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Tokio had an urgent desire to find a just solution to their problem. It struck him that his behavior until now had been very unnatural and insincere. That night, Tokio wrote a serious letter to Yoshiko's parents in the Bitchū mountains describing in detail how Yoshiko and Tanaka were getting along and enclosed her recent letter to him. In concluding the letter he wrote:
The time has finally arrived for all of us--you as father, I as teacher, and the young ones—-to seriously discuss this problem face to face. You have your own opinion as a father, Yoshiko on her part has her right to freedom, and I have my own opinion as her teacher. I am sorry to intrude on your precious time, but I do hope that you will be able to come up to Tokyo.
Tokio put the letters into an envelope addressing it to Mr. Heizō Yokoyama, Niimi-Chō, Bitchū Prefecture. He laid it down by his side intently gazing at the envelope. He felt that this letter held her future. With a determined mind he called a maid and handed it to her for mailing.
Tokio imagined how the letter in one or two days would be delivered to her father in the Bitchū mountains. This was a small country village entirely encircled by mountains; a large white walled building stood at the center of the village; when a mailman delivered the letter, a man working in the shop received it and took the letter to his master in a back room. The master [Yoshiko's father], who was tall and had a mastache, read the letter--the moment of decision drew nearer by the minute.
