Den Isei 4-dan, a professional in the Kansai branch of the Nihon Ki-in, has died on 27 February 2001, just after turning 34. The cause of death was lung cancer. He was born in Taiwan, and the Chinese version of his name was Tian Yisheng.
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Older News From 14 February 2001: OLDEST GO MAG TURNS 50
The oldest go magazine of those currently published has just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Igo reached this milestone with the February 2001 issue, but the tone in the magazine is subdued. Circulation is apparently down to 55,000, half its peak and average age of readers is now about 63. The Nihon Ki-in's main magazine, Kido, ceased publication a couple of years ago with a circulation said to be below 14,000.
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Older News From 11 February 2001: SHUSAI PRIZE
Yamashita Keigo 7-dan has won the prestigious 38th Shusai Prize, it was announced on 7 February 2001. The award ceremony is on 23 March. It recognises not just the fact that he won the Gosei title at the age of 21, but that his go style is a breath of fresh air. Yamashita has also recently won the Journalists' Club prize and the Kido Prize, amongst other awards.
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Older News From 3 February 2001: SMOKING OUT
The Asahi Shinbun reported on 30 January 2001 that Japanese pros based in Tokyo have voted to ban smoking during games. The Nagoya and Osaka pros are expected to vote along the same lines. The decision appears to have been influenced by Korea, where smoking has now become the exception, although it is still technically allowed in most parts of the Hanguk Kiweon. None of the young Korean pros such as Yi Ch'ang-ho and Yu Ch'ang-hyeok has ever smoked, and once heavy smokers such as Cho Hun-hyeon and Seo Pong-su have given up totally (hard for most people, a mere trifle for a guy with pro discipline). Smoking in Korea is now seen as a sign of weakness. Our impression is that the young Chinese are following the same trend.
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Older News From 27 January 2001: We mentioned the comic character Hikaru no Go in our last report. Since then we have seen Volume 10 of the series from which we learn that it has been translated into Chinese in Hong Kong.
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The prestigious 19th Journalists' Prize has been awarded to Yamashita Keigo, the new Gosei. Apart from his go success and the fact that he is an all-Japanese boy, his style of play is a boon for go journalists - Shin Fuseki reincarnated. Yamashita's first book has also just appeared: Challenging Tengen (Tengen e no Chousen; Nihon Ki-in; 700 yen) in which he explains his style on the back of a historical survey of tengen players going back to Shibukawa Shunkai.
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Hikaru no Go 1 by Hotta Yumi, Obata Takeshi and Umezawa Yukari
Older News From 16 January 2001:
The comic Hikaru no Go - about a little boy whose body is taken over by a Heian go champion - has ended the year 2000 as the 13th best-selling comic in Japan, and its success is set to continue. Apart from the weekly instalments in Shukan Jump, it has spawned at least six pocket editions. The effect in making young people aware of go has been phenomenal, but there are influential voices querying whether the Nihon Ki-in has been energetic enough in capitalising on this. It seems there are still too few places where young people can actually learn go.
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Older News From 13 January 2001:
Oscars time. The nominations for best performance in pro events in Japan in 2000 are .... Yamashita Keigo 7-dan scored 58-17 and also finished with more wins than anyone else. Cho U 6-dan scored 53-12-1. After Cho, the fastest improving player seems to be Kobayashi Koichi's pupil, Kono Rin 5-dan, who scored 43-11. The highest ranked 9-dan, by number of wins, was Kataoka Satoshi on 31-11. Best of the title holders was Yoda Norimoto 9-dan on 31-13.
Of special note among the lower grades, Cho Riyu 4-dan scored 49-9 and Takemoto Takehisa 4-dan 45-11. Best performance among the women (including games in both open and female-only events) may have been by Kato Keiko 3-dan, who scored 36-14.
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Older News From 3 January 2001:
The British satirical magazine Private Eye once ran a famous cover that said "World Goes Mad". You might think that should read "mad go world" after reading this. The January 2001 issue of Go World, now the premier Japanese go magazine, has an unusual advertisement. For a mere 33 million yen (roughly 200,000 pounds or 300,000 dollars) you can buy a 6-sun (~7 inch) shihomasa grain kaya board signed by Go Seigen and O Rissei. It also has the inscription rikugou or six harmonies, a Confucian term for the universe (heaven, earth and the four directions) favoured by Go Seigen when discussing 21st century go. It celebrates the successful defence of the Kisei title by O Rissei, who has not been afraid to experiment with 21st century go himself, having studied with Go Seigen.
The wood for the board is from Yakushima Island, 40 miles south of Kyushu. Shihomasa, or straight grain on four sides, is the rarest cut. The price includes size 38 snow-grade clam stones from Hyuga (i.e. the best) and mulberry bowls. Only one is available.
If you prefer not to sell your house to buy this, but just your top-of-the range Mercedes, there is another one-off offer of an unsigned 6-sun board with simply masa (straight) grain and slightly thinner pieces, both from Hyuga, for a mere 8,880,000 yen.
At a pinch, you can pawn your Rolex as a down payment on a 6-sun board made in Yunnan Province, China, with inferior Mexico clam pieces - just 2 million yen to the gentleman with the diamond tiepin (but there are another two under the counter). More details on http://www.joho-kyoto.or.jp/~nishigos/, the homepage of Nishimura Go and Shogi Shop.
Stop dreaming and turn the page, and you'll find another ad from Oishi Tengudo who have blossomed out from being makers of traditional playing cards. They offer as their best set a 6-sun board and stones package for a much saner 100,000 yen, although this board is made of new kaya (spruce). You can also get a 5-sun board of katsura for 65,000 yen. You can even pay by monthly instalments.
