, also known as Honinbo Kunwa, was a Japanese professional

Go player This article gives an overview of well-known professional and amateur players of the board game Go throughout the ages. The page has been divided into sections based on the era in which the Go players played and the country in which they play ...

and writer who achieved the rank of 9-dan.

Biography

Iwamoto was born in Masuda of the

Shimane Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Shimane Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-least populous prefecture of Japan at 665,205 (February 1, 2021) and has a ge ...

, Japan. During his childhood he spent several years in

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

(1905–1913), where he learned Go from his father. He returned to Japan to study Go, moved to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, and became a disciple of Hirose Heijiro 6-dan of

Hoensha The Hoensha was a Japanese Go organization founded in 1879 by Honinbo Shuho. The Hoensha was the successor to study groups set up by Nakagawa Kamesaburo and other players. It was the major Go organization of the later Meiji period. Like the many ...

in 1913. He achieved 1-dan in 1917, and swiftly rose through the ranks. In 1924, when

Nihon Ki-in 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 ...

was established, Iwamoto joined it and achieved 6-dan. He retired as a professional Go player and emigrated to Brazil as a coffee farmer in 1929. However, he came back to Japan and resumed his career of Go after the failure of this venture in 1931. He won the

Oteai The was a tournament used in Japan, by the Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in, to determine the ranking of its go professionals on the dan scale. It was instituted in the 1920s soon after the Ki-in was set up in 1924. Initially it was run in Spring ...

, the most important tournament in Japan at that time, in 1935. He challenged the third

Honinbo Honinbo (or Hon'inbō, 本因坊) is a title used by the head of the Honinbo house or the winner of the Honinbo tournament. Honinbo house The Honinbo house was a school of Go players officially founded in 1612 and discontinued in 1940. The foun ...

match against Hashimoto Utaro in 1945. The second game of this match, played in the outskirts of

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...

, is famous as the atomic bomb go game. The players owed their lives to the fact that the local police had ordered the game moved from the center of

. The match was continued after the war but ended in a 3-3 draw. A three-game playoff was held in 1946, with Iwamoto winning two straight games to take the

title. He assumed the name

Kunwa.

After the war

Iwamoto's home was a temporary site for the

which was burnt out by the

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

bombing in 1945, and he was instrumental in finding new headquarters for the

. Iwamoto defended the Honinbo title against Kitani Minoru in 1947, and in 1948 achieved 8-dan, becoming president of the

. He later lost the Honinbo title to Hashimoto Utaro in 1950. He won the NHK Cup in 1955. Iwamoto traveled extensively throughout the West with the aim of spreading Go to Western people. He spent 18 months in 1961-1962 in New York, teaching and promoting Go. He achieved 9-dan in 1967, and had many disciples, including James Kerwin, the first Westerner to achieve professional status at the

Retirement and later life

Iwamoto retired in April, 1983. In his later years he was the main benefactor to several European and American Go centers in London
São Paulo

New York

Seattle
an
Amsterdam
largely through setting up the Iwamoto Foundation in 1986, with an initial contribution of 530 million yen. He is the author of three books in English,
Go for Beginners

"Keshi and Uchikomi"
and

". In 2014, the

and the

American Go Association The American Go Association (AGA) was founded in 1935, to promote the board game of Go in the United States. Founded by chess master Edward Lasker and some friends at Chumley's restaurant in New York City, the AGA is one of the oldest Western ...

jointly founded the Iwamoto North America Foundation for Go, in order to "foster, promulgate, and develop the game and culture of Go in North America according to the vision and wishes of the late Japanese Go master, Iwamoto Kaoru."

References

External links

Sensei's Library profile

The Iwamoto North America Foundation for Go
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwamoto, Kaoru 1902 births 1999 deaths Japanese Go players Go (game) writers Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon