Three masters, one game, zero consensus
When Japan’s prime minister, Takaichi Sanae, first met South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, towards the end of last year, she gave him a set of Go stones as a gift. Days later, hosting China’s leader Xi Jinping in Seoul, Mr Lee delivered a comparable present: a Go board carved from rare torreya wood. That both leaders made such similar offerings should perhaps not come as a surprise: Go, one of the world’s oldest board games, enjoys special standing among three countries that otherwise find little to agree on. If only the region got on better, the precious piece of East Asia’s shared heritage might have more purchase abroad.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Why Go is going nowhere”
From the January 17th 2026 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents