People :
Winner of the 41st All-Japan Female Students' Go Championship Ms. Risa Sasako

Born in Kanagawa Prefecture, 1986. Graduate of Fujimura Girl's High School. Currently a junior in the School of Education. Took 4th place in the 2004 All Japan Student's Go “Hon-inbo” Championship and 3rd place in the All-Japan Female Student's Go Championship. Won all matches as the leader of the Waseda team in the 2005 Kanto University Go Championship League, Spring Term. Champion of this year's 41st All-Japan Female Students' Go Championship. Her hobbies are trampoline jumping, reading books and making accessories.

Risa has been playing “Go” ever since she can remember. According to people who know her well, the starting point was when she, seeing her grandmother play the game, remarked that she “wanted to play, too”--this was when she was around 4 or 5 years old. She studied Go at the famous “Ryokusei Igo Gakuen” for 10 years, starting in the 2nd grade. “I was much more unyielding then than I am now, so I tried really hard not to lose. I really enjoyed learning along with my friends”, Risa smiles, as she looks back at her younger self.

She spent most of her time literally up to her neck in Go, as she aimed for a professional Go career. But after coming to the university, her feelings changed. “I realized that I had had a very narrow perspective on life. I had never really done anything other than Go, never just played around, simply because I didn't have the time. But after coming to the university, I realized that there were other ways to enjoy myself besides playing Go.” By enjoying other activities, she has broadened her outlook, and this has influenced her Go playing, too--in a positive way. Before, she focused too much on winning and had forgotten about enjoying herself. Now, she can play with her game, considering alternate moves with a broader mindset, taking pleasure in her game. “I didn't really feel it myself, but in the spring of my sophomore year, an older student commented that I had become “much stronger”, even though I had been studying much less, only about a tenth of what I used to. So, maybe the fact that I had spent time doing things other than Go is the reason I am stronger now”, she suggests.

Apart from belonging to the “Igo-Kai” (Go Club) in Waseda, Risa also joined the Trampoline Club in her sophomore year, in order to do something about her exercise-deprived state. Joining the Trampoline club “has given my student life a sense of order and discipline”, she says. “I am trying really hard to become better at trampoline jumping, because I am a beginner,” she says. “I'm not so competitive in my Go-playing anymore, so this has given me new goals to achieve.” Last year, the Trampoline Club had regular practice 5 times a week. Risa's current life is a very busy and satisfactory one, filled with Go-playing and trampoline jumping.

Right now, Risa is not thinking about becoming a professional Go player, but she intends to continue playing. “I hope that people will see my game records in the future--in a hundred or two hundred years, and think, ‘This person played such an interesting game! I would like to play with her!’ Risa's horizons have widened as a result of her college experiences. But she keeps on looking for new possibilities and does not limit herself to the world she knows now. “Of course I will challenge myself and try harder in trampoline jumping, too!” With her soft atmosphere and her coolly attractive eyes, Risa will surely keep moving forward in her life, continually learning new things and challenging herself to become better.