Osaka Go Camp - Day 1

The first day of the Osaka Go Camp 2015 has finally come!

In the morning, we gathered for a short explanation on this week's schedule for the camp, a few of the special events and of course on how the camp generally works by Maeda Ryo 6p and Li Ting 1p, the main organizers of the Osaka Go Camp. After that, we got to play the first out of eight league games. The winner of this small league tournament will be playing a top professional from the Kansai Ki-in on the last day of the camp - last year it was Yuki Satoshi 9p (and former Tengen and Judan and present winner of the NHK cup) himself!

The game started with only 50% of the camp participants being present, since the Chinese players would only be arriving later this day.
4k (we'll stick to the original ranks from Germany so we won't confuse you) played as 1k and got a female 1d player from the USA. As promised, here is the game (I also included some of Maeda-sensei's and 4k's comments):

(;GM[1]FF[4]CA[UTF-8]AP[CGoban:3]ST[2]
RU[Japanese]SZ[19]KM[0.50]
PW[White]PB[4k]WR[1d]BR[1k]DT[2015-06-29]EV[Osaka Go Camp 2015]RO[1]PC[Osaka]AN[Maeda Ryo 6p]RE[B+10.50]
;B[pd]
;W[dp]
;B[pq]
;W[dd]
;B[fq]
;W[cn]
;B[jp]
;W[po]
;B[qm]
;W[oq]
;B[pp]
;W[op]
;B[qo]
;W[pr]
;B[qr]
;W[oo]
;B[qp]
;W[jq]
;B[iq]C[Maeda-sensei: Calm move. L3 is a more active choice.]
;W[kq]
;B[ip]
;W[fc]C[Maeda-sensei: Dangerous to tenuki the lower white group since black still has N3.]
;B[ch]
;W[ck]
;B[bd]
(;W[be]
;B[ce]
;W[cd]
;B[bf]
;W[bc]
;B[ae]C[Maeda-sensei: Didn't like this variation for white. Just C16 instead of B15 would have been enough (see variation).]
;W[qf]
;B[qh]
;W[qc]
;B[qd]
;W[rd]C[Maeda-sensei: Q17 would have been better.]
;B[re]
;W[rc]
;B[qe]
;W[ob]
;B[pj]
;W[nd]
;B[jc]
;W[lc]
;B[gc]
;W[gd]
;B[hc]
;W[fb]
;B[hd]
;W[ge]
;B[je]
;W[of]
;B[rf]
;W[pf]C[Maeda-sensei: This move is like a pass move. Lower left corner is big.]
;B[dr]
;W[cq]
;B[kp]C[Maeda-sensei: N3 would have been a good move here.
4k: I didn't consider it since white looked too stron in this area. Will look out more for moves like this.]
;W[lq]
;B[de]C[4k: Preparation for B18. But probably too slow at this moment..]
;W[qi]C[Maeda-sensei: Not the right point to invade the right side. The following sequence is good for black.]
;B[pi]
;W[qk]
;B[qj]
;W[pl]
;B[rk]
;W[pm]
;B[rl]C[Maeda-sensei: R8 would have been better.]
;W[fo]
;B[ek]C[Mada-sensei: Overplay by black. Black should strengthen the group in the upper side. G18, M18 or K13 are possible.]
;W[dj]
;B[fm]
;W[ir]
;B[hr]
;W[jr]
;B[gq]
;W[ho]
;B[ej]
;W[di]
;B[hj]
;W[hp]
;B[hq]
;W[cr]
;B[eq]
;W[lp]
;B[eo]C[Maeda-sensei: Good cut. White missed to defend here.]
;W[hm]
;B[fn]
;W[il]
;B[go]
;W[ln]
;B[jm]
;W[jn]
;B[in]
;W[km]
;B[hn]
;W[jl]
;B[jo]
;W[im]
;B[nk]
;W[ok]
;B[mj]
;W[nl]
;B[kj]
;W[mk]
;B[nj]
;W[lk]
;B[hf]
;W[lf]
;B[dm]
;W[cm]
;B[nf]C[Maeda-sensei: Big mistake by black. O13 securly catches the stone...
4k: I read something, but I don't remember what it was..... ^^;]
;W[od]C[Maeda-sensei: Loosing move.]
;B[ng]
;W[ne]
;B[ld]C[Maeda-sensei: Another mistake from black, same principle as O14. White L16 safely catches the stone.]
;W[md]C[4k: Black got lucky again. Must have been because of time pressure, since white had only a few minutes left before byoyomi (1x 30 seconds).]
;B[le]C[Maeda-sensei: It was a pretty clos game before white made those two mistakes. Now the game is in black's favour.]
;W[lj]
;B[li]
;W[qg]
;B[rg]
;W[ph]
;B[ri]
;W[ki]
;B[jj]
;W[mi]
;B[lh]
;W[ni]
;B[lg]C[4k: I wasn't 100% sure I could keep everything. Since I thought I was leading comfortably, I rather gave away the three stones to stabilise the center territory and and take sente if she took the stones.]
;W[oj]
;B[kc]
;W[lb]
;B[bb]C[4k: Wanted to play that one for a loooong time.]
;W[cb]
;B[ac]
;W[cc]
;B[ee]
;W[ba]
;B[ab]
;W[ed]
;B[fe]
;W[fd]
;B[gb]
;W[db]
(;B[ca]C[Maeda-sensei: E17 instead of C19 makes seki.]
;W[ec]C[The rest is pretty much only endgame...

