On October 3rd, the 1st Kagaribi Cup, an Online Match between Japanese pros of the Kansai Kiin and EGF pros took place. Despite a bitter 4-1 loss for the Europeans, this match brightened up the entire go community and opens the path to more such international initiatives.

Organized thanks to the original idea of YouTube Go influencer Akira Fukushima-Maekawa and sponsored by the Kagaribi project, the Kagaribi Cup made us all very excited, providing thrilling matches on OGS for an entire day between top EGF pros and Kansai Kiin rising stars.

You can read all the crunchy details and find the games in the previous article.

The event brought together not only the players, but also the go community, with watchers from all parts of the world cheering, screaming for joy or crying in the  game chat, depending on who they rooted for.

Who would miss rapid games between the EGF pros and Japanese stars such as Atsushi Sada 7p?!
Ah, well, if you just answered "me", then you can watch the replay, either in Japanese or English.

Indeed, contributing to the peak of enthusiasm and ecstasy of the spectators, the show was covered simultaneously on Twitch with the European pros and in Japanese on Akira's Go channel, with amazing guests such as...

• Motoki Noguchi 7d (one of France's best players),
• Cho Hyeyeon 9p (one of the best female players in the world!),
• Hirofumi Ohashi 7p (a figure of the Nihon Kiin, famous for his crazy style, his tsumegos and passion for the game),
• Rob van Zeijst 7d (one of the best European players).

You can find it here: Akira's channel
Or here: EGF channel

After the match, the Japanese team, which played at the Kansai Kiin, sent a very nice photo.
Unfortunately, as the European team is spread over several countries, it was hard to do the same, but the players were sincerely glad of the event and are surely hoping that such opportunities come again (and for a chance of revenge, of course).

Or perhaps Takuya Okawa wants his revenge even more? Stanislaw was the only European to win!

(Other games you will find at the very end of the article)

"It was a really fun and interesting experience, I liked it a lot! The only sad thing is that we played just one game each, I'd love to play more next time :)" - said Andrii Kravets 2p after being crushed by Atsushi Sada 7p in a very short time.

"It was fun for sure. Regretful that we didn't show a better result. It's a great practice for us and it's very interesting for spectators. We should try for more events and games!" added Ali Jabarin 3p, enthusiastic for a future next time.

We asked Hiroo Yamanaka, Co-founder and Director or the Kagaribi project and sponsor of the event, about his impressions, and how the match was received on the Japanese side.

"I remember being quite surprised by how strong the response was from the European community even when I casually mentioned the match on Facebook in the early stages.
As you may know, I focus most of my promotion efforts on Facebook, but since it’s not a major platform in Japan, I wasn’t sure how much awareness there would be here before the event.

Judging from the reactions during and after the match (based on activity on X in Japan), I’d say it was fairly positive. Akira’s Japanese commentary stream maintained around 100–120 concurrent viewers throughout, which is quite a good result for a privately organized broadcast."

☝️ Actually, it is worth mentionning that the match was announced really early, the time for the community to discover the players one by one, get teased a little, and learn more about the Kagaribi project. This initiative, leaning on Go enthusiasts and pro player Hibiki Mishima, wishes to give a new light to the game of go, through cultural elements of the Kansai or by bringing Go in everyday's life (for example, through coffee or cultural stays).

"Among Japanese Go fans, the awareness was moderate — but among professional players, it was completely different. I’m confident that almost every pro in Japan heard about this event, and many of them learned for the first time about European pros and their true playing strength. I could really feel that in various conversations I had afterwards. That, in itself, is a major achievement.

All the Kansai Kiin pros who participated told me they would love to do it again. If Japan had simply won 5–0, perhaps the impression would have been different, but from the way the players talked in the waiting room afterwards, I could tell they recognized their European opponents as genuine, equal competitors.

What made me happiest, though, was how warmly this event was received by European Go fans. Many people reached out with kind messages of gratitude, which, as a sponsor, meant the world to me. I also feel that this will make it much easier to promote next year’s match when we do it again."


We also asked Akira Fukushima-Maekawa to tell us how it was, preparing this big event and streaming!

"I felt an immense sense of relief and gratitude when this tournament was finally held successfully.
To be honest, I had no previous experience as a tournament organizer. I had never looked for sponsors before, and I wasn’t particularly good with technical equipment either.
Even so, as I mentioned in an earlier article, my strong desire to share the charm and spirit of European Go with Japan became my driving force.

I had been thinking, “I want to organize a Go match between Europe and Japan!” but I was struggling with how to actually make it happen.
When I returned to Japan temporarily in February this year, I had the opportunity to meet Hiroo Yamanaka from the Kagaribi Project, who kindly agreed to become our sponsor — and that’s how this event came to life.

Organizing a tournament for the first time was a complete challenge for me.
To start with, my English isn’t very strong.
But with the help of many supportive people, I managed to prepare project proposals, promotional materials, and communicate closely with members of the EGF.

Another challenge was how to manage the live broadcast.
Since my own playing strength wasn’t enough to provide commentary alone, I kept thinking about how to make the event both enjoyable and insightful for the viewers.
Thanks to the wonderful people I met — Hirofumi Ohashi, whom I met through my YouTube activities; Motoki Noguchi at the Strasbourg tournament; Rob van zeijst at the Amsterdam tournament; and Hyeyeon Cho at the Frankfurt tournament — we were able to offer exceptional live commentary with amazing guests.

Through this experience, I truly realized how the power of human connection can bring such a wonderful event to life.
After the broadcast ended, I couldn’t help but shed tears of joy.

Japanese Go fans reacted with excitement, saying things like,
“I didn’t know there are professional players in Europe!”
“European pros are so strong!”
“I want to visit the European Go Congress someday!”
Hearing those voices made me feel that all our efforts had truly been worthwhile.

Looking ahead, I hope this event will inspire friendly rivalry among different countries and help Go continue to grow and flourish in each region.
I also hope to keep organizing more events that connect and expand this positive movement.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Li Ting for her initial guidance, Milena Boclé for her tireless work on promotion, Masaru Mikami, Honorary President of the Spanish Go Association, for his kind support, and Hiroo Yamanaka, our generous sponsor, for making this possible.
I will continue to cheer for all the European Go players and their future success — from the bottom of my heart."

Thank you for these words and making this event happen!

Huge thanks to Hiroo and Akira for their involvment in the entire preparation of the event and the EGF team (executive and players) for doing their best in this match. Of course, a very big bow and thanks to the entire go community, who made it so special by commenting, cheering and simply being there.

We all hope that both in Europe or Japan, you found enjoyment and will look forward to the next time!

And thanks to you, reader, for reading such a long way. Here are the games, as a sign of gratitude for your interest:

Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 1p 🇫🇷 vs Fumi Takayamabe 1p 🇯🇵
game - Winner Fumi (W+Resign)

Stanisław Frejlak 2p 🇵🇱 vs Takuya Okawa 3p 🇯🇵
game - Winner Stanislaw (B+Timeout)

Ali Jabarin 3p vs Jin Nishimura 2p 🇯🇵
game - Winner Jin (B+Resign)

Andrii Kravets 2p 🇺🇦 vs Atsushi Sada 7p 🇯🇵
game - Winner Atsushi (B+Resign)

Mateusz Surma 3p 🇵🇱 vs Yuto Omote 3p 🇯🇵
game - Winner Yuto (W+Resign)

⸻



Photos - courtesy by the Kagaribi project