Yanagihara Saki

(柳原 咲輝, b. 6th October 2010) Female Nihon Ki-in professional, who began playing professional games in February 2023 (formally qualifying in April 2023).

Saki learnt Go at three years old and became a student of Kansai Ki-in professional Hon Seisen at his Tokyo school. She took second place in the U-12 section of the World Youth Goe Championship.

Saki attempted to qualify as a professional in 2022, but lost the deciding game in the Women’s Special Professional Qualification League to Cho Koharu. She re-encountered Koharu in October of the following year, in the preliminaries of the Female Honinbo, and evened their record.

She played her first professional game on the 27th February 2023 against Takemiya Masaki (!) and lost. She is currently, at 13 years old, the youngest female professional of the Nihon Ki-in.