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หัวข้อ : Article from Yomiuri Newspaper about 'Go' ข้อความที่ : Copyright 2001 The Yomiuri Shimbun The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) September 22, 2001 Saturday SECTION: Pg. 8 LENGTH: 605 words HEADLINE: Go gets popularity boost from comic SOURCE: Yomiuri BODY: Go recently has seen a healthy resurgence, thanks in part to the comic strip " Hikaru no Go." With an original story by Yumi Hotta and drawings by Takeshi Obata, the comic began appearing in the weekly magazine Shonen Jump in December 1998. Since then, the number of young people playing the game has been on the rise, with record numbers participating in the preliminary rounds of two national youth tournaments this summer. " Hikaru no Go" centers around Hikaru Shindo, a boy who has been possessed by the ghost of Fujiwara no Sai, a go master who lived about 1,000 years ago. Guided by the ghost, the boy starts playing go, enters competitions and eventually becomes a professional player. Shonen Jump comics usually focus on "the fighting spirit" and friendship, and a member of the magazine's editorial staff said it was tough to come up with a storyline that applied those themes to go. "It was very difficult to present the themes of fighting spirit and friendship in the context of go, which tends to be difficult to understand," the staff member said. But with a storyline supervised by Yukari Umezawa, who is a fourth dan with Nihon Kiin, an organization of professional go players, and high-quality drawings, the comic strip has quickly gained mass popularity. The comic also has been published in book form, and according to Shueisha, a total of 9 million copies of the 13 volumes have been sold. The comic uses technical terms and illustrations of go boards to appeal to both readers unfamiliar with the game and advanced players. Due in part to the comic's popularity, the number of competitors in the preliminary round of the national go tournament for primary and middle school students this year hit 2,314--1,456 primary students and 858 middle schoolers. According to Nihon Kiin, the tournament's previous record of 2,307--1,425 primary and 882 middle schoolers--was set in 1982. Though the number had steadily declined to about 1,400 by 1992, it exceeded 2,000 last year and the tournament set a new record this year for the first time in 19 years. Meanwhile, the number of players in the tournament for high school students hit 4,216--3,154 boys and 1,062 girls from 971 schools. The tournament's previous record of 4,138--3,483 boys and 655 girls--was set in 1980. Though the number later hovered around 2,000, it shot up in recent years and the tournament this year set a new record for the first time in 21 years. Increases in the number of participating schools and female competitors were especially high. Along with the comic, the recent increase in the popularity of go can be attributed to the promotional efforts of Nihon Kiin and other organizations concerned that the game's declining popularity had reached a critical level. Since the comic has become so popular, more children have enrolled in beginner go classes and have been seen playing in go salons, Nihon Kiin officials said. Shueisha said it would continue the comic strip as long as it remained popular. From Oct. 10, TV Tokyo will begin airing an animated series based on the comic. In addition, a video game named after the comic strip and a card game featuring characters from the story will be released to coincide with the start of the animated series. Nihon Kiin also has planned various events to take advantage of the comic's popularity. "There is no reason why we shouldn't ride the boom," an official of the organization said. Nihon Kiin said it would hold an event named after the comic and plans to further promote the game among children in cooperation with clubs and high schools. LOAD-DATE: September 21, 2001 จาก : Shusaku - - shusaku@intrex.net - 22/10/2001 21:36 
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