EDITORIAL | New Star in Japan's Go Should Help Revive the Game's Luster

Go master Ryo Ichiriki has won the Ing Cup World Professional Championship in Shanghai, China. 

It had been a long 19 years since a Japanese Go player won a major international tournament. We celebrate this achievement, and hope it will lead to a renaissance for the Japanese Go world. 

Ichiriki, 27, holds three of the seven major Go titles in Japan. They are the Kisei, Tengen, and Honinbo crowns. He was taught Go by his grandfather, and his talent was recognized from an early age.

Ichiriki also has deep ties to the newspaper world. He is the only son in the family that founded the Kahoku Shimpo, a major media group in the Tohoku region. Also, after graduating from Waseda University, he became a reporter for that paper. Moreover, in the spring of 2024, he started serving as a company director.

He has now put to rest the concerns of those around him that he would not be able to win a world championship while pursuing his newspaper career. The Ing Cup is a major professional Go tournament held once every four years. It has also been dubbed the "Olympics of Go." And it was significant that, in the final, Ichiriki bested Xie Ke (24), a ninth-dan in ranking and China's best Go player. 

Go's Struggle for Popularity in Japan

The popularity of Go in Japan has been declining compared to Shogi, which has a superstar in the person of Sota Fujii, a seven-title holder. But perhaps the emergence of a new star will help revive the game's luster.

"Becoming number one has been a long-cherished dream for Japan's Go community," Ichiriki said.

"However, at the national level we still fall a bit short as compared to China and South Korea," he admitted. Ichiriki added emphatically, "But perhaps I can take the lead in raising the overall level of Japanese Go players." 

In the past, the Japanese Go world boasted the world's strongest players. For example, Eio Sakata and Hideyuki Fujisawa were notable players during the Showa era.

Returning to Winning Form

Talented players from overseas joined the Nihon Ki-in (Japan Go Association) in order to study Go in Japan. And the rivalry between the ninth-dan Korean masters Cho Chikun and Koichi Kobayashi generated tremendous excitement among Go fans. 

Japanese players dominated these contests when international Go tournaments were started in the 1980s. However, in the 2000s, China and South Korea rose to prominence, eclipsing Japan.

One of the factors behind Ichiriki's triumph this time was the attention paid to strengthening the national team, made up of the nation's top players, in preparing for international tournaments. Taiwanese ninth-dan master Hsu Chia-yuan, who plays professionally in Japan, also assisted by traveling with them as a research partner. 

Bringing Up Young Talent

Japan's Go world has also introduced a system for discovering young talent. Sumire Nakamura, a third-dan player, became a professional in 2019 at the age of 10. He was brought up through the Japan Go Association's "Specially Recommended Talented Player" system. Earlier, in 2024, he was transferred to the Korea Baduk Association, the Hanguk Kiwon. It is the South Korean counterpart of the Nihon Ki-in. The association aims to make further progress in raising his (and Japan's) Go to a higher level. 

Another player attracting attention is the shodan Reo Fujita, who is with the Kansai Ki-in. He turned pro in 2022 at the tender age of nine. 

In the 10th dan tournament sponsored earlier in 2024 by The Sankei Shimbun, veteran Yuta Iyama staged a comeback. He has already won seven crowns in his career. It is delightful to witness this synergy between youngsters and veteran players.

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• Could Sumire Nakamura, 11 Years Old, Be the Next Junior High ‘Go’ Titleholder?

(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun