This post is full of links to pictures I took of real-life references for Hikaru no Go. Please feel free to use these however you like, but I would appreciate a link back to these explanations so people aren't confused. I'm not the best photographer, but I hope you enjoy them.
I had this Monday (May 16) off for "Ocean Day" so I went to the Go Institute (Nihon Ki-in) in Ichigaya, central Tokyo. It's very close to Ichigaya Station, which is on the JR Chuo-Sobu line. Because it was a holiday, many of the floors I visited were mostly deserted, which relieved me because I am shy about taking pictures, especially with my limited Japanese which gets even more limited if I'm flustered.
A brief explanation of the Institute: There are eight floors (it seemed more tall than wide to me.). There is an elevator running through the middle, and two staircases on each far side. I took the staircases for the experience. Overall, the Institute seems smaller and older than in the series, with the exception of the lobby and musuem which seem newer. It's not so well lit, either (although I did visit on an "off" day so many rooms weren't lit, and it was rainy outside.)
The basement houses a very nice little museum (along with some other rooms I did not explore - private, I recall.) I took pictures.
The first floor is the lobby. It looks similar to the series, but I did not see a fish tank anywhere in the Institute. Also, I think there is no longer a cafe - in the series, you see that glass display out front with sample food, but it's not there any longer. :( I took pictures.
The second floor seems to have the biggest room. The shop is here. On both far sides are places for people to play go (I saw adults playing.) In the middle, there was a conference going on (it seemed someone was explaining a game) - there were many folding chairs in front of a small stage. I did not take pictures.
The third floor had a somewhat smaller room in the middle. There were about thirty men gathered around two men playing go. I did not take pictures.
The fourth floor is Weekly Go. It looked awesome and creepy in the dark. I took pictures.
The fifth floor is like a much smaller version of the sixth, with no reception - just a little place for you to remove your shoes and put on slippers. There are tatami rooms to play go in. I don't recognize this floor from the anime. I did not take pictures.
The sixth floor is the one where Hikaru takes the test to become an insei. I think it's also the place where the pro exams happen. I took pictures.
The seventh and eighth floors seemed identical - they looked like storage spaces, with boxes spilling out of rooms and into the hallways. I bet the archive room was on one of these floors. I did not take pictures.
http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/ (Main album link)
I. The Entrance of Go Institute:
Front Entrance:
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/1frontentrance.jpgThe front of the Institute. Looks just like the series, except there's now no longer any glass display out to the left side.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gomainlobby.jpgThis is directly inside the front doors. The lobby seems like the newest place in the building.
Off to one side are large playing rooms.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gomainlobbydisplay2.jpgWhen you walk in the doors, this is directly to your left. Recognize anyone? ^_^
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gomainlobbybulletin.jpgThere's a bulletin board to the right of those wooden chairs.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gomainlobbydisplay.jpgThis is on the opposite wall from the HnG lobby display. The light you see to your left is one of the bathrooms. Right next to the bathrooms is the elevator (which looks small, but I didn't ride it so I don't know.)
II. Go Basement Museum.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasement2.jpg Inside the entrance to the Go Museum. It's in the basement, a cosy little one room affair.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementroomshot.jpgAnother establishing shot of the musuem.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementmuseum.jpgAnother estab. shot.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementtvdisplay.jpgWhy, that's a familiar face on the wall computer display, isn't it?
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementdisplay2.jpgYay female go players! I wonder if she's Yukari-sensei's sempai?
A. Go Basement, Big Display Case: (behind this case is a small library. As I was leaving, I saw a man returning a book.)
1.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementdisplaycase.jpg 2.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementcompoban.jpgWhat manner of goban-ery is this?
3.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementcompoban2.jpgI shall call you... ROBO-BAN!
4.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementodd.jpgAn interesting goban.
5.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementglass.jpgGlass-ban. I wants it, precioussss.
6.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementdisplayname.jpgWhy, what's this in the case? Yes, it's HnG art!
7.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementdisplaypic2.jpgOriginal HnG art - you can see the dialogue is pasted in. ♥
8.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementdisplaypic3.jpgMore HnG art.
9.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementdisplaypic4.jpgAnd a little Hikaru piece. Kawaii.
10.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/godisplayoriginalpic.jpgThis is a really nice HnG picture.
11.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementdisplayold.jpgSome funky looking old Go promotional stuff.
B. Hon'inbou Shusaku, teh Man himself.
1.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementshusakumug.jpgI have to say, he's cuter in that shot in the manga, even though he's dying. ^^;;
2.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementshusakukifu.jpgHis kifu.
3.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementshusakukifuclose.jpgA close-up of his kifu.
4.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementnotshusaku.jpgEr... someone else's kifu.
C. Other Art:
1.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementtrio.jpgOld style art.
2.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementplay.jpgLooks like fun, doesn't it?
3.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementfight.jpgBut not as much fun as this game! Touya, Shindou, learn from the masters!
4.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementoldgoban.jpgRandom old cool goban. No bloodstains, though. I checked.
5.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementreference.jpgWhy, what's this book on the table? Yes, it's the s a i artbook!
6.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementposter.jpgTell me this picture does not make you hungry. Oh Japan, combining rice and go. Lol.
7.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementfancygoban.jpgFancy carved goban. I accidentally used my flash on this, a second before I saw the sign that said "no flash" in katakana. >.< (I already knew not to use it on the old pictures and kifu, of course.)
8.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gobasementancient.jpgOn the display explanation. Heian era?
III. The Fourth Floor, Weekly Go.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/goweeklygofourth.jpgLooks spooky, doesn't it? Usually probably busy as heck, but Monday the 16th of May was "Umi no
Hi" or Maritime Day in Japan. National holiday and all.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/goweeklydoorfourth.jpgEven creepier with no flash!
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/goweeklyfourthcorridor.jpgSPOOKY.
IV. The Sixth Floor, Insei Training Grounds! (This floor looked the most similar to the manga,
except it seemed bigger in the manga.)
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixthreception.jpgProbably to announce matches?
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixthroomentrance.jpgStorage locker - the reception you just saw is to your left in this picture.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixthroomentrance2.jpgThe other half of the last picture - take your shoes off, put the slippers on. It's tatami time.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixthtatami.jpgThis is the room directly in front if you proceed ahead from the de-shoeing area. This is only half of the room.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixthrooms.jpgThis is the room to your right. It's fairly big.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixthrooms2.jpgAnother shot of the big room on your right.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixthhallway.jpgThis is the corridor connecting the rooms...
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixth2ndtatami.jpgOn your left is this room. In the closet you can see cushions and gobans.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/gosixthendhallwindow.jpgOn your farthest left and at the end of the corridor is this window. Sorry, Ogata!
V. From the go shop:
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/storeloot3.jpghttp://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/storeloot2.jpghttp://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/storeloot1.jpg Pretty postcards, and I found a cell phone charm that is just like Hikaru's keychain from the artbook! Keitai charms are really big in Japan, so I bet the Institute replaced the keychains with them.
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/sai_055.jpg VI. Surrounding area: (I took some establishing shots. Ask me if you have questions about where exactly these places are. I put them in order of how close they are to the Institute - they're
all within 1 - 6 minutes.)
http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundtotheleftofinstitute.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundinstituteonleft.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/goblockvillas.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundsubway.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundichigayastation.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundichigayastation2.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundatendofstreet.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundacrossthestreet.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundareaothercanal.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundareafishshoprealfishing.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundareafishshop.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundareafishshop2.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundareacanal.jpg http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa313/ontogenesis_album/HnG/surroundareacanal2.jpg Well, that's it. I hope you liked it. Lemme know!