Our last posting caused some consternation in the discussion forums by mentioning the Hikaru slump in Japan, and pointing out the old truth that go is an old man's game there.
But there are still several million players in Japan and inevitably these include some youngsters. Just last month the Amateur Honinbo was won by the youngest holder in 52 years. 22-year-old Murakami Fukashi managed to combine that with being the University Honinbo. Among pros we might mention Iyama Yuta 7-dan, the first pro born in the Heisei era (1989) and the youngest ever title holder there at 16 years and 4 months (the Agon-Kiriyama Cup). Or we could mention the Hoshikawas. Father Hoshikawa Nobuaki, an 8-dan at the Kansai Ki-in, has recently produced three pros: his sons Koyo, Manabu and Takumi.
Then there is the Mukai trio at the Nihon Ki-in: sisters Chiaki, Kaori and Kozue, all very recent pros. These are all pupils of Honda Sachiko 7-dan, one of the three Honda sisters who all reached high dan grades. That must be some kind of record, though we're not quite sure what, except that it maybe puts the Polgar sisters in the shade.
But even if you dismiss these young Japanese pros as not having yet really made their marks, the prowess of the teenyboppers in Korea and China should be enough to dispel any anxiety over the place of youth in go.
Neverthless, as autumn chickens ourselves, we would like to assert that the old in go are entitled to their place in the sun, too.
And the youngsters need looking after. For example, we apparently have to thank Honda Sachiko for Rin Kaiho sticking to his last. In his recent autobiography, Rin mentions how, after being used to constant praise in Taiwan as a young prodigy, he was thoroughly dejected after the shock of being beaten on a large handicap by Go Seigen. What saved him from total discouragement, he said, was that Honda Sachiko, then 1-dan, who had accompanied Go to Taiwan, immediately afterwards played him on 3 stones and let him win (he said) by 4. This perked him up enough to relish the opportunity to go to Japan to be Go's pupil. It was only after he got to Japan and met a bunch of strong amateurs that he realised Honda had gone easy on him.
So, while glossing over the welcome claims of medical researchers that go helps combat senility (can't remember where we read that), we offer here a sample of achievements at various ages. The Orient has a long tradition of specially marking certain ages, rather in the way that we celebrate wedding anniversaries, and we will use that as a Zimmer frame.