[kakurenbo]
by blue_cage
Two paths
The boy that was Seiji Ogata began his Go journey at the age of four, when his grandfather taught him the basics of the game one hot Sunday afternoon. He'd begun the lesson with high spirits, but after an hour he grew tired of staring at the same black and white pieces, and played wherever he wanted. For each mistake his grandfather looked down at him with his beady stare of disapproval.
"I'm sorry," he said, overwhelmed by the annoyance emanating from the other side of the board. His grandfather cleared the board, placing stone by one one and explaining the three basic rules of Go yet again. Seiji watched the gnarled hands intently. To the boy, the next hour was spent learning something special, something to connect him to his aloof senior, and he wanted to do it right.
The boy that was known as Michio Shirakawa learned go from watching his uncle. His mother's younger brother was a go professional, a four-dan who taught in the local community center. Michio was stuck there every afternoon after his classes, because both his parents were working, and no one could watch him. That was how he learned about ladders and shapes and why one part of the board could be dead, while another part could be alive.
At the age of ten Ogata knew he was going to play Go for the rest of his life. He'd trained from the age of four under his grandfather's tutelage, and soon enough he was joining various children's tournaments and placing within the ranks. But his skills did not come naturally. He studied Go for hours. For him kifu was a treasure trove of answers and possibilities. He focused on balancing his skills, inching towards the skill of playing the best move at every turn, of reading first ten, twenty, then thirty moves ahead. He was used to playing against older opponents, having faced several of his grandfather's friends in Go salons. At first they played lightly, but quickly learned that the bespectacled boy would thoroughly trounce them if they weren't serious.
At the age of eleven Shirakawa had thoughts of becoming a pro baseball player. He wasn't good at the sport, but he was a decent midfielder, and could actually hit a ball with relative accuracy. Of course, that meant he joined in his uncle's Go classes only when he was free, which was a very rare weekday and the occasional weekend. But he enjoyed playing with the aunties who pinched his cheeks when he won, and the uncles who would slip a couple of hundred yen for him to buy cigarettes and twell him to keep the change. Go was fun, but it wasn't his life. He dreamed of walking into Koshien and just feeling the summer sun on his brow, of being his team's pillar of support during a game.
"Aren't you very brown, Michio," the aunties would say, and he'd laugh and tell them all about baseball while he carefully washed the go stones after classes. It was a little thing he could do for his uncle, and he did it willingly.
When Ogata was fourteen he finally took the insei test and passed. He was immediately brought to Touya five-dan's attention. Within a couple of weeks there was an offer to join the Touya stable's study sessions, which the young Ogata accepted as his grandfather beamed.
Shirakawa quit the baseball team when he was fourteen. He was a second-string player, and got the chance to play a practice games against a rival school only once. He had realizing that there was a barrier between the normal and truly exceptional in the sport. He caught the balls and cleaned the field, but a week before finals he had enough of the work that led to nothing, and spent the rest of the afternoon moping in the community center. The aunties and uncles knew better than to bother him; instead, they treated him to dango as he walked them home. He smiled and cheered up. His afternoons might be free now, but he could play Go any time he wanted.
And he did. He was in the community center three afternoons out of a week, and helped out with the lessons. He knew his uncle was all smiled as he taught a child how to play, and idly wondered if he was going to walk the same path of being a lecturer of the game he'd known since he was six years old.
Shirakawa first met Morishita-sensei when he was sixteen. The Go pro was a guest lecturer that day, and Shirakawa had partnered with an older couple new to Go. He patiently explained the concept of ladders and dead eyes, while Morishita had a tutoring game nearby. The pro called him and asked if he liked Go, and he said he liked it well enough. Morishita smiled at him then, and told him he could come every Thursday to a Go study session. At that time Shirakawa had no thoughts about what he wanted to do in the future. But he liked Go, and he wanted to know more about it.
Shirakawa didn't join a lot of amateur tournaments - he thought he was too old by the time he got around to being qualified, but he did well enough to wonder if maybe Go was really his calling. He enjoyed the game, not to the point of obsessing over it, but just enough to think about playing it seriously once in a while. "But there's no once in a while in Go," Morishita said, and he answered, "Well then I'll play for serious from now on." And he did.
Shirakawa and Ogata first met each other during the Young Lions tournament, when Michio was part of class two, and Seiji was just about to take the pro exam. It was round three, and Shirakawa had just lost to another Morishita student. They were talking about the mistake midgame that cost Shirakawa. Ogata was the next seeded opponent for whoever won their game, and had taken time to watch them once his was done. Ogata had hm'ed at his game summary, and if Shirakawa hadn't been used to random observers in the community center class he might have taken offense. Instead he turned to the other teenager and asked what he'd recommend, smiling as he did so. Ogata paused, surprised, and explained a better option with a larger margin of winning. And Shirakawa listened. His explanation petered out to silence, and he simply shifted the stones for illustration. The other Morishita student glanced at him, a bit annoyed, but Shirakawa simply thanked him for his suggestion, and offered his seat, saying he was out of the tournament anyway.
Ogata watched him leave, and wondered what sort of man could play Go and just walk away from it lightly. And Shirakawa left the table wondering what sort of training the other teenager went through, to take Go so seriously.
