I am not sure if this belongs here or not, but I couldnt' find a better location in the forums.

This is a documentary on a go parlor where they set up cameras and observed a go parlor for 72 hours. It is really more about the people and kind of a sad life for all these old guys. Though it is set in a go parlor. the place is open 24/7 except for like a few hours on Sunday when they clean. Some of these old guys are homeless and sleep in this place. There is at least one that basically lives there. It is kind of strange. This parlor seems to be sort of exceptional in this sense because it is open 24/7 I think. Though I haven't been to so many go places to know for sure if this is more common than I realize. I also don't live anywhere near Tokyo.
ドキュメント72時間【囲碁の魔力に囚（とら）われて】7月8日

This is in some ways a typical small go kaisho. There were people of all ages, from a seven year old (Second grade in school) child, young adults (25 years old), old retired men, non-Japanese, in other words quite a spectrum of ages and types. The regular oldsters might not have much of a life at home so they spend a lot of time at the go club with people like themselves. Not so different from people at a "senior center" in the USA. A noteworthy person at the club is Takemiya Yoko 6p, son of the famous Takemiya 9p. Nice documentary.

P.S. There are quite fancy go kaisho in places like luxury hotels in Tokyo, where the clientele would be rather different.

Thanks a lot for that link, I think I could enjoy hanging around there (and quite probably more so than in some luxury hotel).

_________________
“The only difference between me and a madman is that I’m not mad.” — Salvador Dali ★ Play a slooooow correspondence game with me on OGS?

I spent a night playing in this club in August 2000 (picture). This has not changed much.
map : https://goo.gl/maps/EneGN4tKVrT2
image : https://goo.gl/maps/FyoomtaMmX52

Thanks for the link.

I'm OK with everything but the smokes.Mr. Takemiya appears at [ 17:18 ~ 18:20 ].

The title of this series is ドキュメント72時間 --
do.kyu.men.to 72 jikan -- "documentary 72 hours"

This person resembles an AGA member...is he ?

Me too. Japanese go clubs are notorious for the smoking.

It's gotten better. It's not hard to find non smoking ones now. Around Tokyo, I think more are non smoking.

I'm actually going to be in Tokyo in August. I'm going to sneak away in the evenings from my family and play some go. Any recommendations? We'll be near ikebukuro.

It seems the place I revisited last March with my friend. My first visit was probably 1982.

In Ikebukuro, I liked sekishin. Very friendly environment. There is an upscale go parlor in sunshine city that I visited but it was off hours. Much more expensive but they also host big events there.

Thank you. I actually found Sekishin through searching. Glad to hear it is friendly. I may go there.
http://www.sekishin.biz/

I also found this one nearby http://www.syougo.jp/club/club_107.html called Igokaikan. I didn't see one in Sunshine city on the web, but I might be looking in the wrong place. Thanks for the info.

Here is the one in Sunshine City.

http://www.sunshinecity.co.jp/shop/s11.html

I haven't seen the other one you found, but it looks nice.

Cool. Thanks. It actually looks like a nice place. I might try to go there too. I like the non-smoking aspects.

Edit: Turns out I am staying at the hotel in Sunshine City! Who knew!? So, maybe I will spend some time there afterall.

Why do you think this Go parlor culture exists in Japan but not China?

Potential clues:

While mobile games and computer games capture the attention of most people in both countries I don't see why that would result in a major difference.
Japan and China were both heavily damaged after WW2
Obviously there are cultural differences but at their core there is still the Confucian foundation that they are built upon
The only big difference was the cultural revolution, that happened in China and not Japan. Yet, I am not really sure if that provides an explanation as to why there are very few go parlors in China.

There is no shortage of children focused go schools all across China. But finding go playing communities for adults is difficult in China even in big cities.

what do you usually pay to play in these Go parlors?
I assume the prices differ from place to place, but what is the price range?

In Japan, I have seen anywhere from 500 yen to about 1800 yen for the day. They give discounts if you go late or stay only two hours.