Nihon Ki-in
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The Nihon Ki-in ( Japanese 日本 棋院 'Japanese Academy for Go' , Nihon Kiin ; officially: 公益 財 団 法人 日本 棋院 , Kōeki Zaidan Hōjin Nihon Kiin , literally: "Non-profit foundation of the Japanese Academy for Go") is the largest association professional Go player in Japan and also a major publisher that publishes books and magazines about Go.
history
The information in this section is based on the Enkaku ( 沿革 ) page on the Nihon Ki-in website.
- 1924 The Nihon Ki-in is founded. At the same time, the magazine Kidō ( 棋 道 , literally: " way of the game of Go") appears in the first year.
- 1926 Nihon Ki-in moves into a building in Nagatachō, Tokyo.
- 1935 A Go game is broadcast on the radio for the first time.
- 1939 The Honinbo title fight is established.
- 1945 The Nihon Ki-in building burns down completely as a result of the war.
- 1948 Nihon Ki-in moves into a new building in Takanawa, Tokyo.
- 1960 A delegation from Nihon Ki-in visits China.
- 1962 The Japanese television NHK begins to broadcast a competition on television, the NHK Cup.
- 1971 Nihon Ki-in moves into a new Go Center in Ichigaya, Tokyo, where it is still based today.
- 1979 The amateur world championship is established and takes place every year from then on.
Legal form and tasks
The Nihon Ki-in is organized in the legal form of a non-profit foundation according to §§ 34, 39 ff. Of the Japanese Civil Code.
The Nihon Ki-in lists the following charitable tasks on the “Profiles” page of its website.
- Dissemination of the game of Go inside and outside Japan and promotion of international exchange in the field.
- Training professional Go players as well as researching the Go game.
- Operation of the central building, including with public Go courses.
- Planning, organizing and supporting Go tournaments such as the Honinbo , Meijin and Kisei tournaments.
- Organization of amateur tournaments and training courses for trainers for amateurs.
- Live broadcast of tournament games via the Internet, information about Go being offered on the Internet.
- Publishing newspapers, magazines and books on Go and selling Go articles.
- Establishment and operation of a library and an archive via Go.
- Examination of the skill level of amateurs and issuing of certificates of their skill level.
Spread of the game of go
The Nihon Ki-in supports foreign Go associations in spreading the game of Go. The Nihon Ki-in regularly sends professional Go players abroad to give Go lessons there. Professional players from Japan have been guests at the European Go congresses for a long time.
The only German professional Go player to date, Hans Pietsch , was shot and killed in a robbery in Guatemala in 2003 when he was on a teaching trip to various countries in South America on behalf of the Nihon Ki-in.
Training and organization of professional go players
If you want to become a professional Go player, you usually have to study as an insi at Nihon Ki-in for several years. The successful manga series Hikaru no Go has this training phase as its theme.
In order to survive the tough competition for the few places as professional players, most insi have invested a lot of time in their studies from early childhood. Ten hours of study per day for ten years is the minimum effort. If you haven't made it by the age of around 18, you'd better look for a different career.
Qualification as a professional player means eligibility to participate in tournaments organized by Nihon Ki-in. It does not mean an income guarantee. While the top players can live well on their tournament income, the vast majority of professional players depend on income from tuition.
There is no nationality requirement. Foreigners can become insi and, if successful, qualify as professional Nihon Ki-in players.
Operation of the Go Center in Ichigaya
The Nihon Ki-in operates a larger Go Center in Ichigaya . The employees of the publishing house have their offices on the upper floors. On the middle floors there are rooms in which tournament games organized by the Nihon Ki-in are played.
The first floor is open to the public. Go courses take place there, and this area also serves as a game room, where you can play with other amateurs all day for a small fee. Numerous books of Nihon Ki-in in Western languages are also exhibited and sold there.
This Go Center can be reached within a few minutes on foot from Ichigaya Station .
Organization of go tournaments and management of copyrights
The copyright protection of Go games is recognized in Japanese practice. Major newspapers such as Yomiuri and Asahi pay substantial sums to the Nihon Ki-in to sponsor major tournaments. In return, Nihon Ki-in gives them the rights to publish the records of the games played in the tournaments.
These rights are not observed everywhere internationally. In Japan, however, no major media company would come up with the idea of reprinting game records without a corresponding license.
The copyrights arise from the joint creation of a game by the two professional players involved. However, they do not exercise their rights themselves. Rather, the Nihon Ki-in markets the rights in a collective package. Sponsors outside the media sector, such as JAL, acquire the right to be named as sponsor of the event in question through a corresponding contract with Nihon Ki-in.
The Nihon Ki-in also hosts numerous tournaments for amateurs. The Amateur World Championship and the Amateur World Championship in Paargo take place every year with participants from Germany.
Internet activities
Like other providers, the Nihon Ki-in also operates a server on which you can play Go over the Internet. Pure playing on the server is possible for free. Those who are willing to pay a fixed monthly fee can take advantage of various additional services, such as lessons from professional Nihon Ki-in players.
publishing company
The Nihon Ki-in publishes numerous books and magazines on Go. Most of the titles appear in Japanese. There are also a large number of books in English with which the Nihon Ki-in fulfills its statutory task of spreading the game worldwide.
Certificate of skill level
The issuing of certificates about the skill level of amateurs leads to not inconsiderable income for the Nihon Ki-in. For example, the certification of a skill level of a 6th dan costs at least 210,000 yen , the highest skill level certified by the Nihon Ki-in (8th dan) even costs one million yen. It becomes even more expensive if the player in question does not have a certificate of the skill level of the rank lower by one level. Then it costs 262,500 yen for the 6th dan and 1,771,500 yen for the highest rank.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nihon Ki-in, Enkaku (as of August 2007)
- ↑ Nihon Ki-in, Profile, (August 2007)
- ^ Nihon Ki-in, information on the Go server
- ↑ Nihon Ki-in, Menjō no torikata, (August 2007) ( Memento of the original from August 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- Official website (English, Japanese)