Points And Lines

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ON THE evening of January 13, Tatsuo Yasuda had a guest to dinner at the Koyuki, a Japanese-style restaurant in the Aka-saka quarter of Tokyo. The guest was a division chief in one of the government ministries.

Tatsuo Yasuda was president of the Yasuda Co., a precision tool and machinery firm that had grown considerably in recent years and seemed to be prospering. It did a great deal of business with certain government agencies, and there were those who said that this was the reason for the rapid expansion. It was these government contacts that Yasuda often entertained at the Koyuki.

This restaurant was by no means one of the best in the Akasaka district. Perhaps, for this very reason, guests found the atmosphere friendly and informal. Moreover, the waitresses who served in the private rooms were exceptionally competent. Yasuda was looked upon as one of their good customers. He was, of course, a liberal spender; money was his stock-in-trade, he was quick to admit. And the men he entertained were the sort that could be influenced by money. However, no matter how friendly he was with the waitresses, he never told them more than was necessary about his guests.

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