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© 2023 Richard Hunter

The Road to Understanding Japanese Volume 3

Expanding the Scope

Richard Hunter

Buy the full book at gobooks.com

This book completes the series. It is aimed at readers who have worked through volumes 1 and 2 or have otherwise achieved a good level of reading Japanese go problem books.

It expands the scope of Japanese to include reading other types of go books and written materials, listening to spoken Japanese related to go and unrelated to go, and finally reading and listening to ordinary Japanese unrelated to go.

Copyright Page

© 2023 Richard Hunter

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Photograph of Richard Hunter by Louise Bremner.

Table of Contents

The Road to Understanding Japanese Volume 3

Copyright Page

SECTION ONE: READING A WIDER RANGE OF GO BOOKS

Introduction

1–1: Discussion Books

The chapters in gray are included only in the full book.

1–2: Game Commentaries

SECTION TWO: READING GO-RELATED MATERIAL

Introduction

2–1: Free Go Magazines

2–2: Kitani Dōjō

2–3: Magazine Column

2–4: Nihon Kiin Website

SECTION THREE: LISTENING TO GO-RELATED JAPANESE

Introduction

3–1: Yanagisawa

3–2: Igo/Shogi Premium

3–3: Ishida: Life and Death

3–4: Chō Chikun: Life and Death

3–5: Umezawa Yukari

3–6: Ishikura Noboru

3–7: Michael Redmond

3–8: Inaba Yoshiko

3–9: Kitani Dōjō Memories

SECTION FOUR: LISTENING TO GENERAL JAPANESE

Introduction

4–1: Akane

SECTION FIVE: READING & LISTENING TO GENERAL JAPANESE

Introduction

5–1: Satori Reader

SECTION SIX: SOME GO TOPICS

Introduction

6–1: Go Proverbs

6–2: Failure is the Mother of Success

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Advice

Appendix 2: Go Problems

Appendix 3: Game from Igo/Shogi Premium

Appendix 4: Yanagisawa transcript

Appendix 5: Vocabulary Worth Learning

About the Author

Buy This Book

About Go Books

SECTION ONE: READING A WIDER RANGE OF GO BOOKS

Introduction

This section expands the range of go materials for reading beyond go problem books, which were the focus of my earlier books on Japanese (JEJ2, JEJ3, RUJ1, and RUJ2).

The two chapters in this section are on discussion books and game commentaries.

Chapter 1–1: Discussion Books

Introduction

I have several go books that discuss various aspects of the game. For example, handicap games, opening, middle game, endgame, attack & defense, and positional judgement.

They usually contain problems to illustrate the topic and test your understanding. Many of them are out of date or seem uninteresting to me now, so I don’t intend to mention them.

Instead, I mention an excellent recently published book that has a preview on Amazon.

筋がよくなる! 勝てる!

石の形

集中講義

三村智保

三村智保 ⤴

Link to Amazon preview ⤴

In this chapter, I discuss a book by Mimura Tomoyasu 9 dan published in 2018 that has a preview on Amazon. This book was recommended by John Tilley in his series ‘Go Jottings’ in the British Go Journal BGJ 200 and 201 ⤴ . Those issues are currently marked with an asterisk because the last four issues are available to members only. They should become freely available about a year after publication.

I bought the book as a PDF directly from Mynavi and found it interesting and useful as well as having some new vocabulary and kanji. I also recommend it for its good go content. Advice on buying Mynavi PDFs is given in the Appendix.

The preview has 20 out of 432 pages. This covers the:
はじめに ⓑ Introduction, Preface (as section heading of a book, etc.)
目次【もくじ】 Table of Contents
序章【じょしょう】prologue, preface
and a few pages of the first topic in Chapter 1, which starts on page 16
第一章【だいいっしょう】 Chapter 1
サカレ形【さかれがたち】 see notes below

The grammar is straightforward and all of it is covered in JEJ3, so if you read that thoroughly, you should be able to read the text if you use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar vocabulary. There are several words that do not often appear in go problem books, so it is a good opportunity to learn new vocabulary and kanji, in addition to enjoying reading and studying this excellent book.

Notes

Book cover

At the bottom of the cover, we see the paper wrapper that many Japanese books have.

集中講義
講義【こうぎ】 lecture
This is a word that I had not really noticed before. I am familiar with
講座【こうざ】 course (e.g. of lectures),
which appeared on the NHK TV Sunday Go Program. On my bookshelf, I have a couple of the accompanying monthly magazines NHK囲碁講座 and a couple of go books that use 囲碁講座 after the teacher’s name.
講義 appears in several go book titles on Amazon.
義【ぎ】 righteousness, justice, morality, honor, loyalty, meaning
With the exception of 講義, this kanji is not common in go books, so no real need to learn it on its own unless you encounter it several times in other contexts. Just grasp the meaning of 講義 as a variant of 講座.

