Looking to play Go in Osaka? I sometimes play at the Tennōji Go Center, which is situated on the fourth floor of a nondescript office building that’s very close to the Tennōji train station in south Osaka. The Center occupies a full floor of the building and has around 30 or 40 Go boards set up for play at any one time.

Run by a 2p (ni-dan professional), the center is usually quite full of players on any given day. There are sessions for beginner players on Thursday afternoons, but otherwise the place seems to be reserved for experienced players. I often go to simply watch the games (and sometimes they even waive the fee).

The average age of the players seems to hover around 60, or older, it seems, though I have seen some younger players from time to time. Although I know that the average age of Go players is advancing, I do wonder about the future of the game if children are not actively participating. I’ve only been to a few Go centers in Osaka, but they all seem to have roughly the same demographics. Now that I’ve noticed, I’ll pay closer attention.

If you’d like to stop in to the store sometime, the address of the Tennoji Go Center is shown below, at right, in Japanese. Even if you don’t speak any Japanese, having the address in kanji would be helpful for taxi drivers or other locals who might help you get to your destination. In English the address would be written as follows:

Tennōji Go Center, 4th floor, Shinwa-Kōsan Building, Hiden-in machi 8-11, Tennōji-ku, Osaka, Japan 543-0055. Their telephone number is (06) 6773-0541. [map] (The staff speaks only Japanese)

I believe that this Go Center is affiliated to the Kansai Ki-in, though I am not 100% certain. In any event, the players are quite strong and, by and large, are tolerant of foreigners in their midst. (I’ve even been taken to karaoke by one of the more elderly players. But that is a completely different story!)