Musui's Story

This chapter continues with the narrative of Katsu’s life in retirement by highlighting two incidents: one with swindlers and another with his wife. He laments forgetting “scores of other adventures” beyond the ones already mentioned in the memoir (155). The author also continues with his inappropriate lifestyle: “I was also in a great many other fights, but I’ve forgotten most of them” (154).

The first incident involves the so-called confidence men—swindlers who use psychological techniques to manipulate people and defraud them. Katsu encounters a “fine-looking samurai” (147) at the Myōken Shrine in Kita Warigesui where a certain amount of money is raised for the shrine. This man pretends to be an official in charge of finances and is thus entrusted with the safekeeping of the money, only to take off with it.

Heiuemon Takeuchi, Katsu’s friend, described these swindlers as follows:

Well, a confidence man ordinarily dresses in fine clothes and goes around visiting places like shrines and temples and lecture halls where pilgrims are bound to congregate. He wants to impress people, so he pretends to be very devout. He also lets it be known that he handles money for temples and monasteries and the like.