Japanse September Insei

[Elom]

I happened to check the Nihon Kiin's September insei table and saw Schayan Hamrah an Austrian 5 dan. There seems to have been more insei from Thailand coming and going in recent times as well.

There is also a 12 year old going into to the pro exam as the fifth placed insei of class A. Is this a sign Japan might have a few prodigies as from what I last heard, Japan was declining in this area. Also, Osawa Narumi 4p appears to have a student, Ousuga Seira. Does Saitama prefecture produce strong players?

[John Fairbairn]

Does Saitama prefecture produce strong players?

Is the Pope Catholic?

Actually Osawa Narumi is from there along with a notable clutch of female pros: Fujisawa Rina, Ishii Akane, and Kato Tomoko. And of course the doyenne of the amateur women's scene, Tojima Hana.

And since you mention prodigies, Saitama also boasts the youngest ever Amateur Honinbo, Hayashi Ryo, from last year.

[Elom]

Thank you very much for the information .

I nearly gasped upon finding out Hayashi Ryo actually avenged his loss in the final of 2015!

Fujisawa Rina 3p turns twenty today, but there are still five teenagers in Japan's top 150. In addition to Shibano 'the Tiger' Toramaru 7p, Seki Koutaro 2p seems especially noteworthy (I think five years ago an 11 year old Seki Koutaro produced Japan's first ever World Youth Goe Championship win). However, one can't ignore Ueno Asami 2p sweeping Xie Yimin 6p in the Female Kisei. Or beat So Yokoku 9p in the NHK Cup.

edited for uniformity as advised by John Fairbairn

[silviu22]

Fujisawa Rina 3p turns twenty today, but there are still five teenagers in Japan's top 150. In addition to Shibano 'the Tiger' Toramaru 7p, Seki Koutarou 2p seems especially noteworthy (I think five years ago an 11 year old Seki Koutarou produced Japan's first ever World Youth Goe Championship win).

Fijisawa Rina seems to be doing very well against men; she became 4p a few months ago. She is 3rd in the number of wins for Japanese players. See https://gotoeveryone.k2ss.info/ranking/?country=jp.

I have been watching Seki Koutarou, too. He has a lot of wins this year. For a long time he had more wins than Iyama Yuta. I see Iyama just caught up with him recently (see the above link).

There was another european in the Japanese Insei (Simao Goncalves 3d from Portugal). But he never got above #40 so he recently dropped out and was replaced by Hamrah Schayan.

Hamrah is at 28 right now. I am very curious to see what he does in the months to come.

[hyperpape]

Thank you very much for the information .

I nearly gasped upon finding out Hayashi Ryo actually avenged his loss in the final of 2015!

Fujisawa Rina 3p turns twenty today, but there are still five teenagers in Japan's top 150. In addition to Shibano 'the Tiger' Toramaru 7p, Seki Koutarou 2p seems especially noteworthy (I think five years ago an 11 year old Seki Koutarou produced Japan's first ever World Youth Goe Championship win). However, one can't ignore Ueno Asami 2p sweeping Xie Yimin 6p in the Female Kisei. Or beat So Yokoku 9p in the NHK Cup.

Btw: he's not top 150 in goratings, but Mamumamu's site says Onishi Ryuhei is on a probable track to become a titleholder: viewtopic.php?p=234734#p234734.

[Elom]

Btw: he's not top 150 in goratings, but Mamumamu's site says Onishi Ryuhei is on a probable track to become a titleholder: viewtopic.php?p=234734#p234734.

Thanks, I think some say he could become a rival to Shibano.

[John Fairbairn]

Btw: he's not top 150 in goratings, but Mamumamu's site says Onishi Ryuhei is on a probable track to become a titleholder: viewtopic.php?p=234734#p234734.

He has already been a title holder - and the youngest Shinjin-O in Japanese history at that. He was 16 years 6 months when he won the 41st Shinjin-O in 2016 (overtaking Ichiriki Ryo at 17y 3m), just two years after becoming pro. He was the first ever to win the title in his first appearance. Last year he also won the Ibero-Japan Cup.

Kyo Kagen needs a mention. He is still only 20 and has won the Gosei this year. He's being bigged up in Japan. He had to face a detailed questionnaire in this month's Go World, so now we know he has 3 suits, 10 ties, 4 pairs of shoes and 1 watch, his uninhabited Desert Island picks would be specs, music and friends (logic doesn't seem to be strong point - good on yer, Kyo san ). What he takes with him on game days are his fan, smart phone and sweeties. His biggest worry is his savings account, but that may be connected with his admiration for Matsushita Konosuke (Mr Panasonic, aka in Japan as the "god of management"). Highlight of his teenage years was becoming old enough to drink - lemon Sour is his favourite tipple. Too much information?

PS to Elom: For consistency (and following normal western practice), Seki Kotaro is the right form (otherwise you need to write Oonishi Ryuuhei, etc).

[Elom]

I think these are what each class represents.

Class S: prodigies who can fight for titles in their teens, competitive internationally during late twenties, which are normally a players peak years
Class A: title challengers during early twenties
Class B: title challengers during late twenties
Class C: enters leagues during late twenties
Class D: enters main tournaments during peak years

Mamu notes that some players may peak after their twenties, and that some players results are consistent while others can win when it counts. I guess there may be some that are be strong, but crack in the big games.

As fate would have it, Onishi Ryuhei beat Shibano Toramanu in the Kisei playoffs a few days ago. He is a rival .

Fujisawa Rina is likely the strongest Japanese female professional ever, but I think she could get stronger still up to entering main tournaments. She made good on what she said about training in asia by playing in both the Korean and Chinese Women's Leagues, and I'm sure even the best Japanese professionals would be happy to beat a top twenty Chinese player, even in a speed match .

[Elom]

she became 4p a few months ago.

Thanks .

[silviu22]

I happened to check the Nihon Kiin's September insei table and saw Schayan Hamrah an Austrian 5 dan.

Looks like Schayan Hamrah has disappeared. I don't know what happened. The google translation for https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/player/insei/joretu/ just puts him in the "Decline" list at the bottom.

My guess is that Schayan gave up, not that he was kicked off the program.