Five-Title Holder…

[ladyseishou]

In Japan, there are seven major Go tournament games: Meijin, Tengen, Judan, Gosei, Ouza, Kisei, and Honinbo. Fans of Hikaru no Go may remember that Touya Kouyou (Akira’s father) held five of these titles before he resigned from the Go Association (Volume 14).

It is an interesting coincidence that in real life, Cho U has just taken his fifth title, the Judan, defeating the previous titleholder, Takao Shinji on April 16. Cho U now holds the Meijin, Tengen, Ouza, Gosei, and Judan titles – the same five titles previously won by Touya Meijin.

Cool, hmm?

BTW, the winner of the Judan tournament is currently awarded a prize of ¥14,500,000 (or almost $150,000).

And in Other News…

[ladyseishou]

The original Hikaru no Go anime is currently back on the air in Japan on TXN (the TV Tokyo Network) on Monday nights, beginning this week.

Here’s hoping that with the republication of the manga and rebroadcasting of the anime, enough interest is generated to make it worthwhile for someone to finish the Hokuto Cup story arc that just started before the anime was canceled.

And may I add here another gentle reminder to vote in the Hikago Open Beta Celebration interest poll. It's fast! It's easy! And anyone can do it (with an OpenID)! Thanks!