[3] The story itself is a semi-fictionalized account of a lengthy 1938 Go game between the respected master Honinbo Shūsai and the up-and-coming player Minoru Kitani (known as Otaké in the book).

The novel's central aspect, a struggle between an older player whose powers are fading and his younger challenger, is a common motif representing the cycle of life and conflict between generations.

Kawabata suggests that part of the tension comes from the divide between old traditions and new pragmatism[4] — for example, commenting on the rigid rules governing the contest, the author writes: Kawabata is often more interested in the internal conflict of the players than the conflicts between them: the book vividly describes the exhausting internal struggles of Shūsai and Otaké under the pressure of the game and their lives outside it.

[5] Finally, as a retelling of a climactic struggle, translator Edward Seidensticker considers the work a symbolic parallel to the defeat of Japan in World War II, an event which affected Kawabata deeply.

His translation was based on a later revision of the work by Kawabata, which shortened the novel somewhat compared to the original Japanese book version.