Yukari Yoshihara facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yukari Yoshihara |
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| Full name | Yukari Umezawa (梅沢 由香里) |
| Kanji | 吉原 由香里 |
| Born | October 4, 1973 Tokyo, Japan |
| Residence | Tokyo, Japan |
| Teacher | Masao Kato |
| Turned pro | 1996 |
| Rank | 6 dan |
| Affiliation | Nihon Ki-in |
Yukari Yoshihara (吉原 由香里, Yoshihara Yukari, born October 4, 1973) née Yukari Umezawa (梅沢 由香里, Umezawa Yukari) is a Japanese Go professional. She is famous for her skills in the game of Go and for helping to make the popular manga and anime series Hikaru no Go.
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About Yukari Yoshihara
Yukari Yoshihara, whose maiden name was Yukari Umezawa, was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1973. She started playing Go when she was just 6 years old. Go is an ancient board game from Asia where two players try to surround more territory than their opponent. It's a game that needs a lot of strategy and thinking!
Becoming a Go Professional
Yukari worked hard at Go and became a professional player in 1996. This means she plays Go for a living, just like professional athletes play sports. By 2002, she had reached the rank of 5-dan, which is a very high level in Go. Her teacher, or sensei, was Masao Kato, another famous Go player.
Connecting Go with Pop Culture
Yukari Yoshihara is well-known for her work with Hikaru no Go. This is a very popular manga (Japanese comic book) and anime (Japanese animated show) series about a boy who learns to play Go. Yukari helped make sure the Go parts of the story were correct and realistic. She was a supervisor for the manga and a consultant for the anime. This helped many young people around the world learn about and get interested in Go!
Go on the Screen
In 2002, Yukari even had her own video game called Umesawa Yukari no Igo Seminar on the Xbox. It was a game that helped people learn how to play Go. She also hosted TV shows on NHK (a Japanese TV channel) that taught people about Go.
Go Titles and Achievements
In the world of Go, players compete for special championships called "titles." Winning a title shows that you are one of the best players.
| Title | Years Held |
|---|---|
| Current | 3 |
 Women's Kisei |
2007, 2008, 2009 |
Yukari Yoshihara won the Women's Kisei title three times in a row, from 2007 to 2009. This is a big achievement in the world of professional Go!
External links
- Yukari Umezawa's home page
- Sensei's Library's page on Yukari Umezawa
- A webpage about Umezawa at Nihon Ki-in's website
- A Nipponia article about Umezawa
- Yukari Umezawa manga at Media Arts Database
- Yukari Yoshihara manga at Media Arts Database
- Yukai Umezawa anime at Media Arts Database
