Life In 19x19

Hi all,

I studied Japanese for several years in high school, and have recently taken up go. I was thinking of combining the two interests by purchasing one or more go books in Japanese. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any 'classic' go books (or even 'modern classics', they need not be ancient ) which may be beneficial to a beginner like myself. They need not have an English translation.

Thanks

I can't help you directly I'm afraid but if you can read Japanese you could browse Amazon's Japanese website and the readers comments. The only Japanese books I'm aware of are fairly difficult problem books. A book of commented games might fit the bill but might not be ideal for a beginner (but might be fun anyway).

I quite liked the マイコミ囲碁文書シリーズ:
- 一目の手筋問題集600: compiled by Cho Chikun (well, it has his name on the cover)
- ノータイム詰碁360 ヨミからヒラメキへ
- ひと目でわかる「本筋・俗筋」対照表
These 3 books are the typical pocket-sized Japanese books: handy for reading on the subway. The content is pretty easy, a lot of the problems can be solved at a glance (hence the name of the books). They make for a good drill in basic shapes though.

There is a recent thread on a very nice problem collection by Maeda Nobuaki, you can view some more info here: http://lifein19x19.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=172855#p172855. This is definitely my favourite Japanese go book. The problems are a bit harder than the other 3 books I mentioned earlier.

There are SL links for general Japanese books but I don't think all of them are classic. For something more modern, there are there are the Go Super Books.

Also, some SL members post reviews of Japanese Books. In particular, John Fairbairn. You can look at his posts in the Go Books and Go Book Reviews subforums. Tami posted some reviews of more modern books here.

I think that Sakata's Killer of Go series could be considered modern classics for kyu players. Here are links to a couple of them.

碁の手筋と俗筋―筋と形をおぼえよう (1968年)

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%A2%81%E3%81 ... 2%E7%94%B0

碁の基本は定石―この定石を使おう (1968年)

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%A2%81%E3%81 ... 2%E7%94%B0

The Maeda tsumego series is also a modern classic. Here is a link to the first book.

前田初級詰碁―10級から4級までの人へ (1965年)

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%89%8D%E7%94 ... D%E7%94%B0

You might also be interested in Japan's National Diet Library site:

http://dl.ndl.go.jp/search/searchResult ... stricted=0

I think everone would agree that the Tesuji Dictionary by Segoe and Go Seigen is a classic. You'll never be sorry you bought it as long as you play go. (two volumes):

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%89%8B%E7%AD ... 35&sr=1-65

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%89%8B%E7%AD ... 88&sr=1-42



Here is the Japanese version of Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go by Kageyama Toshiro 7p. Again a book whose English version has been much praised here and on SL:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E7%B4%A0%E4%BA ... 2%E7%A2%81

Try the Nihon Kiin's e-book service first. This is available on PC and also has separate apps for ipad or android. If you have 2 (or more) of these devices you need to pick one since my understanding is that the books you buy are not available across devices. I use my iPad. The thing is that the service (app) is free and you can choose from books, magazines, and the weekly newspaper to see what best fits your taste and language ability. The materials are discounted from their paper versions and there is no shipping. It has to be the easiest way to get some Japanese language content unless your local bookstore stocks some.

ez4u wrote:Try the Nihon Kiin's e-book service first. This is available on PC and also has separate apps for ipad or android. If you have 2 (or more) of these devices you need to pick one since my understanding is that the books you buy are not available across devices.

Android and PC are identical and are e-gobooks. The igobooks are the iOS available books from Nihon Kiin.

I agree with the recommendation. There are a few beginner oriented books there as well as Igo Mirai which is a magazine aimed at beginner level. Later on the Sakata books and the Heart of Go series is nice.

Also there is a good selection of Kindle available books but you need an Android or iOS device to use.