A Fantasy of Far Japan; Or, Summer Dream Dialogues

by Kencho Suematsu

—'Well, then, what are your names, and how do you arrange the position of the men at the commencement?' said another.

—'We place the king in the centre of the last row. We can do so because our squares are nine and not eight, as yours. On each side of the king we have the gold general, silver general, knight, and lancer respectively. On the second square of the second row from the left we have the diagonal dasher; and in the second square from the right in the same row we have the flying chariot. The third row is allotted to the pawns, which we call foot-soldiers,—the same signification as yours. Thus you can see the starting position is entirely identical on both sides, which is not the case with yours, because your squares being eight, you cannot place the king in the very centre of the row.'

—'But how do you manage when a weaker hand plays with a stronger hand?' interposed another.

—'Well, in that case, the stronger hand takes off one or more men from the board at the beginning, just as you do, and thus equalises the relative strength.'

—'What is "go"?'

—'It is a game which you have not, and, therefore, it is rather difficult to describe, and it would not interest you much, if I described it, because I could make no comparison. When I was in England before, now many years ago, some people played a childish game called "go-bang." The board and the pieces used are the same as our "go," though those I have seen in Europe are very simple and cheaply made. In Japan they are rather expensive. The materials both of the board and pieces are generally choice kinds of wood, and rare black stone and shells, which make them expensive,—in fact, some people regard them as an ornament for the room. The game, which is the same as your "go-bang," is also played by the name of "gomoku narabe," that is, placing five pieces in a row. We call the board for "go" "go-ban," which literally means the board for "go," and from that I conclude that your game of "go-bang" came from Japan, only you have misapplied the appellation of the board to the game. In Japan, it goes without saying, that game is only fit for boys and girls, though occasionally some people show, even in that game, great scientific skill. Unlike chess, the pieces of "go" are placed on the top of the cross, and the end of the lines which mark the board into squares. There are nineteen by nineteen of such spots, and, therefore, there are three hundred and sixty-one black and white pieces altogether, though in practice, the more skilful the players the less the actual number of pieces used. From the simple fact of the pieces being white and black, and having no difference of value, casual observers might think the game of "go" does not possess so much interest and variation as chess, but according to the opinion generally accepted, there is much more in "go" than in "chess," though some who are more partial to chess profess that there is a little more in chess than in "go." At all events, there are more people who understand chess than "go," because the latter is more difficult to learn. "Go" has also been introduced to us from China in the earlier days of intercourse, more than ten centuries ago, but no one knows the exact history of its introduction. In Japan the game has undergone many changes. It is known that the board used in China in ancient times contained a less number of squares, but I am not sure if it had already the present number when first introduced into Japan. It seems the present number of the squares is most productive of all sorts of problems. In ancient times in China, the black pieces were offered to the person who held a better social position than the other, or to the stronger hand in case of a match between those of equal position. This was so in the earlier stage of the game in Japan, but later the white pieces came to be used uniformly by the better player. The methods of starting, and the rules for equalising the relative strength of the players at the beginning, and for counting, have all undergone improvements. For three centuries there existed an academy for "go," and also for "chess," under the superintendence of the best players of the empire, who received certain annuities and personal distinction from the central government in order to maintain the interest in the games. Indeed, diplomas of different degrees were given to champions, according to their deserts. The ceremony of the competition by the best players was annually performed in the castle of the Shogun. From this you can well imagine that we have had better players in those games than in the country whence they were originally derived. Great geniuses were occasionally produced. Since the inauguration of the present Government, these institutions have disappeared (though they still exist as private institutions), and the positions of the best players, whatever their genius, are no longer lucrative nor distinguished. I am not, therefore, sure if we can keep up our former standard of skill. In all the games I have seen and heard of, there is none which has so many degrees of skill as the game of "go."'

—'Are there no more games of a similar nature?'

—'There are several more, but mostly childish, and played by young girls or children at certain seasons of the year, such as "poem cards."'

—'What is that?'

'The Japanese name for "poem cards" is Uta-Karuta. Strangely enough, the term "Karuta" is not Japanese. It is of European derivation, being the same as the word "Carta" (card in modern English). There had existed poem shells before poem cards came into use. One half of a short poem was written inside one half of a shell, and the other half of the poem inside the other half, there being usually one hundred shells with different poems written in them. The game was to find the one half of the shell which belonged to the other. The shells were often richly decorated, as one may see from the remnants of old ones. A little more than three hundred years ago, when the Island of Hirado was the trading port for Dutch and English vessels, the European traders brought with them their cards with which they were in the habit of playing. The Japanese who happened to see them seem to have thought that the shape of those cards had some novelty and were more simple than their shells. They, therefore, substituted cards for shells, and hence the original name "Carta" came to be used by us. I will now explain the game of "poem cards"; it is played at the time of the New Year, generally by young girls. There are two sets of cards. One half of short poems is written each separately on one set, and the other half is written in the same manner on the other set as at poem shells. One set is either thrown in the middle of the players or dealt out in equal numbers. While one person is reading the first part of a poem, each of the players picks up a card on which the other half of the same poem is written, or turns it upside down, when the numbers are equally divided, as the case may be. In the one method, whoever has picked up the most is the winner. In the other, if one were slow in turning over her card and it were picked up by another of the party, she would have as penalty a card from the one who had picked hers up. Thus the one who has turned all her cards upside down first would be the first winner, and one who has any cards left unturned at the end, is the last loser.'