Introduction: the Ryokusei Igo Gakuen
One of the most important figures in professional go in Japan at present is an amateur named Kikuchi Yasuro.
Born in 1929 in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kikuchi is or was the top Japanese amateur player: 13 times Amateur Honinbo, 8 times Amateur best Ten, and he came second in the 8th World Amateur Go Championship. He probably could have been a pro himself, but after graduating from Senshu University, he chose instead to stay with a small steelworks (Yawata Steel) during his working life. Since retirement from that job, however, he has kept himself in full-time employment by running the Ryokusei Igo Gakuen Go Academy, which he founded in 1975.
It has arguably been the most effective school for producing professionals apart from the schools of Kitani Minoru and Kubouchi Shuchi, but what is not in doubt is that it is the one enjoying greatest success now. The Academy began with ten students, mostly university students. In the second year, promising schoolchildren of any age were allowed in. In its fourth year (1982) it had its first major success when Muramatsu Ryuichi, now 7-dan, became a pro from its ranks. There was also Maeda Ryo, now 6-dan, though he later joined the school of Ohira Shuzo 9-dan.
The successes of graduates have multiplied since then. For example, Aoki Shin'ichi won the Shun'ei and Miyazaki Shimako and Osawa Narumi both won the Women's Kakusei. Akiyama Jiro 7-dan and Mizokami Tomochika 6-dan are other senior graduates. In 2000, the Academy had 14 pros, 13 inseis and 80 amateurs on its rolls. Of all the new pros enrolled in the Nihon Ki-in from 1996-2000, the Academy has been the top supplier with five, ahead of Cho Chikun's school (four) and Kobayashi Koichi's (three).
Based on an article of John Fairbairn.
