| Some of the rewards of this novel lie in trying to unravel the puzzles Murakami sets the reader. |
| Hikaru seems to play an awful move but he makes the most of it and gives Murakami a hard time. |
| However, these two defeats at the hand of Murakami did not deter Takeda Shingen. |
| The survivors needed hope for a brighter future, and Murakami sought to supply a salving narrative through his art. |
| He knew in this occasion, as the oldest of the group of karatekas, to express what he had learnt of the education of Master Murakami. |
| Murakami served drinks, washed the dishes, changed the records and booked the musicians. |