+++ END OF COMMENTARY +++]
;B[fh]
;W[gf]
;B[gg]
;W[ei]
;B[fi]
;W[dl]
;B[el]
;W[bi]
;B[bh]
;W[ci]
;B[cs]
;W[bs]
;B[ds]
;W[br]
;B[do]
;W[co]
;B[or]
;W[nr]
;B[ps]
;W[dq]
;B[er]
;W[dh]
;B[dg]
;W[he]
;B[ie]
;W[ep]
;B[fp]
;W[qn]
;B[rn]
;W[pn]
;B[pc]
;W[pb]
;B[oc]
;W[nc]
;B[ns]
;W[mr]
;B[lo]
;W[mo]
;B[ko]
;W[eg]
;B[df]
;W[fg]
;B[hg]
;W[hk]
;B[gk]
;W[ij]
;B[ii]
;W[ik]
;B[ji]
;W[gl]
;B[gj]
;W[kb]
;B[jb]
;W[ga]
;B[ha]
;W[fa]
;B[ka]
;W[la]
;B[ja]
;W[ql]
;B[rm]
;W[dn]
;B[en]
;W[oh]
;B[ai]
;W[aj]
;B[ah]
;W[bj]
;B[me]
;W[pe]
;B[kk]
;W[kl]
;B[is]
;W[js]
;B[hs]
;W[se]
;B[sf]
;W[sd]
;B[gm]
;W[ms]
;B[os]
;W[kn]
;B[mh]
;W[fl]
;B[fk]
;W[hl]
;B[aa]
;W[da]
;B[dk]
;W[cl]
;B[ad]
;W[og]
;B[em]
;W[ba]
;B[eh]
;W[ff]
;B[ca]
;W[af]
;B[ag]
;W[ba]
;B[qb]
;W[rb]
;B[ca]
;W[rh]
;B[sh]
;W[ba]
;B[mb]
;W[mc]
;B[ca]
;W[qs]
;B[rs]
;W[ba]
;B[nh]
;W[ca])
(;B[ec]
;W[ca]
;B[ea]
;W[fa]
;B[eb]C[Seki]))
(;W[cd]
;B[be]
;W[bc]C[Maeda-sensei liked this variation better for white.]))

1k was ranked 1d for the camp and got another 1d from Canada. The game progressed quite even as Li Ting pointed out in her review. Both players made some mistakes concerning the direction of play, but black (1k) came out ahead in the end.
Here is the actual game:

