game a day, that would be about twenty-seven years.

The board, or ban, is a solid block of wood, always stained yellow. The feet are cut to resemble the kuchinashi fruit - kuchinashi means "without a mouth" - and are supposed to restrain onlookers from offering comments. The top of the board is painted with thin, black lines, nineteen on each side, dividing it into squares. The intersections of these lines are called me or moku. Disc-shaped stones are placed on these intersections. Stones are picked from tsubo boxes and, with the middle and index fingers, placed on the board so it gives a cheerful little "click."

The game comes to an end when the opposing armies are in absolute contact. The whole board need not be covered.

The story opens with Usagi arriving at the home of a mysterious woman, asking her to divine the future dangers he and his companions may encounter on the road to Atsuta Shrine. The woman's ritual only reveals a single apparition: one that Usagi recognizes as Jei. Usagi exits the house into the rain to catch his breath. He turns to ask the woman where he can find a place to stay, and to his shock the woman and her hut have disappeared.

Later, two men are fighting on the road-an older samurai and an assassin wearing a demon's. The assassin kills the older samurai with Usagi witnessing the end of the battle. On seeing the demon mask assassin, he wonders now if the vision he had earlier might represent this assassin instead of Jei, and he immediately begins to wonder what is going on, who the dead samurai is, and who is behind the demon mask. The local police happen upon Usagi with the dead body, and it quickly becomes apparent more murders by Demon Mask have been committed recently. Usagi is taken in to see inspector Kojo for questioning.

On the way to inspector Kojo, Usagi meets assistant inspector Nitta, and it is apparent Nitta does not think too highly of ronin such as Usagi. Usagi is finally brought to meet inspector Kojo, who it turns out has already heard of Usagi from his friend inspector Ishida. Inspector Kojo informs Usagi the mysterious Demon Mask has committed three previous murders, all the victims being ronin. They discuss the case somewhat and make some conjectures regarding the motives of the Demon Mask. Changing the subject, the inspector inquires after whether Usagi plays the game Go.

Over a game of Go, Kojo tells how his son Tokuo, his former assistant inspector, was killed in a fire a month past. He goes on to give his opinion of the current assistant inspector, saying Nitta is a "brute only interested in honing his skills with the sword." Kojo further explains the circumstances that led to his current assignment to the remote precinct. It seems the assignment was a sort of punishment for implicating a noble and a lord in an embezzling crime. The incident left Kojo disenchanted with the system of justice. The Go game continues, and Kojo puts forth his suspicion Demon Mask is a samurai living in the mountains, a veteran swordsman trying to perfect his skills. Finally, as the game comes to an end, Kojo warns Usagi away from Demon Mask, saying he would be a match even for one as skilled as Usagi. Kojo wins the Go game in what Usagi describes as "A masterful play!" Kojo downplays his strategy, saying it was "Just a bit of misdirection . . ."

Usagi takes his leave of Kojo and again comes across assistant inspector Nitta as he trains the three policemen who initially discovered Usagi with the body of the veteran swordsman. Usagi watches as Nitta thrashes his underlings. Nitta notices Usagi and challenges Usagi to do better than the trainees. Before the match can begin, inspector Kojo interrupts and bids Nitta to give him his report of the crime scene. After Nitta and Kojo depart, Usagi offers to buy the three policemen a drink.

Over some sake, the policemen tell Usagi the story of Nitta's past and the reasons behind his hatred for ronin. It seems Nitta's father was a samurai disgraced by accusations of stealing from his lord and by his further refusal to perform seppuku to erase his shame. He became a vagabond, dragging his family about with him. The policemen suspect Nitta maintains a hatred for ronin because they remind Nitta of those hard days on the road with his ronin father.

The policemen then go on to speak about the Demon Mask murders. They mention the first ronin killed was responsible for the fire that killed Tokuo, inspector Kojo's son. As they continue drinking, Usagi notices bounty hunters leaving the inn. The policemen explain they started to flock to the town after the first murder, except for one particular bounty hunter named Kuroda. Kuroda, they say, arrived before the first death.

Usagi thanks the policemen for their information and departs the inn. In the last panel of the story, a mostly unseen and ominous figure is seen just outside the inn as Usagi makes his way into the street.

Last change: 19. May 2003

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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.