Japan trip 2011

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Dusk Eagle
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Re: Japan trip 2011

Post by Dusk Eagle »

Those first few Go salons seem pretty empty...

Also, was that amateur tournament just for seniors? I hope that's not a reflection on the state of over-the-board Go playing in Japan.
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Post by EdLee »

Dusk Eagle wrote:Those first few Go salons seem pretty empty...
We went to the Kyoto club on Saturday morning before they opened; the lady was still cleaning/preparing.
The Kamakura club was closed that day; we barged in while the poor gentleman was having lunch and watching some Go DVD on TV. :)
Dusk Eagle wrote:Also, was that amateur tournament just for seniors?
The age range seems to be universal in all the Go clubs we visited. :-?
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Post by EdLee »

Oct 13, 2011. Yet ANOTHER Go club in Shinjuku, all within walking distance of the Shinjuku station:
(I had my Malkovich game reviewed by two pros for fun :mrgreen:):
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Post by EdLee »

Oct 14, 2011. Yuugen no Ma. 幽玄の間. Nihon Kiin, 5th floor. Friday, non-tourney day. No goban or stones! :evil:
Mr. Sonoda Yasutaka 園田泰隆 9p opened the Yuugen no Ma for us; he was the last disciple of Kitani. :bow:
Kawabata Yasunari's calligraphy on the wall is not the original :P
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Post by EdLee »

Oct 14, 2011. Nihon Kiin. Iwamoto Kaoru sensei's calligraphy; Goban signed by Kitani Minoru;
Kawabata Yasunari's calligraphy (in the basement; finally, the original? :))
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Re: Japan trip 2011

Post by emeraldemon »

thanks for the photos!
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Re: Japan trip 2011

Post by entropi »

Very nice pictures! But the picture with elderly people looks a bit sad. I have absolutely nothing against elderly people playing go but where is the youth (unless that was a special occasion for the old)?

Can you roughly give an idea how strong an average club player is? I mean when you approach somebody you don't know for playing, what would be his/her level typically?
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Re: Japan trip 2011

Post by nagano »

Nice pics! Was this an AGA related trip? I can't help but wondering as I see Jennie Shen was with you.
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Re: Japan trip 2011

Post by Bill Spight »

When I was in Kyoto last, in 1998, the Kyoto branch of the Nihon Kiin did not seem to have a lot of amateur players. Other go clubs did. :) The Nihon Kiin branch was perhaps a little out of the way.
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Re: Japan trip 2011

Post by v00d00 »

cool photos ^ ^
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Re: Japan trip 2011

Post by Jedo »

These pictures are really great! I'm going to be in japan for a few months starting in Jan., so it would be nice to know the location of a few good clubs (I'll mostly be in Kyoto)

I knew mostly old people played in Japan, but seriously...
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Post by EdLee »

nagano wrote:Nice pics! Was this an AGA related trip?
Thanks, nagano. Not a Go trip at all. :) It was a group tour with my karate sensei,
related to the 80th anniversary of the Waseda University karate club.
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Re: Japan trip 2011

Post by Jash »

Thanks a lot for the nice pictures :D !
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Post by tchan001 »

EdLee wrote:
nagano wrote:Nice pics! Was this an AGA related trip?
Thanks, nagano. Not a Go trip at all. :) It was a group tour with my karate sensei,
related to the 80th anniversary of the Waseda University karate club.

Did you get a chance to see any actual copies of the ancient go manuals in the Waseda University Library?
There are links to their online versions on SL via the Japanese Go Books page.
http://tchan001.wordpress.com
A blog on Asian go books, go sightings, and interesting tidbits
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Post by EdLee »

tchan001 wrote:Did you get a chance to see any actual copies of the ancient go manuals in the Waseda University Library?
Unfortunately, no. There was a tour of the Waseda campus, but I did not attend.
There were ancient Go kifus in the same basement of the Nihon Kiin.
Except for the two Nihon Kiin visits which were planned ahead of time,
all the other Go clubs were found by accident, and impromptu visits so I was already very lucky. :)
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