American Go E-Journal

The Board of Directors of Nihon Ki-in America (NKA) and the New York Go Center (NYGC) have announced their support for the Seattle Go Center, which has sued the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo to prevent the sale of the SGC building in Seattle, WA. “From its founding, the Seattle Go Center has been particularly successful in uniting players from all cultural backgrounds and in drawing broad support from the go community,” they said in a press release on April 28. “In that sense, the Seattle Go Center has been the most successful of Iwamoto-sensei’s four go centers.” Saying that “The NYGC Board was not consulted or informed of Nihon Ki-in Japan’s plan to close the Seattle Go Center,” the NKA (the non-profit entity created to run the NYGC) and NYGC – which was formally closed in 2010 when the Nihon Ki-in shuttered the building on East 52nd Street in Manhattan but continues to exist organizationally – warned that unilateral decisions like closing the Seattle Center will “seriously damage the relationship between Japanese Go and the American go community.” “We never suggested that Seattle be sold to fund New York,” they added. “While we appreciate Nihon Ki-inJapan’s interest in re-establishing the New York Go Center, we strongly disapprove of doing so at the expense of the Seattle Go Center.” Noting that “The Nihon Ki-in has generously supported international go for decades with the creation of overseas chapters, establishment of the World Amateur Championships and the International Go Foundation, invitations for overseas teachers, the visits of hundreds of professionals,” the NKA and NYGC called on the Nihon Ki-in “to negotiate a mutually acceptable agreement with the American Go Association, the Seattle Go Center and the New York Go Center to make the best use of Iwamoto-sensei’s generous endowment to go in the United States.” photo of sign outside  former site of the New York Go Center by d_run on flickr