Yugen no ma

    Keywords: Culture & History

Yugen no Ma

1) Yugen no Ma (幽玄の間 Yūgen no Ma) is a special room in the Nihon Ki-in used for high-level professional matches.

Yugen no Ma is quite large and elegantly decorated, with a beautiful miniature rock garden set into a little alcove facing the entrance. The name "Yugen no ma" means something like "Room of Mystery" or "Room of Great Darkness", these ideas being for Japanese synonymous with artistic inspiration. This chamber is featured in the anime and manga series Hikaru no Go. In the series, a budding Go player named Akira Toya and the holder of the Oza title, Zama Oza, play Go in the room.

2) The name is also used by the Japanese version of Wbaduk go server, run by the Nihon Kiin. [ext] Link


Malweth: Does anyone know what the scroll on the far wall of Yugen means?

深奥幽玄 でしょう? the first half looks like shin'ou, the second half is yugen (Yuugen for ViciousMan :-), I suppose it is a quote from some ancient classic - does the shudan page tell more? (no.)

Bob McGuigan: 深奥 means "esoteric principles, mysteries, secrets" according to my dictionary, but the first character, 深, means "deep", while the second character, 奥, means "interior" and is the root of a verb meaning "lie deep in". So I think the scroll characters mean something like "Deep, subtle mysteries". The calligraphy, by the way, is by Kawabata, the author of Meijin

MyrCyn?: The online shop at [ext] http://kiseido.com depicts a kaya go board with a similar scroll in the background. The meaning is given as "subtle and profound mysteries".

There seems to be some extensive [ext] photo set on Flickr about Yugen No Ma.

Shusaiku?: @Malweth I asked my sensei about the meaning of the term 深奥(しんおう shinou)幽玄(ゆうげん yuugen) which is written on the 掛(か)け軸(じく)(kakejiku = hanging scroll; which is used as decoration .. also sometimes found in tea ceremonies (with different phrases of course)) and she gave me this as an answer: 深奥幽玄 is a metaphor for the game of Go (because of its complexity/deepness/mysteriousness) and if she would have to translate it, she would translate it as something along the lines of "profound and elegant".


yrodro?: Does anyone know if the room is open to the public (when games are not scheduled)?

hnishy: According to their [ext] FAQ, yes, you can visit the room. It's safer to confirm first by phone (03-3288-8601). And you can buy a Japanese fan (sensu) on which Kawabata's calligraphy is printed -- a nice piece of souvenir.


Yugen no ma last edited by hnishy on November 9, 2022 - 22:45
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