In planning & in progress
・Hikaru no Go Donation Project in Onomichi
・Hikaru no Go Donation Project in Germany
・Japan–Europe Team Match 2026
・Japan vs. Ukraine 🇺🇦
2025
• Organizer of the Europe–Japan Professional Go Team Match “Kagaribi Cup”
2024
Organizer of the Europe–Japan Pro Go Team Match “Kagaribi Cup”
I organized a fast-game team match between five European professional players and five young professionals from the Kansai Ki-in.
The highlight of the event was Game 2, where Poland’s Stanisław Frejlak 2-dan defeated Japan National Team member Takuya Okawa.
If you haven’t watched it yet, please check it out from the link below!
I’ve always felt that the Go scene in Europe is remarkably well developed.
Learning about the various Go initiatives in Europe inspired two strong feelings within me:
“I want to help energize the Go community in Japan!”
“I want to share the charm of Go with the world!”
These thoughts first came to me around January 2025.
When I temporarily returned to Japan in February 2025, I had the opportunity—through Mr. Masamitsu, known for organizing 13×13 tournaments—to meet Mr. Yamanaka from the Kagaribi Project.
As we passionately discussed how to promote and revitalize the Go world, I shared my idea for a new team tournament. To my surprise, he kindly agreed to sponsor it. From that moment, everything progressed at an incredible speed.
I consulted with Ms. Li Ting, Vice President of the European Go Federation (EGF), by phone. She brought the proposal to the EGF board meeting, and we received preliminary approval to hold the event.
In May, at the tournament in Prague, I met Ms. Li Ting and several European professional players and discussed the details of the event. The original plan used a 10-second Fischer time control, but the European players strongly requested 15 seconds. After consulting with our sponsor, Mr. Yamanaka, he graciously agreed to adjust it. The discussions in Prague were conducted entirely in English, which was quite challenging for me.
The next thing I focused on was the livestreaming setup. I had no prior knowledge of how broadcasting worked, so I began studying OBS from scratch. My experimental test run was the “1,000 subscribers commemorative stream,” which I broadcast late at night Japan time to minimize the impact in case of failure.
As I continued developing the event, I met many wonderful people and invited them to provide commentary. They gladly accepted. I met Mr. Motoki Noguchi, the commentator for Game 1, at the Strasbourg tournament. He is a six-time French champion and the teacher of Dréan-Guénaïzia Benjamin 1-dan, who appeared in the first game.
Next came promotion for the event. I tried running ads on X—you may have seen them?Initially, I had not planned for the cost of commentary fees or advertising.
So I traveled to Madrid, Spain, to ask for support from Mr. Mikami, the president of Ibero Japan. He was incredibly generous and agreed to support the project. He is a person who has made a tremendous contribution to the growth of the Spanish Go community, and I honored to meet him and listen to his invaluable stories.
Incidentally, during this visit, I also met Sou Kunimatsu and the Ueno sisters.
Actually organizing a tournament taught me so many things—
about sponsorship, budgeting, livestreaming, advertising, English communication, how to present commentary, and much more.
There are still countless things I lack, but I’m grateful that this event allowed me to realize those shortcomings, and I truly feel that I can put these lessons to use in the future.
Above all, I deeply believe that this tournament was such a great success thanks to the many wonderful connections and support from so many people.
Lastly, if you would like to support my activities, I would be truly grateful if you would consider making a donation.
Launch of the “Hikaru no Go Donation Project” in Germany
I have several thoughts about Go promotion.
Ukraine is a remarkably strong Go country, yet many of its top players come from a small city called Rivne. I learned that, years ago, a Go enthusiast who spoke Japanese lived in Rivne and translated Japanese Go books into Ukrainian while teaching children in the city.
Thanks to those efforts, Rivne has produced two professional players, and Krushelnytskyi Valerii—runner-up at the European Championship—also comes from this city.
When I asked Valerii why so many strong players emerge from Ukraine, he mentioned two key factors:
The presence of good teachers
Growing stronger together alongside peers of the same generation
In Japan, I took for granted that Go could be easily learned and played. But now I realize that this environment is not universal.
I myself learned Go with peers at a volunteer Go class in Onomichi.
When I reflected on this, I discovered that there was a Go promotion program that values these same elements—the Hikaru no Go Donation Project.
The project donates Hikaru no Go comic books and 9×9 boards to elementary schools, and volunteers teach Go directly in the classroom. I thought it was an exceptionally well-designed initiative.
Around that time, I received a message from Mr. Kita, who leads the Hikaru no Go Donation Project, about launching the project in Germany.
I have already outlined a plan for how to carry out the project here, and I hope to begin implementing it in 2026. You can support the Hikaru no Go Donation Project through the link below.
Japanese Team Success Project at the EGC
I participated in the European Go Congress held in Warsaw in 2025, the largest Go event in Europe.
You can watch the summary video of the event here ↓
With more than 1,000 participants, it turned into an incredibly lively and exciting event.
There were long games with 80 minutes plus a 20-second Fischer time, as well as rapid games with 25 minutes plus a 3-second Fischer time.
There were even events that combined sports and Go, such as…
There were also tournaments for games derived from Go, such as Hex Go and Torus Go.
There are also side tournaments specifically for women and for players aged 50 and over!
As you can see, Go tournaments in Europe are incredibly vibrant and full of energy!
During the event, I was approached by Manja Marz, who had just been elected as the new president of the EGF, and she asked:
“I’d like to increase the number of Japanese participants — what do you think we should do?”
I don’t have a concrete plan yet, but I’m currently discussing possibilities with the organizers of the next European Go Congress in Ankara to see what kind of initiatives we might be able to create.
By the way, when it comes to the name of the game, in Europe it’s called Go, not Weiqi (Chinese) or Baduk (Korean).
This is because Japanese businessmen introduced the game to Europe in the early 20th century.
I hope to increase the number of Japanese participants at the European Go Congress and strengthen the connection between the Japanese and European Go communities.
2024
I launched this channel at the end of 2024 with the goal of sharing Go news from Europe and Japan, as well as creating new Go content!
One of the main series on the channel is “Go RPG,” where I travel to various Go tournaments across Europe.
“Tsumego Cooking,” where I solve Go problems while cooking
And “Go Interviews,” where I talk with Go players and tournament organizers
“Go Hot Takes,” Go World: One-Person Pros & Cons
“Life in Germany,” capturing the crazy and chaotic side of my everyday life
“Projects,” where I try out spontaneous ideas
I’ll continue creating a wide variety of video content, so please stay tuned!