Fujita Leo, the youngest professional Go player in Japan, will soon be heading to South Korea to study Go.
This news has garnered attention as it was reported just after the news that Nakamura Sumire, a 3-dan rank, will make her debut in Korea on Mar. 3, marking another promising Japanese Go talent heading to the country.
Leo was born in April 2013 and became the youngest professional Go player in the world at the age of 9 years and 4 months in Sep. 2022, when he was in the third grade of elementary school.
He is the second Japanese prodigy to receive a special promotion, following Sumire, who achieved her 1-dan rank at the age of 10 a year earlier. With Leo’s entry into the professional scene, he has now taken over Sumire’s title of Japan’s youngest professional Go player.
Leo plans to study Go under another S. Korean professional Go player, Han Jong-jin(9-dan pro), for three months, starting in April.
Leo’s decision to pursue a professional Go player was influenced by his visit to South Korea last year, when he participated in the Go tournament held in Mungyeong. He stayed for a month and experienced the Korean Go culture firsthand. His fondness for S.Korea made him stay at the dormitory managed by Han for two weeks last month.
Leo’s professional record shows a rising trend with 9 wins and 12 losses since his first appearance. He had two losses in 2022, 7 wins and 10 losses in 2023, and added 2 wins in 2024. Although his winning rate is still below 50%, he has begun to showcase his exceptional talent.
Asked the reason why he prefers Korea, he replied, “In Korea, I can focus on Go from early in the morning until late evening. There are many high-level peers as well.” He is also attracted to the overall atmosphere of the nation, including materials related to AI (Artificial Intelligence). His father, Fujita Haruhiko, is Leo’s manager.
Sumire who is also about to transfer to the S. Korean Go scene, mentioned that her decision to move was driven by the abundance of tournaments and strong players in the country, expressing a desire to grow as a stronger player through competition.
Many young and talented Go players from Japan are increasingly heading to South Korea to improve their skills. Sumire is transferring all her Go activities to Korea, while Leo is coming to the country to learn advanced skills.
This trend is not new, as many foreign prodigies have already passed through the Korean Go scene, including Fukuoka Kotaro, a promising young player from Japan who also studied in S. Korea.
After returning to Japan and turning professional in 2019, Kotaro achieved runner-up in the 9th Globis Cup World Go U-20. According to Lee Yung-soo, 8-dan, who taught him, Kotaro enjoyed his life in Korea so much that he extended his planned stay to nearly five years.
Also, Onishi Ryuhei, a 24-year-old 5-dan player who turned professional in Japan in 2015, has studied from Heo Jang-hoi and Chungam Go Studio, a training center for wannabe professional Go players.
In 2016, he became the youngest winner of the Shinjin-O tournament, also known as the ‘King of the New Stars’. This professional Go competition in Japan is only open to players who are under 30 years of age and have a rank of 7-dan or below. It is a single knockout tournament.
Japanese star player Yoda Norimoto, who is 58 years old, sent both of his sons to study in S. Korea. His second son, Ozora, aged 21, entered the professional ranks in 2022 after studying under professional Go player Chang Su-yeong. His third son is also pursuing a professional career. Apart from them, other young talents from Taiwan are also going to S. Korea to improve their skills.
In the past, Japan was recognized as the leading nation in the Go environment, with many young talents from different countries studying there, including many Koreans such as Cho Nam-chul, Kim In, Cho Hun-hyun, Cho Chikun, Ha Chan-seok, and Ryu Shikun. Today, however, the situation has changed.
The influx of foreign players in Korea reflects the increasing international status of Korean Go. Currently, Go is becoming a popular part of Korean culture like K-pop and K-food.
However, the number of Go training centers closing down due to a decline in the number of aspiring go players is a dark side to the development of the Go culture. To solidify Korea’s position as the new mecca of the international Go community, national support, similar to that for other cultural exports, is needed.