Two paths
The boy that was Seiji Ogata began his Go journey at the age of four, when his grandfather taught him the basics of the game one hot Sunday afternoon. He'd begun the lesson with high spirits, but after an hour he grew tired of staring at the same black and white pieces, and played wherever he wanted. For each mistake his grandfather looked down at him with his beady stare of disapproval.
"I'm sorry," he said, overwhelmed by the annoyance emanating from the other side of the board. His grandfather cleared the board, placing stone by one one and explaining the three basic rules of Go yet again. Seiji watched the gnarled hands intently. To the boy, the next hour was spent learning something special, something to connect him to his aloof senior, and he wanted to do it right.
The boy that was known as Michio Shirakawa learned go from watching his uncle. His mother's younger brother was a go professional, a four-dan who taught in the local community center. Michio was stuck there every afternoon after his classes, because both his parents were working, and no one could watch him. That was how he learned about ladders and shapes and why one part of the board could be dead, while another part could be alive.
At the age of ten Ogata knew he was going to play Go for the rest of his life. He'd trained from the age of four under his grandfather's tutelage, and soon enough he was joining various children's tournaments and placing within the ranks. But his skills did not come naturally. He studied Go for hours. For him kifu was a treasure trove of answers and possibilities. He focused on balancing his skills, inching towards the skill of playing the best move at every turn, of reading first ten, twenty, then thirty moves ahead. He was used to playing against older opponents, having faced several of his grandfather's friends in Go salons. At first they played lightly, but quickly learned that the bespectacled boy would thoroughly trounce them if they weren't serious.
At the age of eleven Shirakawa had thoughts of becoming a pro baseball player. He wasn't good at the sport, but he was a decent midfielder, and could actually hit a ball with relative accuracy. Of course, that meant he joined in his uncle's Go classes only when he was free, which was a very rare weekday and the occasional weekend. But he enjoyed playing with the aunties who pinched his cheeks when he won, and the uncles who would slip a couple of hundred yen for him to buy cigarettes and twell him to keep the change. Go was fun, but it wasn't his life. He dreamed of walking into Koshien and just feeling the summer sun on his brow, of being his team's pillar of support during a game.
"Aren't you very brown, Michio," the aunties would say, and he'd laugh and tell them all about baseball while he carefully washed the go stones after classes. It was a little thing he could do for his uncle, and he did it willingly.
When Ogata was fourteen he finally took the insei test and passed. He was immediately brought to Touya five-dan's attention. Within a couple of weeks there was an offer to join the Touya stable's study sessions, which the young Ogata accepted as his grandfather beamed.
Shirakawa quit the baseball team when he was fourteen. He was a second-string player, and got the chance to play a practice games against a rival school only once. He had realizing that there was a barrier between the normal and truly exceptional in the sport. He caught the balls and cleaned the field, but a week before finals he had enough of the work that led to nothing, and spent the rest of the afternoon moping in the community center. The aunties and uncles knew better than to bother him; instead, they treated him to dango as he walked them home. He smiled and cheered up. His afternoons might be free now, but he could play Go any time he wanted.
And he did. He was in the community center three afternoons out of a week, and helped out with the lessons. He knew his uncle was all smiled as he taught a child how to play, and idly wondered if he was going to walk the same path of being a lecturer of the game he'd known since he was six years old.
Shirakawa first met Morishita-sensei when he was sixteen. The Go pro was a guest lecturer that day, and Shirakawa had partnered with an older couple new to Go. He patiently explained the concept of ladders and dead eyes, while Morishita had a tutoring game nearby. The pro called him and asked if he liked Go, and he said he liked it well enough. Morishita smiled at him then, and told him he could come every Thursday to a Go study session. At that time Shirakawa had no thoughts about what he wanted to do in the future. But he liked Go, and he wanted to know more about it.
Shirakawa didn't join a lot of amateur tournaments - he thought he was too old by the time he got around to being qualified, but he did well enough to wonder if maybe Go was really his calling. He enjoyed the game, not to the point of obsessing over it, but just enough to think about playing it seriously once in a while. "But there's no once in a while in Go," Morishita said, and he answered, "Well then I'll play for serious from now on." And he did.
Shirakawa and Ogata first met each other during the Young Lions tournament, when Michio was part of class two, and Seiji was just about to take the pro exam. It was round three, and Shirakawa had just lost to another Morishita student. They were talking about the mistake midgame that cost Shirakawa. Ogata was the next seeded opponent for whoever won their game, and had taken time to watch them once his was done. Ogata had hm'ed at his game summary, and if Shirakawa hadn't been used to random observers in the community center class he might have taken offense. Instead he turned to the other teenager and asked what he'd recommend, smiling as he did so. Ogata paused, surprised, and explained a better option with a larger margin of winning. And Shirakawa listened. His explanation petered out to silence, and he simply shifted the stones for illustration. The other Morishita student glanced at him, a bit annoyed, but Shirakawa simply thanked him for his suggestion, and offered his seat, saying he was out of the tournament anyway.
Ogata watched him leave, and wondered what sort of man could play Go and just walk away from it lightly. And Shirakawa left the table wondering what sort of training the other teenager went through, to take Go so seriously.