Hyogo Prefecture: 6 people
Seiya Tomita (冨田 誠也, Tomita Seiya; February 13, 1996) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 5-dan.
Sakai Hideyuki (坂井秀至, Sakai Hideyuki; born April 23, 1973) is a professional Go player.
Shoji Hashimoto (橋本 昌二, Hashimoto Shōji; April 18, 1935 – December 2, 2009) was a professional Go player.
Maeda Nobuaki (前田 陳爾; 22 November 1907 – 3 July 1975) was a Japanese professional 9 dan go player, a disciple of…
Maeda Nobuaki (前田 陳爾; 22 November 1907 – 3 July 1975) was a Japanese professional 9 dan go player, a disciple of Honinbo Shusai, and a member of the Nihon Ki-in, the main organizational body for go in Japan. His own disciples were Norio Kudo, Yusuke Oeda, Shioiri Itsuzo, Nagahara Yoshiaki, and Morikawa Masao. Maeda reached the highest professional rank, 9 dan, in 1963, but never achieved the consistent record of tournament success that marks the truly elite player. Maeda is famous today principally for his series of tsume-go (problem) collections, which gained him the honorary nickname "god of tsume-go." It is said that he composed a problem a day for 40 years. Many of these problems are considered especially beautiful, ingenious, or instructive. Maeda is also remembered for his presumed role in one of the most sensational and controversial games of the 20th century: the 1933 challenge game between his teacher, Honinbo Shusai, and the Chinese prodigy Go Seigen (Wu Qingyuan). It has long been believed that the exquisite move (W160) that allowed Shusai to overturn Go's lead in the game was actually discovered by Maeda in a study session during one of the game's many adjournments. Maeda at times hinted that this was the case, but in later years would neither confirm nor deny it when asked. It may be assumed that if Maeda was indeed the author of the move, he would decline to confirm it in order to honor the long-standing Japanese professional tradition of respect for one's teacher, thus preserving Shusai's reputation.
Yasunaga Hajime (安永 一; December 3, 1901 – February 2, 1994) was the strongest and most famous amateur Go player of the…
Yasunaga Hajime (安永 一; December 3, 1901 – February 2, 1994) was the strongest and most famous amateur Go player of the 20th century in Japan. As a professional Go journalist, author and editor, and long-time undisputed strongest amateur player in Japan, Yasunaga was personally acquainted with most of the strong Japanese professional players from the 1920s to the 1980s.
Katsukiyo Kubomatsu (久保松勝喜代; 25 October 1894 – 15 December 1941) was a Japanese professional go player. Nicknamed the…
Katsukiyo Kubomatsu (久保松勝喜代; 25 October 1894 – 15 December 1941) was a Japanese professional go player. Nicknamed the Great Amateur, Kubomatsu was responsible for sending Utaro Hashimoto and Minoru Kitani to Kensaku Segoe and Tamejiro Suzuki respectively and also taught Nobuaki Maeda. Kubomatsu was known as one of the earliest innovators of the shin-fuseki, a revolution in Go theory pioneered by his student Minoru Kitani and Go Seigen in the 1930s. Kubomatsu was known for starting on the tengen, the center point of the board. He was posthumously promoted to 9 dan by the Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in in 2009, 67 years after his death.