「石の形　集中講義」がパワーアップして復刊！
復刊 see the notes about page 17.

Page 3 はじめに

初版発行されたのは２００６年で、もう十二年も前になります。
初版【しょばん】 first edition
発行【はっこう】 ⓐ publication (of a newspaper, magazine, book, etc.), issue
Both of these words are related to publishing. You will see them often on the copyright page at the back of a book. 初, 発, and 行 are common kanji. 版 is not one I have noticed before in go problems, but it appears on the covers of several of my books in the name 成美堂出版 Seibidō Publishing. I also mentioned 版 in RUJ1 in reference to a reprint of Chō’s book discussed as Amazon Preview 3.

その後２０１２年に加筆修正した「完全版」が出まして、更に今回、２度目の修正を加えさせて頂けることとなりました。

加筆【かひつ】ⓐ improvement (to a piece of writing or painting), revision, correction, touching up
修正【しゅうせい】 amendment, correction, revision, modification, alteration, retouching, update,

地味ながらまた生き残っているところを見ると、意外に効果のある本らしいですよ。
地味【じみ】 plain, simple, subdued, sober; reserved (behaviour, attitude, etc.), modest, quiet, unobtrusive; quite, a (little) bit
ながら ⓑ while, although, though, despite, in spite of, notwithstanding
This word was introduced in JEJ3. It usually attaches to the stem of a verb or an i-adjective, but it can also follow a noun, as is the case here. I recently encountered a nice note explaining this on Satori Reader.

This is a slightly special use of the familiar -nagara suffix. The more common use of this suffix is to attach it to the -masu stem of a verb to create a phrase that means “while (verb)ing.” For example: (deleted)

What we are seeing in this episode also means “while” but in the sense of “even though that is so…; while that is so,” and unlike the above usage, it can attach to nouns and adjectives. Here are two more examples: (deleted)

This usage of -nagara is mostly limited to writing or formal speech, but a few have become standardized expressions, such as the zannen-nagara from the (deleted) sentence above.

…、私の「石の形」指導も少し熟成された感があります。
熟成 【じゅくせい】 maturing, ripening, aging, ageing, curing, fermenting
The kanji 熟 is not very common in go problem books. I have noticed it in two words, each with a single example. However, it is used in the grammar terms 熟語 and 四字熟語 that appeared in both RUJ1 and RUJ2 and also appear below in the notes about page 11.

２０１６年後半から、人工知能による囲碁の大革命が起こりました。
人工知能【じんこうちのう】 artificial intelligence; AI

大革命【だいかくめい】 great revolution
Note, read this as 大 革命 not as 大革 命.
大 and 命 are both common kanji.
革 is a kanji that I can see on a book cover on my bookshelf.
梶原流　革命定石 Kajiwara style revolutionary joseki. This book was interesting at the time I bought it, but I have not looked at it since and I am unlikely to spend time studying it again in these days of the AI revolutionary joseki.

AIやプロ棋士が目指している「守りを最小にして効率を追求する打ち方」は「膨大なヨセ」に支えられています。
追求【ついきゅう】 pursuit (of a goal, ideal, etc.); search; chase; seeking after
This is a word that is common in go problem books. The first kanji appears in the go term
追い落とし, which I discussed in RUJ1.
The reading tsuikyū applies to two homonyms that are common in go problem books:
追求【ついきゅう】 pursuit (of a goal, ideal, etc.); search; chase; seeking after​
追及【ついきゅう】
ⓐ investigation (e.g. into someone’s guilt), questioning, pressing, hounding, pinning down
ⓑ catching up, overtaking

膨大【ぼうだい】 huge, vast, enormous, colossal, extensive, large
This is the first compound word using the ON reading that I have noticed, so no need to learn it. Just grasp the meaning. The first kanji 膨 is the basis of the go term fukurami.
フクラミ Bulge. A hane that expands a one-space jump, forming a V-shape. Same as fukure.
Fukurami is the masu stem (noun form) of the verb
膨らむ【ふくらむ】 to expand, to swell (out), to get big, to become inflated
The go term is usually written in katakana in modern books. Indeed, フクラミ appears later in Mimura’s full book. It often appears in the kanji form in older books. The verb is often written using the kanji.

