Japanese Game of "Go", by Mihori Fukumensi. Board of Tourist Industry, Japanese Government Railways; 1939.

As an introduction to the game, it's okay; and it is quite nice seeing an older historical introduction. But what makes this book so wonderful is the pictures. There are many lovely brown-and-white photographs throughout the book; many of them show people that are now famous historical figures. (There are several of Honinbo Shusai, in particular.) They show the game in action, giving you an insight on the game that you won't get from reading a normal introductory book. In particular, the book ends with eight photos showing various stages of a game between Segoe Kensaku and Go Seigen. I've scanned in the photos; to see them, click on the links at the bottom of this page.

This book is, of course, long out of print and unavailable; I only managed to get a copy through the extreme generosity of Edward Wallner. It is available in some university libraries, though. (Look under `Mihori'.)

John Fairbairn says:

The author Mihori Fukumenshi is the famous Mihori Tadashi (also politely read Mihori Sho) who died only last November. [Ed. Nov. 1996.] He is perhaps the most famous go writer ever.

Fukumenshi (Incognito) was the pen name used by the go journalists of the Yomiuri Shinbun, and as the third Fukumenshi Mihori covered the famous Kamakura 10-game match between Go Seigen and Kitani Minoru. His descriptions of the first game of that match (where Kitani collapsed with a nosebleed and Go played on) are classics that rank among the most reprinted go pieces of all time. He also used the pen name Okame Sanjin.

• The cover picture. (18k)
• A portrait of Haninbo Sansa, the first Honinbo. (62k)
• A portrait of Honinbo Shusai. (95k)
• A photograph of Honinbo Shusai. (73k)
• Honinbo Shusai's last match, against Kitani Minoru. (120k)
• Honinbo Shusai's 60th birthday party. (89k)
• Honinbo Shusai playing Suzuki Keizo. According to John Fairbairn, Suzuki Keizo was one of the "Three Crows" along with Fujisawa Hideyuki and Yamabe Toshiro, but he died in 1945 at the age of 18, as a 3-dan. (112k)
• Fumiko Kita giving a lesson. (89k)
• People playing go in a go club in Tokyo. (95k)
• Some women being given lessons. (94k)
• The underside of a go board, just in case you were curious what that hole on the bottom is supposed to look like. (68k)
• The Nihon Kiin building. (This building burned down in World War II.) (77k)
• The next eight pictures come from a game between Segoe Kensaku (white) and Go Seigen (black). Here's the first picture (91k), the second picture (95k), the third picture (80k), the fourth picture (84k), the fifth picture (84k), the sixth picture (79k), the seventh picture (112k), and the last picture (87k).
• I think that these are the most interesting pictures in the book, but there are certainly other interesting pictures in it, and I've scanned in all of them. To see the rest, click here. That directory contains all of the pictures above, often in larger formats, as well as more pictures.

Last modified: Sun Aug 10 20:56:52 PDT 2003