Kuwabara (Hikaru character)

Hikaru no Go:

Kuwabara Honinbo

Kuwabara Hon'inbo (桑原本因坊 Kuwabara Hon'inbō) is the aged and (apparently) very long running holder of the Honinbo title in Hikaru no Go.

His first appearance in the manga is Game 24, and his final is in Game 170.

In the manga, in his first defense he defeats Seiji Ogata. Kuwabara resorts to a tactic of deliberately having the first move for the second day of each game but the last game of the title series. (The player with the first move of the second day must indicate the move on paper at the end of the first day.) During the final game, Kuwabara plays to have Ogata make the first move of the second day, therefore having to seal the move. Once the move is sealed, Kuwabara asks Ogata if he was sure that he (Ogata) has marked the move correctly. The moves are made to make Ogata nervous.

The second (unseen) successful defense is against Atsushi Kurata. In the third (unseen) match, the readers learn his opponent is again to be Ogata.

The best known characteristic of Kuwabara is his 'sixth sense'. He picked up on Hikarus' remarkable ability.

There has been speculation that his character is based on Sakata Eio whose bald head and hair style were similar to those of the manga character, and who held the Honinbo title for several years. Another possibility is Fujisawa Shuko, who had no physical resemblance to the manga character but was likewise a senior strong player who won the Kisei title many times in a row.

Kuwabara shares his family name with Hon'inbo Shusaku; Shusaku's birth name was "Kuwahara Torajiro." (It has never been established whether Shusaku was called Kuwahara or Kuwabara. The kanji are the same for both.)