It's Saturday night in Tokyo. I have had my usual evening drinking with friends after playing Go. So I will plead diminished capacity as I go ahead and ask, am I the only person who found Honinbo Shuei's story... unengaging (for want of a better term)?

Yesterday I was contemplating a cut and paste job that I made from some tables in the 2012 Nihon Kiin Yearbook. It shows all the participants in the Honinbo league and titleholders since the first term way back when (see below). One picture encapsulates 70 some years of the best of Go history. I was interested in things like the fluctuating number of players in the league in the early years, so I started (re)reading the write-ups on GoGoD. It suddenly struck me that I really wanted a more in-depth story of the events and the games.

I especially like Term 9, 'It was said that the players did not exchange a single word during Game 1. Game 2 could also have done with a wider vocabulary. According to the observer, the writer Muramatsu Takashi, at the end Sugiuchi said, "Half a point, eh?" Takagawa replied, "Who?" Sugiuchi: "To me, surely?" Takagawa: "Ah, so. Too bad. I haven't been counting." ' I love it. Tell me more!

I realized that for me, Shuei had little drama. It is the story of a life that really did not engage me despite all the world-changing events of that time period. I like all of the 10-game match books and all of the special game books better - because of the drama. Let's face it, I am way too lazy to read a book only for the quality of the Go and/or commentary. Give me the Sturm und Drang from the guys in berets (Nine-Dan Showdown, page 261). My introduction to Go came about when I mistook The 1971 Honinbo Tournament for a chess book one day in a San Francisco book store in the mid 70's. It had weird diagrams that I didn't understand, a few pictures, and a killer story line - the young hero battles his way up from the very bottom, challenges the master (himself another young here, but let's not spoil the story), and walks off as the youngest ever champion. I bought the book and the next day bought my first Go board (together with Go for Beginners). The rest is history.

I am a typical, superficial consumer. Concentrate on the local color, the intrigues, and the play-by-play building to the climax. I think I would be much happier buying a series on the Honinbo matches from inception up through the mid 70's (when Go World coverage started) at least. Also the Meiji titles from the 60's. They could be packaged by year or any other grouping that made sense and priced appropriately. Tell the stories that are hinted at in the short reports in GoGoD.

What do others think?

P.S. Here by the way is the multi-page table from the yearbook, cut and pasted into a single, large picture. All Japanese at present. The tournament terms are listed along the top and players down the side. League members are shown with black circles, winner in the title match with a star, and the loser with a white circle. Enjoy!

_________________
Dave Sigaty
"Short-lived are both the praiser and the praised, and rememberer and the remembered..."
- Marcus Aurelius; Meditations, VIII 21

I'd certainly agree as to the lack of drama, or apparent lack of drama. Shuei's friend Kim Ok Kyun's life seems much more dramatic. On the other hand, maybe the perceived drama in other cases is only superficial. After all, go is only a game so how could there be anything so dramatic about winning some games? I think the drama is in the mind of the observer. And, too, we can never really understand how Shuei (or Dosaku or Jowa or Shusaku, etc.) became so very strong. To me one of the fascinating things about Shuei's life is how he could have done so well in such a chaotic environment, with very little large scale support for go. Anyhow, concerning the Shuei book(s), I'm very glad to have the commented games. I have the Igo Taikei volume and the more recent one by Takagi and I'm very happy to have JF's contribution as well.