Igo Clubs in Japan

[smonds2]

Hello,

I'm visiting Japan for the first time in December and staying with friends outside of Nagoya. I was hoping to find some igo clubs to visit in Nagoya, Kani, or Tokyo (will be there for a few days).

Any help is appreciated!

[ez4u]

The Japan equivalent of the yellow pages listing of Go clubs in Nagoya. In Japanese naturally. Does this help?

[smonds2]

Thanks. I used google translate, and have some friends who can translate better for me in the future.

Anyone been to go clubs in Japan?

[flOvermind]

When I was in Osaka about a year ago, I went to the Kansei-kiin. Initially I had problems to get a game. I declared myself as 5 kyu, and they said they don't have an opponent, so I should wait a bit. I then watched the game of two Americans, and they told me that as an European 5 kyu I should at least say that I'm Japanese shodan, and if you're weaker than shodan, it's hard to get a game in the big clubs. Around that time, an opponent appeared (I think she was 4 kyu), and was immediately scared away because I'm so strong . Later I got two games against a 3 dan. He was quite a bit stronger than me, and he seemed very reserved. My impression was that he just played me to be polite, but the Americans said if that were the case, he wouldn't have offered a second game.

One of the Americans later introduced me to a small go club, and I went to that club a few times. That was a lot better, and there was a very strong player (7-dan, supposedly takes only 2H from pros), and he was willing to play handicap games with me. I don't speak Japanese and the Japanese players spoke just a little bit English, so communication was a bit difficult, but it was not really a problem. I seemed to really have surprised him with my play, the American said winning one game against him just means he underestimated me, but he never saw someone win a second game (but of course in the third game I was severely trashed at one less handicap ). At the end, he came to the conclusion that I'm "at least 3-dan" .

Of course I had the advantage of being introduced by someone they already knew...

For finding go clubs, look out on the street for the Japanese characters for go (囲碁). There are really a lot of them, in some areas every few streets, you just need to actively look for them. For example, that's how I found a small club in Kyoto. I didn't really plan to go to a go club, I more or less stumbled over it. I just was walking from one tourist spot to the next, saw the sign, and just walked in. This time, I declared myself as "2 dan or 3 dan". I got two games, both opponents were more or less my strength. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to stick around.

Oh, and before I forget: You'll probably have to pay for playing, even in the small clubs. But it's not really expensive (I don't remember the exact price, but I remember at the Kansei-kiin it depended on my rank).


TL/DR:
- Find a small go club, they are a lot better than the "big" ones at Kansei-kiin or Nihon-kiin.
- To easily get games, be at least Japanese shodan (as KGS 2k that's probably still a little bit sandbagging).

All Japanese that I played with were genuinely surprised that a foreigner could be so "strong" at go, that seemed to turn me into some kind of attraction

[Dusk Eagle]

(I don't remember the exact price, but I remember at the Kansei-kiin it depended on my rank).

That's interesting, I've never heard of that. Does it cost more if you're weak or if you're strong? I can see the argument going both ways. If you're weak, they might want to charge you less to encourage you to come out at all. On the other hand, if you're strong, you kind of are providing a free service to others in the club when you play teaching games with them.

[smonds2]

Thanks for the info!

I was going to try to visit the Nihon - Ki-in in Nagoya, and found even small clubs in the city of about 70,000 that I'll be staying in.


Hopefully by the time I go there I'll be japanese shodan. I should be KGS 1 k with one more win, and I've been taking lessons with pro. So hopefully by December

[Redundant]

Thanks for the info!

I was going to try to visit the Nihon - Ki-in in Nagoya, and found even small clubs in the city of about 70,000 that I'll be staying in.


Hopefully by the time I go there I'll be japanese shodan. I should be KGS 1 k with one more win, and I've been taking lessons with pro. So hopefully by December

Good news! You're already Japanese shodan. I visited the Nihon Kiin in Tokyo back when I was KGS 3k, and played a shodan even. I felt at least as strong as my opponent.

[flOvermind]

That's interesting, I've never heard of that. Does it cost more if you're weak or if you're strong?

First I said I'm a 5 kyu, and they told me a price. Then, after they got told by the Americans that I'm actually a dan player, they asked for more. I didn't ask why, because it wasn't much either way. I just assumed the price depends on rank. It could also be that there's simply a discount for kyu players

Hopefully by the time I go there I'll be japanese shodan. I should be KGS 1 k with one more win, and I've been taking lessons with pro

As KGS 2k you're probably stronger than JP shodan.

I was about KGS 2-3k around the time I was in Japan, and several Japanese players said I'm at least 3 dan. That's probably a little bit inflated because I often fall for tricks that don't actually work, and the people I played all played a very solid and theoretically sound game, without trying to trick me. I tend to play better against that kind of opponent. Still, I think JP 2d = KGS 2k sounds accurate, at least for the clubs where I played...


EDIT: On further reflection, I think the reason for the price difference is very simple, and also related to the "weak" shodan:
As I said, it's hard to get games when you're not at least shodan. The Americans I met told me that's the reason why Japanese ratings are so inflated around shodan: When entering a new club, everyone that's nearly, but not quite, shodan will just say shodan instead of e.g. 2 or 3 kyu, in order to get more games. That automatically inflates the club's ratings, making shodan weaker.

Price per rank counteracts that. You play against kyu players, you pay something. You play against dan players, you pay more. Simple