Summary

In Chapter 8, Etsuko shifts her narrative attention to Ogata. Ogata had stayed with her and Jiro longer than originally planned, and it was obvious to Etsuko that he was waiting for Jiro to write a letter to Shigeo, but Jiro never did. Although Jiro never said so, it was clear that he was looking forward to Ogata going back to his own home. At last, Ogata said that he would be departing soon. He then lectured Jiro on chess, as Ogata had consistently beat Jiro at chess that summer. Jiro was uninterested in what Ogata had to say about chess. Despite the tension in Ogata and Jiro’s relationship, Etsuko and Ogata’s rapport appeared to still be fairly genial and easygoing. The day before Ogata’s scheduled departure from Nagasaki, Jiro had an important meeting scheduled at work where he was going to...