The Kagen Club

Kazu received word from a certain cabinet member that the Kagen Club would like to
hold its annual meeting at her establishment. The Kagen Club was a kind of
association of former ambassadors who were roughly contemporaries and who met once
a year on the seventh of November. They had hitherto been unlucky with their
meeting places, and the cabinet member, feeling sorry for them, put in a word with
Kazu.
�They�re a bunch of elegant, retired gentlemen,� he said, adding, �All except one,
who�s never quite retired. I�m sure you�ve heard of him�old Noguchi, the famous
Noguchi who was in the cabinet any number of times before the war. I don�t know
what�s come over him, but a couple of years ago he was elected to the Diet on the
Radical ticket, only to get beaten in the next election.�
Kazu learned of the club�s plans in the midst of a garden party given by the
minister, and she was too busy entertaining the guests to listen to more. The
garden had been invaded that day by a crowd of foreign men and women. It was as if
a flock of birds�not the usual twittering little creatures, but a chattering swarm
of oversized, brightly feathered birds, had swooped down on the Setsugoan.
As the seventh of November approached, Kazu began making plans. The most important
thing with such guests was to express her respect. The same uncomplimentary jokes
and familiar behavior which were likely to amuse men at the height of their powers
might wound the pride of men who were once renowned but now living in retirement.
Her function as hostess when entertaining such elderly guests would be entirely
confined to listening. Later, she would