Fujisawa Hideyuki
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, also known as Shuko Fujisawa, was a Japanese professional Go
player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...
. A younger uncle of another professional, Hosai Fujisawa and grandfather of professional Go player Rina Fujisawa.


Biography

Hideyuki Fujisawa was born in
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. He was one of the best players during his era. One of the " Three Crows" along with Yamabe Toshiro and Keizo Suzuki (and later Takeo Kajiwara). Even though he was known more for his controversial acts, such as having a bad drinking habit, the most important thing that shone through about Fujisawa was his Go skill. Besides Go, he was known to gamble and was a successful real estate dealer. He was also known for his
calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...
and had several exhibits of his works. He also stated in his autobiography, although he did not mind being called Shuko, he preferred to be called Hideyuki. He is the father of Kazunari Fujisawa, an 8-dan Go professional, and the grandfather of Rina Fujisawa, a 7-dan Go professional who has won multiple female titles.


Early go life

Fujisawa turned pro in 1940 and reached 9 dan in 1963. He won his first major title in 1962, the
Meijin is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi player, professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word ( "excellent, artful", "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (the ...
. He then won two Asahi Pro Best Ten titles in 1965 and 1968. He won his second major title, the Oza, which he held for three consecutive years from 1967 to 1969. The same year that he lost the Oza, he won the NHK Cup. He didn't win the NHK Cup again until 1981. The Meijin title was Fujisawa's again when he won it in 1970. He then went on a dry streak of titles. By 1976, he won his first title since the Meijin in 1970, the Tengen.


Height of career

Fujisawa went on to surprise critics as he won the Kisei title six straight years from 1976 to 1982. It has been said that during these Kisei runs in the 1970s and 1980s, Fujisawa would drink for nine months straight, then sober up for his title defense late in the year. By 1980, nobody thought anyone else but Fujisawa would win the Kisei, but that was silenced when he finally lost it to Cho Chikun in 1982. He won the first three games, controlling each move Cho made. It looked like Fujisawa would hold the Kisei for the seventh year in a row, but Cho fought back and won the last four games, as Fujisawa made a blunder in a winning position in the seventh game. After his run of consecutive Kisei titles, the Japanese
Nihon-Kiin The Nihon Ki-in (), also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main organizational body for Go in Japan, overseeing Japan's professional system and issuing diplomas for amateur dan rankings. It is based in Tokyo. The other major Go associat ...
awarded him Honorary Kisei. He was known to play a very flexible
fuseki ''Fuseki'' (Japanese: ; ) is the whole board Go opening theory, opening in the go (game), game of Go. Characteristics Less systematic Since each move is typically isolated and unforced (i.e., not a Go strategy and tactics#Sente and gote, sent ...
but was infamous for making blunders (''poka'') later in the game. The saying was that Fujisawa Shuko plays the best first 50 moves.


Later life

Fujisawa would not win another title until ten years later. He again won the Oza and held it for two years at the age of 67. He thus set a record for the oldest player to defend a title, a record which holds to this day. In October 1998, he decided to retire from the Go world at the age of 74. The following year Fujisawa was expelled from the Nihon Ki-in for selling unsanctioned rank diplomas to amateurs in protest against what he considered improper Ki-in policies. In June 2003, the dispute was resolved and Fujisawa was reinstated to the Ki-in. He died of
aspiration pneumonia Aspiration pneumonia is a type of lung infection that is due to a relatively large amount of material from the stomach or mouth entering the lungs. Signs and symptoms often include fever and cough of relatively rapid onset. Complications may incl ...
in
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at 7:16 a.m on May 8, 2009, at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo.


Students

Fujisawa was the teacher of some of today's leading professionals in Japan, including Shinji Takao, Tomoyasu Mimura, and his own son Kazunari Fujisawa. Moreover, he also contributed hugely to Go outside Japan. He put enormous effort into Chinese Go despite his own economic hardship. Many of the greatest China players including
Nie Weiping Nie Weiping (; born 17 August 1952) is a Chinese professional Go (board game), Go Go players, player. Biography Nie was born in Shenzhou City, Shenzhou. He was a childhood friend of future Paramount leader, Chinese leader Xi Jinping. His bro ...
, Chen Zude, Chang Hao, Ma Xiaochun were deeply influenced by Fujisawa. The help he gave to Chinese Go even bolstered China in its rivalry with Japan: China won most (9 out of 13) of China-Japan Supermatches, and many of its winners were Fujisawa's students.


Titles and runners-up

Ranks  11 in total number of titles in Japan.


Bibliography

*Fujisawa, Shuko (Hideyuki Fujisawa). ''Dictionary of Basic Tesuji.'' 4 vols. Richmond, VA: Slate and Shell, 2004.


References


External links


Nihon Ki-in profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujisawa, Hideyuki 1925 births 2009 deaths Japanese Go players Go (game) writers Sportspeople from Yokohama Deaths from pneumonia in Japan Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class