John Fairbairn wrote:
Thanks, guys. But at this stage I'm not specially interested in the Hawaii Ki-in itself. I was more interested in learning why the AGA *apparently* ignores what, on the face of it, should be a fantastic resource. Maybe it's just too far away and Americans tend to forget about it except at holiday time. We have a similar situation here with the much closer Channel Islands. On the whole, in such situations, it seems the islanders have too much sense to go to the mainland
Much closer indeed. True Americans do frequently travel to Hawaii but it is a bit of a trek to do with any frequency. I live in Los Angeles, CA, as close as the mainland gets to Hawaii and, if I'm reading my maps right, it is as far from my house to Hawaii as it is from your house to Tobol'sk, in the swamps of Western Siberia. It is the same distance again from AGA's birthplace at Chumley's in New York.
That said, I suspect geography was not the only reason the Hawaii Ki-in wasn't a large feature in the AGA landscape. In my brief period trying to be a shogi player and the last few years of being a go player, I went a number of times to the Rafu Ki-in, or Los Angeles Go Association. The gentlemen there would welcome a player who came often, perhaps knew the culture and the language, or were experts at the game ... Richard Dolen and David Dows and a number of others were regulars there over the years, but the casual visitor, the youth or the beginner was not particularly solicited. In club pictures, the men (all men) looked young or middle aged in the 1940s, just back from the camps, and 1950s, middle-aged and old in the 1960s, and old thereafter. When I lasted visited the club, the surviving players were very, very old indeed. They were quite welcoming to me, if typically gruff, in the last year, but the youngest of them was in his 60s and I think he was a good 20 years younger than the next one up. I sat down to play with one fellow and was stronger than he expected. He asked where I had learned to play and when I said "Santa Monica Go Club" his eyes flew open. He had no idea there was a go club there. I think the Rafu Ki-in was a place for immigrants to play with one another, and Richard Dolen was the exceptional figure, the American they'd heard of who played. Anyway, I put up posters for our events and told the guys about them, but only the comparative youngster has ever come to our things.
At the beginning of last year, I got a call from the youngster, who was by default in charge of the club because there was getting to be no one else. Some of the last few members had died so he was closing the club and did I want some of the stuff, he asked. I took a few nice thick club boards, I gave away the mismatched, stained and chipped stones via godiscussions.com so they'd have a home and be played with, and I took the club lares and penates ... wooden sign, photos, calligraphies ... home. Not sure what I'll do with them yet. I can't read Japanese but I think one of item is a Nihon Ki-in branch certificate of some sort. Perhaps my hall closet is, technically, a Nihon Ki-in outpost. Probably the whole group should be a donation to the Japanese-American Museum in LA, if they'll use it and when I get to organizing it.
Anyway, that's all by way of saying that, as an actual AGA person, I tried to take advantage of the presence of the Rafu Ki-in and, while it was a cultural treasure its own way, it was a not a current practical help. It might have been different when Richard frequented it, but not lately. I imagine the same might have been true for the Hawaii Ki-in ... that you could learn and play if you had the time and patience to attend, but it was basically a place for immigrants.
John, can I send you some photos of the stuff I have in my closet? I'd be curious if you could tell what any of it is.
Andy