Late Tokugawa Japan, Shimizu Port in Suruga Province.

Chogoro, adopted son of the rice merchant Jirohachi,

became known along the coast as Jirocho.

In his youth, a wandering monk reportedly told him

he would not live past twenty-five.

He staked his remaining years on the gaming mats and post roads,

and lived to seventy-three.

In 1868, when sailors of a defeated warship

drifted ashore in Shimizu Bay,

and no one dared touch the dead,

he pulled them from the water and buried them.

“Among the dead, there are no sides,” he is said to have answered.

Anyone up late weighing whether to stay at work or walk out,

Anyone facing an exam, promotion, or post and asking if they make the cut,

Anyone who just watched a trusted partner begin to waver,

Anyone asking whether to fold this round or hold the line.

From here on is the tale this ledger keeps.

At the mat, he never trusted flattering talk.

He heard the reading, and he set his own table.

Once all the cards were turned, he gave only one verdict.

1. “Bright Hand.”
2. “Ribbon Hand.”
3. “Chaff Hand.”

Every guest who came to him cut five cards with their own hand.

From the first four, he read the hand they held and the month to move;

from the fifth and last,

he uncovered the hidden turn that could upend a won table.

“Hear the reading, then set your own table.”