Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun.
Although I know little about go and shogi, stories about the board games interest me.
A tale concerning a mysterious female go player appears in "Konjaku Monogatari-shu" (Anthology of tales from the past), a collection of folk tales from the Heian Period (794-1185).
The one I have in mind starts like this: One day, as Kanren, a master go player who teaches the game to the emperor, is walking down the street, he is stopped by a girl.
He is taken to a house and is asked by its mistress to play go with her. He readily agrees and the two play. Before he knows it, however, he has been soundly trounced. This can't be happening. Who is this woman?
Scared, Kanren runs away. Legend has it that for some time, the incident was the talk of the town in Kyo (today's Kyoto).
I suddenly recalled this story after hearing of the recent feat by Rina Fujisawa, a fifth-grade elementary school student from Tokyo.
This young girl passed the test set by the Nihon Ki-in go association. She will become the youngest professional go player ever, according to recent reports. She is just 11 and a half years old.
"I always wanted to turn pro, even while still in elementary school," she told reporters. Ordinary people like me, who play go poorly, must view her feat as truly admirable.
Meanwhile, in shogi, a 17-year-old female Meijin champion has emerged. Kana Satomi, a third-year senior high school student from Shimane Prefecture, already holds the women's Kurashiki Toka title. She is the first female teenager in about 27 years to hold two titles.
Satomi turned professional when she was 12, and she seems to embody the saying Sendan wa futaba yori kanbashi (Genius is apparent even in childhood).
"I will try to improve my skills at shogi while ensuring that my conduct and behavior befit the title of women's Meijin," she said.
Although that comment might sound natural coming from an adult, it has a fresh and reliable ring coming from a teenager of today.
Incidentally, I read the tale of the Heian female go player mentioned at the start of this column from "Uta-yomi no Me" (Eyes of a tanka writer) by Akiko Baba, a judge of the vernacular Asahi Shimbun's Asahi Kadan tanka column.
According to Baba, both Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon, authors and court ladies who lived during the Heian Period, are believed to have enjoyed playing go.
I look forward to seeing new talents emerge in the unbroken chain of female go and shogi players through the centuries.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 16
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.