There are 40 armored dignified warriors who protect their camp at the foot of a white castle rising towards clear sky. The 4th Human Shogi Himeji Ground boasts one of the most powerful view among human Shogi events held all over the country.

In this blog, I am going to introduce an interview about how Himeji city has promoted this event, interviewing with Mr. Fujiwara Masatoshi (hereafter Fujiwara-san) and Mr. Takahiro Kajii (hereafter Kajii-san) who are officers of tourism bureau of the Himeji city government.

Impressive Human Shogi with Himeji Castle in the Background

-Human Shogi Himeji Ground was held for 2 days, in 10th and 11th November 2018. How many people visited?

Fujiwara-san: Including those who visited Himeji castle, we had about 6000 visitors on the first day and about 8000 visitors on the second day with totally 14,000 visitors during the period.

–It was a great success. Each year, have you had visitors that much?

Fujiwara-san: The first time, we had about 6000 visitors in total. Fortunately, the number of visitors has increased yearly. Originally, it was held in the Square of Otemae Park form where we can enjoy view of Himeji castle. At the second one, we moved the venue to Sannomaru Square, so that more people could enjoy magnificent view more. On the day of the event, foreign tourists who happened to be there also paid attention to the event with interests.

–The games carried out under imposing dignified Himeji castle were serious matches. Just imagining it, I can tell what a spectacular view it was.

Now, I have things to ask you. Why Human shogi event was held in Himeji city which doesn’t seem to have direct connections with Shogi unlike Tendo city in Yamagata prefecture?

Fujiwara-san: It all started with TV show titled “Gunshi Kanbei”, NHK Historical drama, in which the story was set in Himeji. Philosophy of the main character, Kanmbei, was “you shouldn’t kill human beings, but take advantage of them. We thought this philosophy has something in common with the rule of Shogi in which you can reuse the pieces that you captured. Also, Human Shogi has the routs associated with Toyoyomi Hideyoshi who did this Shogi at Fushimi castle. Those two facts motivated us to hold this event in Himeji.

Important Things to Continue the Event

–I learned that in Human Shogi Himeji Ground, local junior high school students play roles of Shogi pieces. I believe that it was valuable experiences for them to become armored worriers of the era in which Kanbei played an important role. I heard the events of Human Shogi took the role of a driving force to attract more tourists. Do you notice there have been any changes?

Kajii-san: For example, last year, Meijin Sato Amahiko played the 2nd game in the 2nd period Denou game against Ponanza. The game was held at the “チ”(“Chi”) tower of Himeji castle and the even venue was set up near Himeji station to explain what was going on during the game. It was a great success with many standees. This year, on the same day of Human Shogi Himeji Ground, we held a nationwide Shogi summit with local governments across the country, such as Tendo city and Kurashiki city boosting local development by Shogi, which gathered to give presentations on their activities and exchanges.

Moreover, in Human Shogi Himeji Ground, professional SHogi players offered Shogi lessons. The applicants for the lessons were from not only neighboring towns, but from all over the country. This year’s winners included a person who lived in Sapporo, Hokkaido.

From these, I am realizing that events of Human Shogi have fulfilled the function as tourism resources.

–You could say that the image as a Shogi town has been steadily widespread all over the country. I suppose that as the event have come to become well-known, you need to plan various unique events every year. Don’t you?

Kajii-san: That’s right. If we provide events with the same contents every year, participants may get bored. So, we are devising the way to make events more attractive, so that visitors can enjoy it differently each time. For example, we give checkmate problems, and last year we invited a “Ponanza” developer as a guest player.

Planning unique events is needed to continuously revitalize our town by Shogi. That’s true, however, we realize the most important thing is to create more followings for Shogi. Therefore we place emphasis on spreading Shogi to younger generations. So much so that we offer Shogi lessons and hold Shogi tournaments for children.

Editor’s Postscript

Until recently, there was no authentic Shogi classe in the area close to JR Himeji station. Just the other day, a new Shogi class opened in front of JR Himeji station. Probably Human Shogi didn’t affect it directly, but even so we are very glad to know this happened in the Himeji city which was neither familiar with nor connected to Shogi.

What gave me the greatest impression was the fact that great efforts have been made to maintain Human Shogi as a continuous event. Toward this goal, people also committed to spread Shogi to children.

When I hear “event”, I imagined something temporary that is exciting only at that time. But through this interview I came to realize that if things have a firm base, you can have various wonderful ideas to make events from temporal to long-loved.

By the way, Human Shogi Himeji Ground has two auspicious beliefs. They are; “It never rains on the day of this event” and “Players who participated in this even will accomplish good results in later games. (The venue in the case of rain is prepared, though.) This year, the even has finished. Why don’t you join this next year and confirm these two beliefs?

In addition to Himeji city, there are many Shogi towns in Japan.