2023 Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Breadth courses
Cultivating the Power of Execution by Go Game
- Academic unit or major
- Breadth courses
- Instructor(s)
- Kenji Amaya / Sachiko Hara / Hirofumi Ohashi
- Class Format
- Lecture/Exercise (Blended)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Wed (M-103(H114))
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAW.X202
- Number of credits
- 110
- Course offered
- 2023
- Offered quarter
- 3-4Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 8, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
[Course description]
Professional Go player begins with the explanation of the rules of Go to students who don’t know Go.
Aim at not only the experience level but also the game on 19×19 board.
Explain the history and art of Go.
[aims]
Learn ability of independent ideas, logical thinking and power for executing ideas.
Course description and aims
Through Go the students will be able to:
1) Develop an understanding of the traditional Japanese culture.
2) Master the global communication.
3) Learn ability of independent ideas, logical thinking, broad viewpoint and finally power for challenging the unsolved problems.
Student learning outcomes
実務経験と講義内容との関連 (又は実践的教育内容)
lecture by Ms. Hara and Mr. Ohashi, professional Igo players, from Nihon Ki-in.
Keywords
Go, Global Communication, Ability of Independent Ideas, Logical Thinking, Broad Viewpoint, Making Decision, Power for Executing Ideas, Brain Science
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
1) At the beginning of each class, solutions to exercise problems assigned during the previous class are reviewed.
2) Students practice games.
3) Towards the end of class, students are given exercise problems related to what is taught on that day to solve.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Guidance | － Introduce the history of Go. － Show the model game on 9×9 board and explain basic rules. － Give an outline of the course. － The applicants are requested to write a composition and class members will be decided later. |
| Class 2 | Basic Rules ① －Stone capturing, Places where you can't play | Stone capturing game Start from kirichigai:cross cut. Win when capturing two stones. |
| Class 3 | Basic Rules ② －End of the game, Koh：repetitive capture position, Komi：compensation point | Practice the game Start from the 15th move (first 14 moves are given) |
| Class 4 | Elementary Techniqueｓ ① －Life and death of stones －Two eyes, Kakeme：false eye, Seki：mutual life | Practice the game |
| Class 5 | Elementary Techniqueｓ ② －Technique to connect and cut －Takefu：bamboo joint, Kosumi：connection’s diagonal | Practice the game |
| Class 6 | Elementary Techniqueｓ ③ －Technique of stone capturing －Shicho：ladder, Geta：net | Practice the game (Nigiri：process of deciding who plays black, Touryou：resign) |
| Class 7 | Elementary Techniqueｓ ④ －Efficient shape and bad shape －Empty triangle, Hazama. Seki：mutual life | Practice the game |
| Class 8 | Mathematical Study of Go, Life and Death Problems －Explanation of difficult life and death problems －Experiment using the software for judging life and death | Practice the game (shorten) Challenge to life and death problems |
| Class 9 | Practice on 13 ×13 Board ① －Comments on the game record of professional match on 13 ×13 board | Practice the game |
| Class 10 | Practice on 13 ×13 Board ② －Territory preparation for counting | Practice the game |
| Class 11 | International Spread of Go and Pair Go －Olympic (mind sports games) and Pair Go | Practice the game of Pair Go |
| Class 12 | Practice on 19 ×19 Board －Move in the opening stage －Corner → side → center, the 3rd and 4th lines mainly | Practice the game (60 minutes, Uchikake) |
| Class 13 | Go and AI / Nine Stone Handicap Game with Lecturers －Recent Go AI technology implovement will be explained. | Practice the game play games with lecturers (majority go) |
| Class 14 | Short Test / Answer and Explanation | Short Test |
Study advice (preparation and review)
Textbook(s)
None required
Reference books, course materials, etc.
None required
Evaluation methods and criteria
Students’ course scores are based on attendance and short tests.
Related courses
- None
Prerequisites
We make class capacity (40 students) since the class goes with practice. On the first day (guidance) the applicants are requested to submit the questionnaire (experience of Go, reason for taking the class and so on) and then class members are decided.
Other
Go is currently enjoyed by more than 45 million people in 150 countries in the world.
Go is an attractive and effective means to enable us to communicate with people from all over the world without languages, and is also called “hand communication”.
Let’s master the power of global communication through this course.