No doubt more about him will appear in Japan over the next few days, and I'll wait for that. But a few more details for now...
He's a third-year science student from Yokohama at Tokyo University, able to spend a lot more time now on go because of coronavirus. He's 21, so has until he's 23 to decide whether to apply to turn pro. Obviously he'd be a shoo-in. Apart from his recent results (he has beaten a string of 9-dans and former title-holders, though sometimes with the benefit of reverse komi as used in some pro-am events), he was part of the Nihon Ki-in "system" before, as in insei. I think he may have been part of the same final insei A group as Antti Törmänen in 2015. Obviously he opted for a university education over go, which seems to be fairly usual nowadays.
Even as an amateur he gets rewarded for his endeavours. The usual system is to give amateurs gift certificates (Green Shield stamps! Rr think pachinko
), but the filthy lucre equivalent of these is usually well below what a pro would get for the same level of achievement. But since the Kisei is THE big-money tournament, maybe their gift certificates reflect that, too.
If Kurita decides to stay in the amateur world, he can still be a part-time pro of a kind, with access to an increasing number of tournaments with spaces reserved for amateurs. His only real rival for such spaces at present is Ozeki Minoru (now 25), though "rival" may not be quite the right word. Kurita has publicly credited Ozeki for letting him "borrow his chest", a term from sumo where the senior wrestlers stand and let the newcomers practise rushing at their chests.
Will we see a Kurita-Sumire match-up, soon? Seems a PR dream.
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