I'm trying to find a study group for Go in the Tokyo area. I'm an SDK who just moved to Tokyo from western Japan for work. When I was in Osaka, I attended a weekly circle run by a 7p, and though it was really hard at first, I got used to the routine (and the Japanese). But I can't seem to find the same thing here in Tokyo, though I'm sure it's just because I haven't found it yet.

I've attended some classes at the Ki-in (both at Ichigaya and next to Tokyo Station) but they seem to be at the wrong level and the groups are too large to get much feedback from the sensei(s) after the game ends. I've also tried tutoring games (shido-go) at the Ki-in, but even there the games are simul games with high handicap. There is no way to, say, go there and just study fuseki or review a kifu or do any "what if". I guess I'd hoped to find an actual tutor.

Surely I am just going about this the wrong way. Lots of you have probably thought through how to study best, so I'm posting this question to see if any of you can give me some suggestions. I'd be very grateful for your help or for suggestions about people to ask or places to check out in Tokyo. Fortunately, I live right in the heart of the city so it's easy to get around.

Many pros are affiliated with private go kaisho where they might have smaller study groups. There used to be go playing and lessons at Ben's Cafe in Takadanobaba (http://benscafe.com/en/) with Rob van Zeist. The people there might know how to find what you want. You could leave a message for Dave Sigaty (http://senseis.xmp.net/?DaveSigaty) on Sensei's Library. He has been living in Tokyo for a long time and might know how to find a study group.

I just wanted to take a moment to follow up on this thread, which is now one month old to the day.

Sadly, even though I've followed the excellent feedback given here, I have been unable to find a place to study Go here in Tokyo. This evening, I went up to Ben's Cafe, but the staff there said that the Go club, which met on Sunday mornings, no longer exists; they had no leads or further suggestions. (They did say that they have a Go board available for use in the cafe, though. It was a nice offer.)

On a separate tack, I followed the suggestion of gowan to contact Dave Sigaty for further advice, but my two e-mails (plus a follow-up a few weeks later) met with no reply of any kind.

So, I am kind of stuck. Of course, there are private Go salons (gokaijou) scattered around Tokyo, but sometimes it is intimidating to set foot into one. If anyone has further suggestions, I'd be all ears! Thanks in advance.

Here are some more ideas:

1. Go to the public playing rooms at the Nihon Ki-in either in Ichgaya or Yaesu and play there for a few sessions. Maybe you'll make friends with someone there who can help you.

2. It is possible to take lessons one-on-one with a pro. The fees are likely higher than for three-on-one teaching games, though. In such a situation if you explain to your sensei that you want question-answer discussions in addition to teaching games you can probably get what you want. It won't have the shared-experience community type feeling of a small study group, though.

3. Contact Richard Bozulich of Kiseido Publishing Company: kiseido (at)yk. rim.or. jp or KISEIDO Kagawa 4-48-32 Chigasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken Japan 253-0082

4. Visit the go salon Dogenzaka, where an American named Michael Simon frequently plays. See the page titled "Dogenzaka" on Sensei's Library. SL also has a page "Japan Cool Places" where there is a section on Go salons in the Tokyo area including ones where Westerners would be welcome. If you want to join a study group at a salon it is probably a good idea to go there enough times for people to get to know you and see you as something of a "regular".

Just a reminder - it is usually a good idea when giving out an email address publicly to write it out like so: kisedo (at) yk.rim or .jp, otherwise you might invoke the curse of the spambots.

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Patience, grasshopper.

I assumed it was ok to put the actual address because it is that way on their own website, but I suppose spambots could search only on message boards.