(;FF[4]GM[1]AP[gobandroid:0]SZ[19]GN[Osaka Go Camp 2015 - L01]DT[2015-06-29]PB[Axel Köhler]PW[White]BR[1d]WR[1d]KM[6.5]RE[B+R]
;B[pd]
;W[dp]
;B[pq]
;W[dd]
;B[fq]
;W[cn]
;B[jp]
;W[pn]
;B[qp]
;W[qj]
;B[qh]
;W[oj]
;B[np]
;W[nc]
;B[lc]
;W[qc]
;B[pc]
;W[qd]
;B[pe]
;W[pb]
;B[ob]
;W[qb]
;B[oc]
;W[qf]
;B[fc]
;W[df]
;B[id]
;W[pf]
;B[qe]
;W[re]
;B[rf]
;W[rg]
;B[of]
;W[og]
;B[pg]
;W[qg]
;B[ng]
;W[oh]
;B[nf]
;W[dr]
;B[db]
;W[cc]
;B[fe]
;W[ci]
;B[dj]
;W[di]
;B[fj]
;W[ei]
;B[fi]
;W[ff]
;B[gf]
;W[fg]
;B[gg]
;W[fh]
;B[gh]
;W[ej]
;B[fk]
;W[mi]
;B[lh]
;W[hq]
;B[hp]
;W[iq]
;B[jq]
;W[ip]
;B[io]
;W[gp]
;B[ho]
;W[gq]
;B[li]
;W[go]
;B[hm]
;W[nn]
;B[dl]
;W[ro]
;B[mk]
;W[rp]
;B[rq]
;W[mj]
;B[lk]
;W[ln]
;B[jr]
;W[jo]
;B[mo]
;W[lj]
;B[kj]
;W[gn]
;B[im]
;W[gl]
;B[fl]
;W[gm]
;B[hk]
;W[mn]
;B[kl]
;W[op]
;B[oq]
;W[lo]
;B[lp]
;W[cb]
;B[pa]
;W[sf]
;B[ol]
;W[nl]
;B[nk]
;W[ok]
;B[nm]
;W[om]
;B[ml]
;W[pl]
;B[qo]
;W[qn]
;B[bm]
;W[bn]
;B[cm]
;W[ee]
;B[ec]
;W[ir]
;B[an]
;W[bp]
;B[ap]
;W[aq]
;B[ao]
;W[bo]
;B[am]
;W[bq]
;B[cj]
;W[bi]
;B[bj]
;W[ek]
;B[el]
;W[qa]
;B[oa]
;W[js]
;B[ks]
;W[is]
;B[lr]
;W[fd]
;B[ge]
;W[no]
;B[mp]
;W[ed]
;B[gd]
;W[gk]
;B[hj]
;W[gj]
;B[gi]
;W[jn]
;B[ai]
;W[ah]
;B[aj]
;W[bh]
;B[ca]
;W[ba]
;B[da]
;W[ab]
;B[mh]
;W[ni]
;B[en]
;W[eo]
;B[fn]
;W[dn]
;B[fo]
;W[fp]
;B[sp]
;W[sn]
;B[oo]
;W[hl]
;B[il]
;W[jm]
;B[jl]
;W[po]
;B[pp]
;W[dk]
;B[ck]
;W[dc]
;B[eb]
;W[lm]
;B[ll]
;W[nl]
;B[mm]
;W[kp]
;B[kq]
;W[ko]
;B[fm]
;W[dm]
;B[km]
;W[ol]
;B[op]
;W[on]
;B[sq]
;W[so]
)

After the games, there was a short break before we had a lecture by Yokota Shigeaki 9p. He especially emphasized the flexibilty of Go: There is not one best move that works in every situation but you always have to adjust your moves according to the actual position and to your opponents moves (and mistakes ;-) ). We also discussed a few Japanese terms for the moves like osae, sagari and nobi.

After the lecture, Maeda-sensei gave out the homework and we had time to either do it now or play free games, solve tsumego or watch the niconico live broadcast of the first day of the fifth Honinbo title match game between Iyama Honinbo and Yamashita 9p (which 4k, a die-hard fan of Iyama Yuta Kisei Meijin Honinbo Gosei, gladly did). 4k also bought a copy of Weekly Go and replayed the first game of the Gosei title match between Iyama Yuta and Yamashita Keigo from last week (they really meet a lot for Japanese titles recently).

1k played more free games and dutyfully completed his homework.

In the afternoon, the Chinese players arrived, too, so we will have much less space for our next games, too. Many of them are strong dan players, so we actually wont be playing many Chinese players for our league games.

Tokyo/Osaka - Day 7+8 (Leaving Tokyo for Osaka)

Next day (yesterday) we left Tokyo for the Osaka Go Camp. We had already bought the tickets for the Shinkansen one day ago so we didn't have to wait in long queues (they were much longer than on friday!) with our heavy luggage.

