Original title：趙治勲 私の履歴書（8）平塚道場
Original article: The Nikkei
Author: Cho Chikun, Honorary Meijin
In the summer of 1972, Yoshio Ishida successfully defended his Honinbo title and was finally allowed to live on his own. During his last few days at the dojo, he called me over to play a few games with him. I will never forget how touched I was that he was willing to play with me, a junior much lower in rank.
Since then, I have always relied on Yoshio Ishida. In recent years, I often joke and make sharp remarks about him in public, but this is actually a sign of our close relationship. I believe he understands this too.
The following summer, Kitani Minoru-sensei was hospitalized in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, after suffering his third stroke. At that time, the once-bustling Yotsuya Dojo became quieter, and the atmosphere felt as if it was "closing down."
At that time, the only one left in the dojo who had not yet become a professional was the last uchi-deshi, Yasutaka Sonoda. Sonoda had to move to the old dojo in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, but who would go with him to take care of him? When I volunteered to look after him, everyone was surprised. After all, I had always been a troublemaker, often talking back and causing concern for Miharu Kitani. Everyone thought I would be the first to leave the dojo, so they didn’t expect me to volunteer to care for a junior disciple.
In the end, three of us decided to move to Hiratsuka: myself, Yasutaka Sonoda, who was a year younger than me, and Shigenari Nobuta, who had just passed the professional exam. Although Nobuta was five years older than me, I had entered the professional world five years earlier. For the first time, I, who had always been the youngest in the Kitani Dojo, became the "big brother."
Perhaps because I became a mentor, I started to view myself more objectively. During the less than two years in Hiratsuka, I felt that I had grown tremendously, not only in Go but also in life.
Although my study methods did not change, my attitude toward learning underwent a significant transformation. I began to study proactively and felt myself improving every day. This was, without a doubt, the period of my greatest growth as a Go player.
I still remember that in Yotsuya, I was just one of many disciples, but in Hiratsuka, I was given my own room, which made me very happy.
In that room, I adopted a stray cat. Having no friends, I named the cat "Tomodachi-kun" (Friend) and treated it as my companion. One morning, I was surprised to find my bedding wet. At first, I thought I had wet the bed, but upon closer inspection, I realized that Tomodachi-kun had given birth to a kitten. Although it probably had no other place to give birth, I was still happy that it chose a place it felt "safe." It seems I had a bit of kindness in me after all.
Another memorable experience during my time in Hiratsuka was playing shogi (Japanese chess) with Kitani Minoru-sensei. He once half-jokingly said, "I once hesitated between becoming a professional Go player or a professional shogi player," showing his love for shogi.
The three of us took turns visiting Sensei in the hospital, but since the other two couldn’t play shogi, my visits gradually increased.
Senior disciples like Yoshio Ishida and Masao Kato also occasionally visited and played shogi with Kitani-sensei, but they were much stronger than him, so they would deliberately lose. However, I never held back and always played with full effort. Kitani-sensei, who could barely speak at the time, once communicated with Miharu Kitani through written notes, saying, "Chikun has the best talent for shogi."
During my ten years in Yotsuya, I had always been afraid to talk to Kitani-sensei, let alone play Go with him. However, through shogi, I was able to spend some rare and irreplaceable time with Kitani-sensei.
I no longer remember why I initially decided to go to Hiratsuka, but perhaps it was some kind of intuition. I believe it was a very wise decision.
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