Have you ever experienced a change in your way of thinking about or way of looking at go? Yes, I’ve had this experience a number of times. There have been various reasons. A long time ago, when I was an insei, there was a time when I devoted myself to studying life-and-death problems. One day, all of a sudden, I became able to see life-and-death problems on the board clearly. From that point, the shapes on the board looked different to me than previously; my strength went up and go became more interesting for me. Fifteen years ago, when I visited a local go club on my first trip to Europe, I was very moved by the way everyone was enjoying drinking beer and making jokes while playing go and talking. This made me realize that the pleasures of go were not only on the board. I believe that since then the world of go has become broader for me. I believe that, to put it a different way, ‘a change in your way of thinking’ means a new discovery and it also means getting to know yourself. Perhaps this is one of the major charms of go. It just shows what a marvellous game go is.