We arrived more than one hour early but used that opportunity to observe how the Japanese Shinkansen are opperated. That was really impressive! We went up to our track and there a Shinkansen Nozomi (super express train between Tokyo and Hakata) arrived and left every 20 minutes. EXACTLY every 20 minutes. It was super interesting to watch what happened in these 20 minutes:

1. Train arrives at the station. Travellers leave the train.
2. The cleaning staff hurries into the train, 3 people per carriage. 1 of them disappears (we guess that one cleans the toilets), the others work in the carriage. First, they turn around every row of seats since Tokyo station is a terminal (German: Sackbahnhof). That's right: they turn the seats around so that ever passenger faces the direction of travel no matter in which direction the train is headed. After that, they change the towel covering each headrest. Then they dust off the seats and clean the floor.
3. The cleaning staff leaves the train and one of them alerts the driver of the train that they have finished. The whole cleaning process takes about 10-12 minutes.
4. In the remaining 4-5 minutes, the passengers enter the train. Before that, they formed a queue in the designated space marked on the platform for each door - since every train stops at the exact same spot the numbers of the carriages are marked on the platform, too, and the passengers can immediately enter the right carriage.
5. The doors of the train (and on the platform, there is a barrier which keeps people from falling into the track bed) close and the train departs at the designated leaving time.
6. 2-3 minutes later, the next train arrives and the whole process begins again.

We were both really impressed by the smoothness with which everything happened. This would never EVER be possible with the German DB trains. Never. Ever. Which is a crying shame since they are even more expensive than the Japanese Shinkansen.

Impressions from the Shinkansen station (Doors are closing in last photograph)

You might also be wondering about the degree of capacity utilisation since not only these 3 trains per hour leave for this route, but other trains with more stops, too. From what we saw, the trains are very much used, more than half the seats were usually taken right from Tokyo station.
However, the trains are still very comfortable to use. You get a LOT of legroom in the Shinkansen. 4k didn't have any space to put her luggage up on the luggage rack (1k's luggage was already there), but she could easily put it in front of her and still sit quite comfortably! This, too, is something you cannot imagine in a German ICE. Also, the English announcements before arriving at the next station where infintely better than the funny announcements you frequently hear when travelling in an IC(E).

Inside Shinkansen

We are deeply impressed with the way the Japanese operate the Shinkansen and cannot recommend it highly enough. We sincerely hope that we get the chance to travel this way again!

Since our arrival at the hotel in Osaka we didn't do very much yet. We registered for the Go camp today and walked a bit through the city center. There, we also took a ride in a Ferris wheel mounted on top of an eight floor house (yes, that's right - always expect the unexpected when it comes to Japan!). The view was quite nice and like this we already got a glimpse of Osaka Castle which we will visit on another day, too.

Splendid view above Osaka

Osaka Castle

At the camp registration we learned that almost 60 people registered for the Osaka Go camp this year - about 50% of them are from China, among them are a few 7d if we remember correctly (!). The remaining 50% consist of German and French participants (one quarter of the camp participants) and a few other nationalities such as Colombia. We also got a white paper fan to collect the autographs of the pros who will come to the camp and our name badge. Again, we got new ranks (since the participants com from pretty much all around the world, the teachers figured out the ranks) and we are curious to find out tomorrow if ours are correct!

Our camp passes.

See you then! :-)

Tokyo - Day 6 (Harajuku, Odaiba / Ikebukuro (Go club alert!), Roppongi)

On our last day in Tokyo we visited Harajuku. The weather report didn't sound very nice (lots of rain) so we decided to visit the most important spot first - the Meiji-jingu. This shrine is situated inside a big forested area, so it is very quiet and nice. After our experience with the Senso-ji in Asusaka I (1k) feared that this shrine would also be overrun by tourists, but it wasn't as crowded as the Senso-ji.

Despite its young age - the shrine was built in 1920 (or at least finished) - it is still quite impressive. For example the three tori (temple gates) are made out of the trunks of 1,500 year old trees.

The second temple gate

From a Miko (shrine maiden) 4k both bought some victory charms for good fortune at the Go camp and both of us left a wooden tablet with our wishes and prayers at a holy tree inside the temple area (1k: Sorry, I forgot what it was called).

