From: "'Shigeki Masui'" BANET NET> Date: 28 may 2000 Subject: Re: SV: Re: SV: Re: A World Shogi Federation and a Dear Mr. Martin Danerud, I have no objection to work together for the best of world shogi friends. This is why we, New York Shogi Club members stood up to take initiative of the Shogi World Championship. We wish all of you to support this championship to reach to the real championship if you still think it is not and if there are some to improve it. In this regards, I highly appreciate the comment made by Larry Kaufman to the system of the tournament although I have a different opinion. We will listen to any constructive opinion to the further success of the Shogi World Championship as we believe this is a great contribution to the shogi world. Dear Mr. Martin Danerud, I had no intention to make any personal attack to you unless I read the unfortunate statement made by you against Japanese and their culture. Let me ask you my last question. Do you still stand by your statement made on the previous one? You wrote, Quote"But basically (and I think to some extent correctly) they do not trust us" Unquote. Regards Shigeki Masui > . > In chess we have this sad situation because of the weakness of the corrupt > World Organisation. One extra difficulty in the boardgames is of course that > the potential champions have strong wills and egos, which emphasizes the > need for a strong World Organisation. > > > The Ryu-O is contested for the largest amount of money of any shogi > >title, and any player in the world can now theoretically win it, so > >regardless of how the title translates it is the only event in the world > >that might be perceived as a true World Championship. It is sanctioned by > >the Shogi Federation of Japan, which represents over 99% of the world's > >players, so I don't see how it fails to meet your criteria for being a true > >world championship. > > > No, to common sense there is no explanation, but the real reason is the following: > Our Japanese shogi friends are the kindest people on earth. We all know them > to be joyful, nice, and generous. But basically (and I think to some extent correctly) > they do not trust us. If shogi will become a truthfully international game, they are > afraid that we (the gaijin, the westerners etc) will change the game and violate > its traditions. They are afraid that we will introduce Swiss pairing systems, new > names or symbols of the pieces, a set of exact rules, or whatever may be a violation of the > old traditions. You may just read the contributions to Shogi-L, and it is easy to see > that there are many ideas like these around. In his nice contribution "Shogi as Culture", > Teruichi Aono expresses this type of concerns indirectly by referring to judo. When > he visited Sweden in 1998, he expressed such concerns more directly regarding shogi. > > http://www.shogi.or.jp/english/aono/sasc1.htm > > Aono also indicates that shogi is especially suitable to the Japanese people. This thought > is well spread in Japan. Then imagine the embarrasment if, say, a black person from > Nigeria became the World Champion of shogi! OK, maybe it would do if the person > was given a Japanese name, like the Hawaiian natives who are sumo yokozuna, and then include him in > the professional circuit. But maybe that would not be that realistic with a black person... > > > Best regards, > > Martin