皆さんは惑わされず従来どおりの石の形を学びましょう。
従来【じゅうらい】 up to now, so far
従来どおり【じゅうらいどおり】 as before, as usual, the way it used to be
The first kanji 従 does not appear in many compound words in go problem books, so no need to learn the ON reading. The word
従業員【じゅうぎょういん】 employee, worker
is very common in ordinary Japanese.
The verb shitagau using the kun reading is common in go problem books. You will see it both with the kanji and written all in kana.
従う【したがう】 to obey (an order, law, etc.), to abide by (a rule, custom, etc.), to follow, to observe, to conform to, to yield to

本書によって皆さんの囲碁が、もっともっと楽しくなることを祈っています。
祈る【いのる】 to pray, to wish
This verb is not common in go problem books. I have only noted one example, which was in a Section Preface.
Much more common than
祈 is the similar looking kanji
析, which ofter appears go problem books in the word
分析【ぶんせき】 analysis
and in the go term
二立三析【にりつさんせき】 a three-space extension from a two-stone wall, traditionally regarded as an ideal formation
二立三析 appears later in the full book.

Pages 8–14 序章

Page 8
「形」を身につける勧め
This is a text-only page before the first diagrams appear on the next page. It mostly uses common kanji and vocabulary seen in go problem books and the grammar is fairly straightforward. You could skim through it if you want, but I suggest skipping this page and moving on to the heart of the book. Come back to it later if you want.

早く楽に打つことができるようになるので、延々と長考することも少なくなり、対局相手にも喜ばれるはずです｡
延々【えんえん】 forever, endlessly, on and on
The ON reading of 延 is not common in go problem books. I have noted only one word with one example, a problem header.
延命工作
延命【えんめい】 keeping alive longer, prolonging life, life extension, life-support
More common are two related verbs (transitive and intransitive) using the kun reading. The verbs usually relate to increasing the number of liberties in a capturing race.
延びる【のびる】 to stretch, to extend, to lengthen, to grow (of hair, height, grass, etc.)
延ばす【のばす】 to grow long (e.g. hair, nails)

ましてやアマの皆さんが全てを理屈で考えていては、一局打つだけで、とてもくたびれてしまいます。
ましてや much less, to say nothing of
とても very, awfully, exceedingly
くたびれる to get tired, to become exhausted, to grow weary
These kana-only words are not especially important. None of them are particularly common in go books. I had noted one example of totemo, but this is the first time I have noticed ましてや or くたびれる.

Page 9 テーマ図１
左下で競り合いが始まっていますが、黒は次にどこに打つべきでしょうか？
競り合い【せりあい, 競合い】 competition
This word is similar to the more familiar ‘capturing race’
攻め合い
Although 競り合い was not included in the Kiseido dictionary or the 囲碁用語, it is in my old copy of the 日本棋院囲碁小事典 on page 112 (almost immediately after semeai). I have suggested adding it to the Kiseido dictionary.
競り合い
お互いの石がもつれ合い中央方面へ進出して行く状態。競って打つ、と似ている。
Eng: A situation in which opposing groups get entangled with each other and advance toward the center. It is similar to playing competitively.

Page 11 テーマ図２

黒１、３は戦いの常套手段。
常套手段【じょうとうしゅだん】 noun, yojijukugo
ⓐ one’s habitual practice, usual measure, old trick

This is an example of 四字熟語【よじじゅくご】 a four-character compound word (especially idiomatic). You will see many yojijukugo in go books. I have seen this one 常套手段 in several go books. Just recognize and understand the whole thing as a word. I have not seen the kanji 套 in any other words, so I don’t see any point in trying to learn this kanji itself. You should know the other three kanji. And 手段 is common as a word on its own.
手段【しゅだん】 resource, means

Page 13
悪い形を避け、正しい形に就くことは、ヨミの力を鍛えたり、…。
就く【つく】 to take (seat, position, course, office, etc.), to assume, etc.
形に就く is a phrase that I have seen several times in go problem books.
鍛える【きたえる】 to forge, to temper
〇〇の力を鍛える is a phrase that I have seen many times in go problem books with reference to various different types of ability.

Page 14 本書の読み方
This is a header that you will often see in go books.

サカレ形 see page 16

Page 15 第一章　サカレ形

Page 16 introduces the concept of sakare gatachi, which is a go term. Note that
がたち gatachi is the combining form of
かたち katachi.
サカレ形【さかれがたち, 裂かれ形】 split shape.
The first half of sakare gatachi is written in katakana throughout the full book, with one exception where the kanji is used. There is no reason for that. I suspect it was a henkan misu.
変換ミス【へんかんみす】 selecting the wrong kanji (when typing), kanji typo, misconversion
裂かれ is the masu stem (noun form) of the ukemikei (passive) form of 裂く.
裂く【さく】 to tear, to rip up
裂かれる to get torn up
裂かれ

これが「サカレ形」で、最も避けなくてはならない愚形です。
愚形【ぐけい】 bad shape, e.g. aki-sankaku, jingasa, and dango.
Gukei does not have a JE dictionary entry, but it does appear as a go term in Kiseido’s Dictionary of Go Terms and here ⤴ in 日本囲碁連盟 囲碁用語.