Some impressions from the temple.

Next stop was total contrast to the quiet and peaceful Meiji-jingu, we were headed Takeshita Street near Harajuku station, a fashion-centered and consumeristic, crazy street. As it had started raining, we didn't take many photos - but rest assured: It was loud, colourfull and even more crazy than you can imagine. There are two more streets that are supposed to be even crazier, Cat Street and Killer Street. But since the rain suddenly got quite a bit heavier, we didn't go there anymore.

Takeshita Street!

It was only early afternoon but the rain made walking in Harajuku not a good option. Since we had different preferences for our last day we split up.

I (1k) went to Odaiba, an artifical island created in the bay of Tokyo. My first impression when I left the station and went to the beach was how quiet it was. After spending nearly a week in big loud Tokyo this was a great contrast.
But of course Odaiba has more to offer for a sightseeing tourist than a nice quiet beach. Instead one can feel as if being in New York, with the skyline of Tokyo behind the bay and the Statue of Liberty in front. That's right, there is a small replica of the Statue of Liberty on Odaiba.

Statue of Liberty in Odaiba

The second (for me) great sightseeing spot was a life-sized model of the Gundam mech, which happens to be there probably because there is also a Fuji-TV building located on the island.

Gundam!

While 1k was walking in the rain and visiting the bay, 4k did some shopping duties in Sunshine City in Ikebukuro. This is an enourmous (big would be an understatement) shopping mall, office building with 11 floors in total (including the basement). You can find anything there, there is even an aquarium (with seals and penguins, among others!) - since yesterday, 27th of June, you can also play Go there! Unfortunately, 4k was one day early for the opening, but she still took some photos for you.

The club is located on the 9th floor (office floor). If you want to go there, the best point of orientation might be the Pokémon Center on the 2nd floor. Take the elevators that are nearest to this shop (a bit hidden, take a look at the floor map near the escalators) to the 9th floor and then turn right. Go right through 2 glass doors (between them is a huge staircase on the right) and you can almost see the club on the right side of the corridor. Look out for the 碁 sign.

It looks like a really nice Go club (if open ;-) ) with brand new playing material (thick table boards, wooden bowls). It seems to have some kind of affiliation (owner..?) with the Japanese representative of the 2004 World amateur championship (fifth place) - the certificate and trophy are on display in the club and visible from the outside. I'd guess that this Go club is a great choice for anyone who is travelling to Tokyo with one or more person that's not interested in Go but in shopping (and maybe children, too, who are interested in the aquarium). I'd accept any bet that you can't pass more time playing Go than the other(s) can pass by shopping (if money is no concern, of course ;-) ) !

Looks like a great place to play :-)

We met again in Roppongi to eat dinner. Roppongi is a great spot to go out, as it has a lot of great restaurants and bars. Also there are several nice exhibits at Roppongi, currently there is a Star Wars exhibit running and one on the anime/manga Naruto (both finish by the end of June).
At the restaurant we decided to visit (Gonpachi), we had to take seats at the counter, as we hadn't reserved a table upfront - which tells you something about the popularity of this restaurant. The food was very delicious but somewhat expensive (especially concerning the size of the servings). However, the atmosphere is really very nice! Also quite a few famous people visited the restaurant, e.g. Lady Gaga, Silvester Stallone or Keanu Reeves.

Gonpachi!

Tokyo - Day 5 (Nihon Ki-in visit 2/2, Shibuya again)

Since we had already visited our "most wanted" sights in Tokyo and hadn't played Go very much yet, we decided to catch up on that and play Go at the Ki-in for most of the day. The young lady at the pairings counter had mentioned that today (thursday) lots of players would be at the Ki-in Go club. It seemed like the perfect opportunity!

