Hello, Ms. Yashiro. Please excuse my abrupt question, but I would like to ask you what you think the essence of go is. Please also tell me about interesting positions you have encountered or games that are impressed on your memory. Consultation Two : Mr. Sakurai Hello, Mr. Sakurai. Thank you for your question. What is the essence of go? As someone who spends all her days engaged in competition on the go board, this is something that I haven’t thought about very much, but I’ll try to recall my own memories. First of all, the times you win. When you have beaten a strong opponent, you feel a real sense of satisfaction. For professionals, I think that this is the essence of go. My memories of go are all bound up with winning and losing, and I feel disgusted with the poverty of my go imagination. Actually, if winning and losing were all that go was about, you might as well play ‘paper, scissors, rock’. The reason why we play go is that it draws upon all our mental resources in playing each move. The course of the play is one of the pleasures. But there are many positions we can’t understand no matter how much we think. Go is a game, so there should be one correct answer, but we don’t know what it is. It seems to me that not knowing the answer may be the essence of go. I believe that that is why I have devoted decades to the game. I apologise if my answer has not really answered your question. I hope that you can help find the answer yourself.