I suppose many of us have been in the position of trying to explain to fellow westerners what sort of place go holds in Oriental societies. It's never easy. I tend to cheat (though only a little) and say it's a bit like the status of golf here. That sometimes causes its own problems as some people have thought I was referring to golf in the first place - a problem acerbated by those snobs who insist on pronouncing golf as in the first part of gopher.

However, I just came across a possible measure of national fame, one not very useful for dealing with non-go players but one that may be illuminating for go players themselves. The Japanese economic daily the Nihon Keizai Shinbun, which has sponsored the Oza since 1953, began a now-monthly series in 1956 called "My CV". In all they have now interviewed 900 people. Normally the subjects are of the stature of politicians, economists, and writers, but over the years six go players have appeared. I don't think chess players have anything like matched that. In fact, i can't recall a single example, even though players like Fischer have made the news for other reasons. Does this square with other people's experience?

We have similar columns today, with titles like "60 seconds with..." or "My favourite things", but at least 9 times out of 10 the subjects are pop singers or actors that I have never heard of. Certainly nothing like chess players.

The list of the Nikkei's go subjects is interesting in its own right: Hashimoto Utaro, Segoe Kensaku, Takagawa Kaku, Sakata Eio, Fujisawa Hideyuki and Rin Kaiho.

No Go Seigen, no Kitani Minoru, no Takemiya Masaki. Obviously it's possible that some people were asked and declined, though it's hard to imagine Takemiya ever turning down a chance to be in the spotlight. In Go's case, maybe he was seen too much as the child of the rival Yomiuri.

Still, 6 out of 900 doesn't seem too bad as an indicator of go in the Japanese national consciousness.

John, do you know if there were any Sumo wrestlers or Shogi players among the 900?
Or Akira Kurosawa, Hayao Miyazaki? Is there a webpage that lists all 900? Just curious.

I know it is not the same thing, but talking about fame of chess players this is worth mentioning:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/20/busin ... agnus.html

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If you say no, Elwood and I will come here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the week.

Good question. Yes, the full list exists in the Japanese Wikipedia. Shogi has 4 entries, sumo has 4 and singers have 4. Poets score 2, whereas prime ministers peak at 10. Probably the biggest cultural category is writers (51). Film makers total only 8, and don't seem to include Kurosawa.

So, in that light, too, go can hold its head up high.

In chess, Kasparov obviously qualifies -- he's made a name for himself with his political commentary and business analysis, and there have been lots of profiles of him. There aren't too many others in recent memory, though.

Thanks, John. Could you show us the Wikipedia link? I'm curious to see the list.

jts, Thanks!