We arrived at the Ki-in in the morning and sat down in the main hall. Since it was a thursday - the usual playing day for the professional players of the higher dan ranks - we decided to arrive a bit early for the club to see if we might geet a glimpse on a pro we know and go then up to the club at 10 o'clock (which we thought would be opening time). Before that we checked the games for today at Igo-kisen. The top game would be played between Hane Naoki 9p and Cho U 9p. Of course we didn't know if they'd be playing in Tokyo headquarters or somewhere else so we just sat there silently in the main hall and waited for somebody to arrive. We were not to be disappointed! With 100% security we saw O Meien 9p and Cho U 9p walk by. It was really cool (and a bit hard not to stare at them to be honest ^^; )! We didn't take any pictures, of course. That would have been too much (maybe it was already rude that we were present at that time... but it was really tempting to take a real look at the players you only "know" from websites and tournament results on the one day this was possible! >_<; ). While we were waiting, an elderly man approached us. He spoke English and German quite well and we talked for a bit. He had been living in Germany for a few years and was now at the Ki-in for a Go class held by a professional player in one of the classrooms right next to the main hall. Shortly afterwards, a young woman came to us. She helped with the organisation of the Go class and broke to us that the club wouldn't open until 11 o'clock.. same time as the museum in the basement. However, we were very lucky since she invited us to come to the Go class which would be starting at 10 o'clock and leave it early at 11 o'clock to go up to the club. Of course, we gladly accepted this kind offer and sat down at the places she showed us to in the back of the room. We didn't understand much (4k) /anything (1k) of what the professional was talking about, but we understood what he showed on the big board in front of the class. It was a lecture on damezumari in various positions. So it was still a really good learning opportunity! A short time after 11 o'clock we went up to the Go club on the second floor and were immediately amazed: The main hall was already 3/4 full with players!! Pretty much everyone was a retiree (there is some truth in every cliché it seems ^^; ), but here and there a few younger people (mostly women) were playing, too. Since there were also quite a few people waiting to be called for a game we quickly got to play a few games each.

Usual thursday at the Nihon Ki-in ;-)

1k/5d won all of his games but one, that day and 4k/2d managed to lose one game because of playing a move that was no ko threat - which lead to the loss of 18 points. In the end 4k (black) lost by komi. On the whole, the games were pretty calm: no big fights and when a fight occured or stones were cut, the outcome was mostly in our favour. However, there were two exceptions. One of them was a game 4k played. The opponent was a very aggressive player starting his first invasion at move 6 or something of the like. Invasion after invasion followed and he kind of succeeded everywhere - until the last chance for 4k arose to catch up. 4k caught a yummy group of weak white stones floating in the center (which he kindly enlarged to an even yummier size) and won the game by resignation.
The other exception was the third game 1k played at the Ki-in. The opponent was a 5d again, but this time very aggressive and 1k thought he would lose this time for sure, after messing up the first corner quite quickly. It was a wild game with a very, very big capturing race - which ended in favour of 1k (thanks to just 1 liberty!).
After that the people at the pairing counter thought they might have underestimated 1k and gave him a special opponent. This elderly man had over 420 rating points, which according to the system used by the Nihon Ki-in would mean, he should give 1k/5d a five stone handicap. Instead 1k was asked to play with only two stones. This game was very calm, especially compared to the previous one. For a long time it looked like white just didn't have enough points to overcome the territory black had build.
In the end white managed to cut and kill a big black group of 18 stones and the game ended shortly afterwards. Despite this big killing, white won by only 21 points.

I (4k) was especially happy to finally play a woman for my final game. I liked her style from all the people I played today the best, it seemed the most balanced to me. She was not afraid / reluctant to attack like the other players that day seemed to be but wasn't overly aggressive (like that one guy I played), too. It was a really nice, interesting game.

Before we left, 4k's rank got an update. Since she had been winning so much (5 out of 6 games), 4k got 10 additional points and earned a promotion to 3d (usually 10 points/wins are needed to gain a rank). This however, we couldn't put to a test since we left that evening and unfortunately didn't have the time to come back before we left for Osaka... Still, it was nice to be a dan for a day - even if it IS nothing more than a number and a letter. :-)

Our playing cards from the Nihon Ki-in (left 4k, right 1k)

We have to apologise that we again cannot provide any game records. However, tomorrow the Osaka Go Camp will start and we definitely will record our games and put a few up here.

After the Nihon Ki-in we went to Shibuya again - to shoot the photos we couldn't on our first visit. We already wrote about Shibuya in a previous post, so i won't repeat this here. Instead here are the photos, that were missing from the first post:

Hachiko

Impressions from the scramble crossing

Tokyo - Day 4 (Third Go club visit: Nihon Ki-in 1/2)

After two rather complicated visits to Go clubs we wanted to make life a little easier for us and decided to visit the headquarters of the Nihon Ki-in near Ichigaya station next. We had been looking forward to this visit very much ever since we decided to visit Tokyo and we were very curious to see what was waiting for us.

