It has been nine months since the popular anime "Hikaru no go (Hikaru's go)" started its broadcast on TV on October 2001. The popularity of "Hikaru no go" brought the igo (Chinese chess - also known as "go") boom, across the nation.

Recently, igo lesson has been very popular, and more and more children are taking the lesson, and joining the public igo club in the community. At the igo tournaments, one can meet with elementary and middle school children who started igo after reading manga or watching the anime version of "Hikaru no go". The work "Hikaru no Go" may have gave some children an entry for starting the game, but after that they advanced in so high level into high levels after having serious igo trainings.

Just for a reference, When Nihon Ki-in (Japan Go Association) opened "Hikaru no go" junior-beginner's lesson in 61 cities around the country on March this year, 8,000 children came to attend.

Literally, the igo-boom is spreading all over the country. For instance, some of the schools are taking in igo lesson into "Comprehensive Study Hours" as a part of 'Yutori-kyouiku' (roughly translated as "education free of pressure"). Further more, now that the schools have no schools on Saturdays and Sundays, igo lessons started in many areas of Japan.

In addition, there is an igo lesson for beginners by Yukari Umezawa (4-dan) called "Go Go Igo by Yukari Umezawa" at the end of TV anime "Hikaru no go." Since she supervises the original manga, she is also being in great demand from all over Japan.

Originally Igo was derived from ancient China, and it is said to be used for fortune telling or studying military strategies. Later, around ante-Christum era, the igo rule became closer to what it is today. In 5th century, it came to Japan from China via the Korean peninsula, and became a popular game among the aristocracy and the priests. In ancient literatures like "Makuranosoushi" and "Genji Monogatari (Tales of Genji)" written in Heian Era, many remarks on igo were made within the stories. The genius igo player Sai Fujiwara that appears in "Hikaru no Go" who gave lessons to the Emperor is also set in the Heian Era as well.

Nowadays, more than 50 countries from all over the world participate in igo amateur championship. In Korea, where it is enjoying its World Cup boom with Japan, has approximately 10 million igo players - which is about the double the number of players in Japan. There are 4.5 million igo players in Japan.

Igo is a game using brain, and neither generation nor gender is specified. With "Hikaru no go" as an trigger, we hope to see more igo players, and its boom should not be temporary one.

* To purchase the related goods of "Hikaru no Go" go to "Hikaru no Go / Ken Obata

* For more details about "Hikaru no Go" go to "Hikaru no Go" TV Tokyo Official Site (Japanese)

* For more details about Igo, go to Nihon Ki-in (Japanese)

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