Go lessons in Japanese, captioned live

Much of modern Go theory was first written in Japanese: the classic problem collections, the vocabulary of shape, the terms players everywhere still use. Igo is the Japanese name for the game, and a great deal of what the whole Go world knows, it learned through Japanese.

You can learn in Japanese here even though our teachers are Korean and Chinese professionals, because the classroom captions every lesson into Japanese as your teacher speaks. You follow a 9-dan's reasoning in Japanese, ask your questions in Japanese, and read the answer in real time on the shared board. It is access to the strongest players in the game today, delivered in the language that named most of what they are teaching.

That matters most for the parts easily lost in a second language: why a move is wrong, the review of your own game, the reading of a life-and-death position where precise wording counts.

Common questions

Are the teachers Japanese?

Not currently — they are Korean and Chinese professionals. What is Japanese is the delivery: live captions translate the whole lesson into Japanese, so you study in Japanese with the strongest players available.

Do I need to speak Japanese fluently?

No. The captions carry the lesson, so you only need enough Japanese to read along comfortably. Many students treat the lesson as reading practice on top of Go study.