Various games came to mind at the words, 'most memorable game', but the first to occur to me was a game with my younger sister Nao. So far, I have played two official games with her, and the results are one win each. The game I am introducing here is the one I lost.

It was an important game: the winner would gain a seat in the Women's Meijin League. However, rather than focussing on the league seat, I became more caught up with the importance of not losing in my position as the older sister. I became too tense and that was reflected in the play.

I had black. The invasion of Black 31 at the top is a good example of what I am talking about. White's shoulder hit at 34 put me on the spot. With the diagonal move of 35, Black's shape was already twisted. On top of that, Black 37tried too hard to store up strength. In contrast, my younger sister serenely sealed me in with White 46. Her play seemed relaxed.

After this, I made an attack relying on brute force, but my sister cleverly parried it, and I was convincingly defeated.

I was really happy to be able to play Nao, but I had nothing but regrets for the mental fragility displayed in my play. Since then, three years have already gone by, but we never refer to this game (laughs). Perhaps Nao is being considerate.

As her older sister, I'm really happy to see Nao do so well, but when I return to active play, I'll do my best to get another game against her.