Kitani dojo

The Kitani Dojo was a celebrated go training school established and organized by Kitani Minoru and domestically run by his wife, Kitani Miharu. It was formed in modern day Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture in 1937, then moved to Yotsuya, Tokyo, where it closed in 1974. The dojo is notable for producing a significant number of top professionals that would dominate and/or influence the Japanese and Korean go scenes for over four decades - from the mid 1950s through the late 1990s. Some of these professionals included: Cho Nam-ch'eol, Otake Hideo, Kim In, Ishida Yoshio, Kato Masao, Takemiya Masaki, Kobayashi Koichi and Cho Chikun.

Notes

• Ishida Yoshio, Kato Masao and Takemiya Masaki were known as the Three Crows of the Kitani dojo.

• The number of pupils attending the school rose to over 70 (so that there are 20 others not on the list, presumably since they didn't become pros). In practical terms the school was organized by Kitani Miharu. When the dan ranks of Kitani's students totaled 100 and 200 there were big parties. Ultimately, the total exceeded 300.

• One extreme feature of the school is that because of its size, Kitani did not play games against all of the students. Reference: http://lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=63772#p63772

Bob McGuigan: It seems noteworthy that there are several Korean names in the list. Also worth mention is the fact that visiting Western go players were often welcomed warmly to the dojo and could get teaching games from professionals or stronger inseis.