Last updated: October 14, 2025 at 1:17 PM
It is an annual event held in Hiratsuka City every fall, and on Sunday, October 12, 2025, we visited the 28th Shonan Hiratsuka Go Festival, which was held at Beniya Pearl Road Shopping Street and Machikado Plaza.
I did not participate in this year's 1000-sided competition, but instead I attended the Go manga ``Go to Go'' talk corner and a roundtable discussion with legendary Kitani disciples held at Machikado Square. Although it is only the beginning part, I took a video of it and will publish it in this article.
The outline of this event is as follows.
The 28th Shonan Hiratsuka Go Festival is one of the largest Go events in Japan, held in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture on Sunday, October 12, 2025, and a variety of related events were held, centering on the ``1000-sided tournament'' with professional Go players.
🏯 Event overview
- date and time: October 12, 2025 (Sunday)
- Related events：11:30〜16:00
- Social gathering：17:00〜18:30
- place: Around Beniya Pearl Road shopping street (special tent set up in case of rain)
- Social gathering venue: Hiratsuka Plaisir 5th floor (1 minute walk from JR Hiratsuka Station south exit)
⚫ Main event: 1000-sided competition
- content: Valuable experience of playing one-on-one with a professional Shogi player
- time zone:
- Chapter 1: 12:50~14:15
- Chapter 2: 14:35~16:00
- Capacity:500 people each time (first come first served)
- participation fee: 1,000 yen per game (all seats reserved) *Same-day tickets are sold only for the 2nd game (2,000 yen) *High school students and younger are invited to the 2nd game for free
🌟 Special projects and related events (no application required)
- Go manga “Go and Go” talk corner(Rei Terayama 6th Dan, Yukari Yoshihara 6th Dan)
- Kidani disciple legend roundtable discussion(Yoshio Ishida 9th Dan, Hideo Otake, Satoshi Kobayashi, Masaki Takemiya, Izumi Kobayashi)
- Go lessons from top professional players(Shinji Takao 9th Dan, Risa Ueno Female Kisei)
- Go introductory classroom(Noboru Ishikura 9th Dan)
- Picture story show “Go player Minoru Kitani” & 4th generation Kitani talk(Zhang Xu, Kobayashi Izumi, Zhang Xincheng, Zhang Xinzhi)
- Tsumego walking, Go ball experience, Go goods sales, specialty product display and salesetc.
🤝 Social gathering (advance application required)
- time：17:00〜18:30
- Capacity: 50 people
- participation fee: 6,000 yen (standing buffet)
- How to apply:WEB form, FamilyMart, Hiratsuka City Urban Development Foundation counter, CN Play Guide telephone reception
👥 Join the Chess Players (Part 1)
- Yoshio Ishida (24th Honinbo Hideyoshi)
- Dazhu hero honor Qi Sheng
- Xiao Linyu 9th Dan
- Masaki Takemiya 9th Dan
- Zhang Xu 9th Dan
- Section 9, Gaoweishen Road
- Risa Ueno Female Kisei and about 78 others
This event can be enjoyed by everyone from Go beginners to advanced players, and is an annual autumn event that combines local culture and the charm of Go. Be sure to check it out next year!
table of contents
1000 surface hitting competition
This is the scene of the ``1000-sided competition'' held at Beniya Pearl Road.
Go manga “Go and Go” talk corner(movie)
At Beniyacho Machikado Square,Go manga “Go and Go” talk cornerwas held as follows.
●Time: 1pm to 1:30pm
●Performers: Rei Terayama, 6th Dan, Yukari Yoshihara, 6th Dan
Kidani disciple legend roundtable discussion(movie)
At Beniyacho Machikado Square,Roundtable discussion with legendary Kitani discipleswas held as follows.
●Time: Time: 1:35pm to 2:15pm
●Performers: Performers: Hideyoshi Honinbo the 24th, Honorary Go Master Hideo Otake, Kaku Kobayashi 9-dan, Masaki Takemiya 9-dan, Izumi Kobayashi 7-dan (host)
Go goods sales
As another related event, a Go goods sales booth (11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.) was set up, and this year, the Go manga "Go to Go" was also on sale.