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.

Finally at the Nihon Ki-in

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.

In memory of Hans Pietsch (6p)

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.

Tokyo - Day 4 (Asakusa, Sky Tree, Shinjuku)

On the fourth day we visited Asakusa. The main attraction in this district is the Senso-ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. We had already seen several temples in Yanaka but they are nothing compared to Senso-ji.
This temple is huge - and overrun by tourists. It was quite an astonishing walk from the temple gate to the actual temple. We also both made a wish for good fortune - let's hope they will come true.

The temple gate of Senso-ji

Senso-ji temple

Since we were in the area already, we walked from the Senso-ji to the Tokyo Sky Tree. After finding the correct entrance, we went to fourth floor which is the entrance floor of the Sky Tree. The lower part of the Sky Tree, up until the fifth floor, is quite huge and includes not only a big shopping area and food corner but also an aquarium (we didn't visit it but they have seals, and penguins and many kinds of fish..).
You have to buy a ticket to enter the actual observation deck and the queue for the ticket sale was very, very long.. Fortunately, there was a special counter for international guests and the queue there was quite short.

The observation deck is actually three floors at 340, 345 and 350 metres above ground level. To get there we took a rather fast elevator, which runs at 600 metres per minute once it reaches top speed (that's 36 km/h!!).
The view from the observation deck is stunning and makes you realize how big Tokyo really is - apart from the Tokyo bay all you can see is houses, skyscrapers, towers, more houses and... did we mention skyscrapers yet? Ok, there are a few rivers (it's quite astonishing how many of them run through Tokyo and how little you see of them when wandering the streets!) and other sights such as the Imperial Garden, too.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the best, so we weren't able to see mount Fuji on this day. Another nice feature is a small glass floor area on the lowest part of the observation deck (that's right: you see aaaaaaaall the way down, 340 metres..).

Tokyo from above

That's quite a way down

But 350 metres isn't the highest you can go. After buying another, also cheaper, ticket we went to the second, smaller observation deck (which was much less crowded, too). This is arranged like a spiral going up from 445 metres to 451.6 metres, which is the highest point a visitor can reach on the Sky Tree. Funny thing was that when we were at this level, two helicopters approached and circled the Sky Tree - at eye level. This was kind of... strange because later we saw them while we were walking through Shinjuku - way up in the sky. :-D

After the Nihon Ki-in we found ourselves a very nice little restaurant near the Yotsuya station where we tried several dishes (the servings were not especially big) and among them our first Okonomiyaki (4k: <3 ). It was really cool to sit at the counter and watch the cook prepare the various dishes right in front of us.

Okonomiyaki (4k: Yummy! <3)

Japanese Culture: The Necessity of Plastic Bags

In Japan, if you do not explicitly ask for it, you will NEVER (ever!) get anything without a plastic bag. By the second day I (4k) already lost count of the amount of plastic bags that we got from numerous visits at Conbinis (small, 24/7 supermarkets around every corner) and from other occasions. A few years ago, when I was an Erasmus student in Spain I thought that the Spanish were quite wasteful concerning plastic bags (although, by now, laws have been made and the situation has changed for the better (of the Ocean in particular)). The Japanese, however, take the wasteful usage of plastic bags to a whole new level.

My (4k) favourite story is when we bought postcards at a Sky Tree merch shop. As usual, every single postcard on display had its own clear protective sleeve (already a waste of resources and silly in itself). I took a variety of 10 cards from the rack and went to the counter to pay for them. There, the shop assistant asked me in dead earnest if I wanted 10 little yellow plastic bags, one for each postcard. I couldn't believe it..

Of course, I didn't want 10 of those bags (I also didn't want any of the plastic sleeves but that couldn't be helped), what for? Aren't postcards bought to be sent to family and friends? Why would I need one plastic bag per card? Maybe she thought that these were gifts I'd give to someone when I came back? And since it is rude to give an unwrapped present here in Japan, she had only the best of intentions. Still, it is kind of... ridiculous, isn't it..?