• Child-raising
• Shogi

Five Tips from a Professional Player for Children

Explore art of Shogi. A professional Shogi player invites you to the world of Shogi along with traditional Japanese culture. Today, I would like to share more specific points that instructors and parents should keep in mind when teaching children Shogi. 1. Find many upsides of children Some instructors may think that novice children do not have many upsides due to their lack of technical skills. However, they actually have many good points in their behaviors and attitudes towards Shogi. For example, they can lay out pieces properly on the board, neatly place pieces in hand on the piece stand, and exchange appropriate greetings. Instructors should look at those and

Akiko Nakakura 19 October 2016

• Child-raising
• Shogi

Only One Thing to be a Strong Shogi player for Children

As posted here before, the most frequently asked question to me, as a professional Shogi player, is how to improve one’s ability for Shogi. My answer was always the same, “You know, that is what I really want to know.” Yes, I should have made a better answer. Now, I am going to make a better answer, intending about 5-year-children who have just got a basic rule of Shogi, say about 10 Kyu (a kind of ranks given to relatively low-ranked players). As far as I know, most children who have just learned a basic Shogi rule just got to know Shogi, or to be interested in Shogi. They came

Akiko Nakakura 19 October 2016

• Shogi

Five Enjoyable Approaches to Learn Shogi

Today, I would like to talk about Shogi learning methods for novice players. “What should I do to be strong?” This is the question that I am often asked. The standard answer is as follow. “You should copy pros’ piece moves, solve Tsume Shogi or Mate problems, and take part in actual matches.” Yet, for those beginners who want to learn Shogi as a hobby, I would like to introduce more enjoyable learning approaches today since all the Shogi beginners are not hoping to be a pro in the future. Some play Shogi just for fun. Others play Shogi to enhance academic skills, or as a family entertainment. People have

Akiko Nakakura 19 October 2016

• Shogi

Five Points for Successful Shogi Learning

Explore art of Shogi. A professional Shogi player invites you to the world of Shogi along with traditional Japanese culture. I’d like to talk about five things that many beginners often fail today. Novice players can make a quick progress if they can avoid them. I think that the best and authentic way to learn Shogi is through trial and fail. So, you had better play Shogi with various different opponents many times. However, it is quite hard to keep playing without knowing your problems. So, I would like to share some points that many novice players often stumble into, and how to overcome those. I hope my tips will

Akiko Nakakura 19 October 2016

• Child-raising
• Shogi

Five Trivia on Shogi

Shogi did not come out of the blue to be a popular game in Japan. As a matter of fact, its ancestor was originated in India, a game called “Caturaṅga.” Caturanga came to Japan, and developed adjusting unique elements of Japan. Shogi added some new pieces and discarded some of the ancestor’s pieces on the way of the evolution. Today, I’d like to share five particularly interesting stories about Shogi. I’m sure that you feel like talking them to your children. 1. Japanese Shogi and the western chess are brothers! Shogi has brothers all over the world. The western chess is also popular in Japan, and I think many people

Akiko Nakakura 19 October 2016

• Japanese 5 stars

Interview with Traditional Japanese Cultural Artisans

An interview with the owner of Maruhachi-Goban-ten, the specialized Go and Shogi shop who offers a selection of Go and Shogi equipments crafted by skilled artisans. Timeless Masterpieces: Board and Pieces Used in the Meijin Title Match The other day, I posted an article here to share our news that we had purchased a set of Shogi board and pieces to be used in the third Kyoku of the 74th-term Meijin Title Match (“Kyoku” is suffix to count Shogi games.) Good value has been added to the board and pieces, since they were used during the prestigious Meijin Title Match. It is true, but moreover those works are exquisite in

Akiko Nakakura 12 October 2016

• Business

Our Shogi Equipment for the Meijin Title Match

I-tsu-tsu Co.Ltd. purchased Japan Shogi Association Shogi board and pieces to be used for Shogi Meijin Title Match. We work under our vision; “Surprise of real Japanese Traditional Culture for your child”. When I, dressed in Kimono, sit down on Tatami mats and start laying Shogi pieces, all the children around me silently and earnestly stares at my moves. They sat down in the Seiza style, a traditional and formal way of sitting in Japan, even though nobody told them to sit down in the style. It is neither visible nor describable by words. Is it atmosphere that makes children behave that way? What is delivered to them is “atmosphere”.

Akiko Nakakura 12 October 2016

• Business

Address

Good afternoon, everyone! My name is Akiko Nakakura. All the preparations have been made, and I am going to submit the papers for registration of the joint-stock company Itsutsu tomorrow. In shogi terms, you could say that all the pieces are in place and we are about to make our first move. I can’t wait to see how the game unfolds from here, and am just thrilled about this development. My life as a shogi player began under the guidance of my father, who simply loved the game. Although I became disenchanted with it at times, it is thanks to shogi that I have had a variety of experiences and

Akiko Nakakura 20 October 2015