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Atagi Nobuyasu lived in central Tokyo, in an exclusive area of luxury condos and large homes far beyond the reach of the average Japanese. The Imperial Palace was nearby. Some of the homes here dated back to the times of the daimyos and the samurai. It was one of these, situated within a walled compound with a large, carefully tended private garden, that Nobuyasu called home.
The building was traditional, as befitted a man who believed in restoring Japan's past. The floors were made of polished cypress and covered with tatami mats of the highest quality. Yukumi shoji, traditional sliding screens of paper that could be lifted to reveal a window, were a slight concession to modernity. They preserved the traditional look and allowed light to pass through, but the windows offered a barrier against the weather.
Stepping into Nobuyasu's home was like taking a journey into the heart of Japan's history. A beautiful entrance hall greeted the visitor, where visitors took off their shoes and stored them in a cabinet made for that purpose. No one wore shoes inside a Japanese home. The rest of the structure was slightly elevated above the level of the entrance. Tokyo often experienced heavy rains during the monsoon season. Raising the floor helped prevent flooding.
Various rooms inside were used for relaxation, preparing food, bathing, viewing the garden or the moon, sleeping and entertaining. There were no chairs, no Western furniture, only low tables and cushions. Sleeping futons were stored in cabinets during the day. It was a home that would have seemed familiar and comfortable to an upper-class Japanese from the seventeenth century.
Nobuyasu was a man of culture and taste, well acquainted with the many artistic traditions of Japan. He was especially fond of the art of bonsai.
Bonsai was much more than making a miniature of something that grew large in nature. A true masterpiece produced a complex feeling of emotion and appreciation that could only come from observing perfect balance and symmetry. Pride of place in his collection was a particularly nice example of a three hundred-year-old pine, a little under twelve inches tall. It had been created to form the illusion of a tree on a rocky cliff, the branches bent as though swept by winds.
The bonsai had been placed on a low table. Nobuyasu sat cross legged in front of it, contemplating its perfection. Usually, fifteen minutes in front of the tree was enough to restore his sense of harmony at the end of the day. But today was different. He couldn't stop thinking about Masamune's sword, and all of his thoughts were disturbing.
He knew Harker's people had found it. Why hadn't she called him? He couldn't ask for it without revealing that he'd been spying on her. That was the least of his concerns. Far more important was the involvement of the yakuza. That made everything more complicated. His informer in Kobe had reported that a yakuza operation had gone badly wrong in the United States, and that it involved the sword.
The yakuza were supposed to be allied with Nobuyasu, in support of the common goal to restore a powerful Japan. They were not supposed to know about Harker, or that Nobuyasu had hired her to find the sword. No one except a few people within Black Swan knew that. One of them could had gone to the yakuza. Or it could have been one of the people he'd assigned to keep an eye on the Americans.
Either way, he'd been betrayed.
Finding the traitor would take time, but Nobuyasu was patient. Sooner or later, the man's name would be revealed and a suitable punishment administered. In the meantime, he had to retrieve the sword.
Why hadn't Harker called? Before he did anything he needed to find out more about what had happened in America. Perhaps he needed to force the issue. Now that the sword had been located, it was only a question of time before it was in his hands.
One way or another, he would have it.