Cho Koharu

(張心治, 2009– ) Cho Koharu is a Japanese professional of the Nihon Kiin. She began her career in April 2022.

Koharu is the younger sister of Cho Kosumi, the daughter of Cho U and Kobayashi Izumi, the granddaughter ^[1] of Kobayashi Koichi and Kobayashi Reiko (nee Kitani), and the great-granddaughter ^[2] of Kitani Minoru and Kitani Miharu.

[1] through Izumi
[2] through Reiko

Excerpted material from the AGA E-Journal

( source: The Power Report, February 27, 2022)

For the first time ever, two elementary-school pupils met in the deciding game in the 2022 Women’s Special Professional Qualification League. The two were Yanagihara Saki (aged 11) and Cho Koharu (aged 12). ... I have no information about Saki, but she still has a chance of making pro while in elementary school. ...

Koharu is eight months younger than Nakamura Sumire, so she will be the youngest active player at the Nihon Ki-in (she will be 12 years four months; Sumire turns 13 on March 2). Sumire’s record of debuting at ten years of age no months is still safe. ...

Her father offered some interesting background information about her given name. “Koharu” sounds like a typical girl’s name, but usually it would be written “small spring” 小春 . In Cho’s case, her name is written 心治. The first character is “kokoro,” which means “heart,” though only the first syllable is used. Go players who know kanji will immediately recognize the second character as the “chi” in Cho Chikun’s name. Cho U greatly respects Cho Chikun and actually asked him for permission to use the character from his name. The core meaning of this character is something like “cure” or “make better” or “regulate.”

Photos

Cho Koharu with her parents Cho U and Kobayashi Izumi after qualifying to become a pro (Image credit: zhuanlan.zhihu.com

Cho Koharu with her parents Cho U and Kobayashi Izumi after qualifying to become a pro (Image credit: zhuanlan.zhihu.com

Cho Koharu as a baby with her parents Cho U and Kobayashi Izumi and older sister Cho Kosumi, 2010 (Image credit: vip.udn.com

Cho Koharu with her father Cho U and grandfather Kobayashi Koichi 2020 (Image credit: ports.sina.cn