Getting to the Nihon Ki-in is actually very easy. It is marked on the maps in Ichigaya station not only on the platforms but near the exits, too. At the correct exit there even is a huge plaque with the logo. When you take the right exit (we think it was number 2), you immediately turn right into the next street et voilà, here's the steep street every reader of Hikaru no Go will recognise, with the Nihon Ki-in headquarters already in view.
When you enter the building, you'll be in the entrance hall. Here are some pictures from the entrance hall:
The Museum of the Nihon Ki-in is in the basement. Actually, it is just one room. It is not as big as I expected it to be, but it has some very interesting exhibits, e.g. the memorial plaque for the (only) German professional, Hans Pietsch, who was killed during a journey through South America promoting Go, the board on which the first game of Go was played in outer space or original copies of kifu of players such as Honinbo Shusaku. The most stylish exhibit might have been a very thick floor goban made entirely of glass.
For the Go club, you take the elevator to the second floor. When we came here on wednesday afternoon, there were a few people playing but the big playing room was actually relatively empty. Since we arrived around 4pm and the Go club closes at 6pm, we only payed half the usual price (1.340¥ is the usual price) and received a player card at the counter where the pairings were made. There was no rank (or rating) written on it yet, we first had to play a "test game".
Each of us quickly got to play a game (1k got a 3d and 4k doesn't remember because of her eagerness to play) and won it without any serious problems. After that, 1k got "promoted" to 5d (!?). That was quite a bit higher than we thought it would be. We knew that European ranks are among the hardest and that the difference between a 3k in - let's say - Germany and a Japanese 3k is quite big, but 1k wasn't quite prepared for this. After that, 1k (or should I now say 5d? ;-) ) got to play another opponent (a 5d this time) and won quite easily again.
For 4k there were not many options as it seemed and no rank had been decided yet. At the counter for the pairings there sat a young woman and a young guy. 4k didn't really understand what they were talking about but as it turned out she energetically talked him into a game with 4k. He was quite nice, but unfortunately spoke only very little English. He gave 4k a handicap of three stones but very soon the game turned into white's favour even though he didn't really do anything special - this guy was really strong.
After the game the young guy reviewed the game and (thanks to the elderly man, the young guy didn't mention it - or 4k didn't understand) it turned out that this young guy was a 7p and 4k just got a free teaching game. XD After this game, 4k got a new rank, too: 2d! Since 1k was still playing, 4k (now 2d ;-) ) then played a handicap game with the elderly man just for fun, giving him (as he suggested) 4 stones. However, it seems that wasn't enough, it was a fairly easy win. After that, the Go club closed already and we had to go. However, we decided to come back on the next day to put our new ranks to the test and finally play lots of Go.
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