碁は石の効率を競うゲームですから、石に無駄があると「形が悪い」と言われます。
競う【きそう】 to compete, to contend, to vie, to contest
This is another verb using the kanji 競 that we saw earlier in
競る【せる】 and
競り合い【せりあい】.

Page 17

しかし、本書の刊行するにあたり、…。
刊行【かんこう】 publication, issue
This is another word related to books and publishing. The word itself is not essential, but the first kanji is worth knowing. It comes up in words like
週刊【しゅうかん】 weekly publication
as in 週刊碁 Go Weekly
月刊【げっかん】 monthly publication, monthly issue
as in 月刊碁学 Gekkan Gogaku, which published a monthly magazine and compiled many of the article series into excellent books. The older ones were out of print for quite a long time, but more recently they have been republished as ebooks (sometimes just scanned to create PDFs) and can be found on Amazon.

Returning to the book cover, this kanji 刊 appeared earlier on the cover slip in 「石の形　集中講義」がパワーアップして復刊！
I recommend learning new kanji from words that have only one new kanji if possible. So if you don’t know the first kanji of 復刊, then get comfortable with the second one before trying to learn this word. If you know 行, learn 刊行. Or if not, perhaps you know 月, so learn 月刊.

Then learn 復 from words where you already know the other kanji. The following words are all more common in go books.
復活【ふっかつ】 revival (of an old system, custom, fashion, etc.), restoration, return, comeback
復習【ふくしゅう】 review (of learned material), revision
反復【はんぷく】 repetition, iteration, recursion, recurrence, recapitulation
反復練習【はんぷくれんしゅう】 practice by repetition, learning by rote
Later on, when you encounter 復刊 again, you may feel you know both kanji well enough to learn its meaning and reading.

Page 18 テーマ図１【サカレ形１】黒番
Here we see the beginning of the layout used throughout the book. After a text-heavy introduction of the topic with a diagram or two, you get a problem テーマ図 and a lengthy discussion of the right and wrong moves. Then you get several more テーマ図 (as shown in the Table of Contents). Each chapter ends with a summary of good and bad moves and then more practice problems.

Page 20 is the last page of the Amazon preview, but the total number of answer diagrams for this problem is six. A few problems have fewer answer diagrams but most have more. I spotted one that has 33 diagrams for the answer discussion!

The full book goes into considerable detail of both good and bad variations, unlike standard problem go books. In several cases, it shows how the bad move in the original position can be a good move in a different, though similar, position.

In many cases, a move is not always bad. It is just inappropriate for that particular position.

The reverse is also true: a move that is good in one position can be bad in a similar but crucially different position. The key difference is often the relative strength of stones: whether they are strong or attackable.

Of course, there are cases where a move is almost always bad, such as an empty triangle, but even an empty triangle can be a good move in certain rare positions. The helpful detailed guidance is not something you see in problem books.

All of the diagrams in the preview are full-board diagrams, but that is not the case for all of the book’s diagrams. There are many full-board diagrams but also half-board and corner diagrams to focus on local shapes and to illustrate how these can be good or bad depending on the global arrangement of stones.

About the Author

Richard Hunter is a British go player currently living in the UK. He was introduced to the game by his elder brother, Derek (then British Go Association Secretary), and began playing at Birmingham University Go Club and then at Oxford University, where he served as club secretary and president.

He attended the opening of the (first) London Go Centre in 1975, where he met Iwamoto Kaoru 9 dan and Magari Reiki 9 dan and later lost a 9 stone game to Magari in Bristol. A photo of the London Go Centre’s opening event appeared in the British Go Journal 201 on page 10 ⤴ . He bought his first Japanese go book in the London Go Centre in the mid 1970s.

He lived in Tokyo, Japan, from 1980 to 2008. This allowed him to take lessons from Iwamoto and some of his disciples, and he eventually managed to get to four stones against Iwamoto and three stones against Magari. While in Japan, he enjoyed browsing through second-hand book stores in Tokyo and buying Japanese go books. He now has a large bookcase full of them in his workroom.

He was a regular contributor to the British Go Journal from 1991 to 2006 and has been contributing regularly again since 2020.

He received a UK 4 dan certificate in 1991 but currently plays at around 1 dan or 2 dan. He usually plays in several British tournaments each year. He has in the past played in several European Go Congresses, but most recently in Dublin in 2001, and one US Go Congress (Washington DC, 1994).