Page 2 of 3
Re: Japan trip 2011
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:56 am
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.
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:02 am
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.
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:07 am
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
):
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:13 am
by EdLee
Oct 14, 2011. Yuugen no Ma. 幽玄の間. Nihon Kiin, 5th floor. Friday, non-tourney day. No goban or stones!
Mr. Sonoda Yasutaka 園田泰隆 9p opened the Yuugen no Ma for us; he was the last disciple of Kitani.
Kawabata Yasunari's calligraphy on the wall is not the original
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:20 am
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?
)
Re: Japan trip 2011
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:05 am
by emeraldemon
thanks for the photos!
Re: Japan trip 2011
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 7:30 am
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?
Re: Japan trip 2011
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:43 am
by nagano
Nice pics! Was this an AGA related trip? I can't help but wondering as I see Jennie Shen was with you.
Re: Japan trip 2011
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:12 am
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.
Re: Japan trip 2011
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 10:40 am
by v00d00
cool photos ^ ^
Re: Japan trip 2011
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 12:11 pm
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...
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 1:07 pm
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.
Re: Japan trip 2011
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:30 pm
by Jash
Thanks a lot for the nice pictures
!
Re:
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:48 pm
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.
Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:50 pm
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.