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Report from Shikoku
May 17, 2004
By Solomon Smilack
During Golden Week I played go
every day. Golden Week is one of Japan's holiday
seasons, and includes Green Day, Children's Day and
Constitution Day. On Constitution Day I spent the
afternoon at Yokoyama sensei's house, where we went
over some of my recent misplays. He chides me for
not taking an extra move to connect my stones on
the third or second line. He has taken to
describing my style as "toro toro," the English
equivalent of "take take take." He says it so
emphatically that, at first, I thought he was
comparing me with a bull chasing after a
bull-fighter. This wasn't far from the truth. He
thinks that my style of play is too
confrontational. He keeps stressing the importance
of give-and-take: he wants me to be more generous.
He tells me that strengthening my own position is a
threat that should make my opponent do likewise. If
they ignore their own weak points, then I can
become a bull in a china shop.
In my games with Yokoyama, my handicap has shrunk
to three stones. I give and take, patiently making
use of my handicap stones. But I don't have the
same luxury at the go club, where I have begun
playing even games against Yanagawa-san and
Hatakenaka-san. Yanagawa is definitely the more
fearsome of the two. He slaps the stones onto the
board hurriedly and confidently, even when he's
making moves that are clearly unreasonable.
Hatakenaka plays hesitantly, but with a very
lighthearted manner. As he places stones he often
says, "Well, one more stone wouldn't hurt," and he
laughs a lot at his own mistakes. Against both of
them, I try to play patiently. I try to be
generous, and spend more moves correcting flaws in
my own groups. But as we approach the middle game,
my opponents have admirable territories sketched
out and my positions feel over-concentrated. I
allow Yanagawa's invasions to jump out, and I
happily chase them around the board. I lose against
Hatakenaka, and afterwards Yokoyama shows me where
I needed to hane instead of extending. He plays out
all the possible sequences, and I see where I
missed the chance to use my nearby strength to
resist.
In the evening on Constitution Day, Yokoyama and I
spent a few hours eating and drinking in an izakaya
(a restaurant/bar). As we pour sake for each other,
I ask him what kinds of foods he likes, and he
begins talking about World War II. At first I am
confused, but he explains that he grew up during
the war: during his childhood he ate everything in
his bowl because there were meager rations. He says
that many people his age are thin and do not have
favorite foods. He turns the discussion toward
American and Japanese politics. Japanese people
value unity and harmony, and this makes the
political hierarchy very strong. Everyone is
expected to support Prime Minister Koizumi even if
they disagree with his decisions (for example,
sending Self Defense Forces to Iraq). Yokoyama asks
the inevitable question: Do I like President Bush?
I think about answering with a simple negative.
Instead, I explain to him that I disagree with
Bush's foreign and environmental policies. I can be
generous and resist firmly at the same time.
- Smilack, a native of Carbondale, Colorado,
teaches English at two high schools in Kochi
Prefecture, Japan. His home club is the Tesuji Go
Club in Columbus, Ohio, where he went to college.
You can see a picture of Smilack watching some of
his Japanese go friends play at http://www.usgo.org
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