NHK Cup

NHK Cup

NHK Cup (Go)

The NHK Cup (Go), or as it is more commonly known the NHK Cup TV Go Tournament (NHK杯テレビ囲碁トーナメント), is a professional Go tournament (Go competition) organized by the Japan Go Association(Nihon Ki-in) and sponsored by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK). The tournament lasts roughly one year from April to the following March. Tournament games are televised each Sunday from 12:30 to 14:00 (JST) on NHK Educational TV (NHK-E) and live commentary and analysis is provided by two commentators (Go professionals): A host (司会) (typically a female Go professional) who serves in that role for the entire tournament and a guest commentator (大盤解説者) to provide detailed analysis. Post-game analysis involving the two players and the two commentators takes place once the game has ended (broadcast time permitting). This year marks the 63rd time the tournament has been held. Prior to 1963, the tournament was broadcast on the radio.

Tournament Format

The tournament is a single-elimination tournament with 50 Japanese Go Association professionals (棋士) competing for the title of NHK Cup Champion (NHK杯選手権者). A fixed number of spots in the main tournament are reserved for "seeded players" (higher ranked players, existing title holders, those with superior win loss records, etc.) while the remaining spots are decided through a series of preliminary tournaments. Once the final 50 players have been determined, they are divided into two blocks (Block A and Block B) of 25 players each.

NHK Cup (shogi)

The NHK Cup (shogi), or as it is officially known the NHK Cup TV Shogi Tournament (NHK杯テレビ将棋トーナメント, enu eichi kei hai terebi shōgi tōnamento) is a professional shogi tournament organized by the Japan Shogi Association (日本将棋連盟, nihon shōgi renmei), or JSA, and sponsored by the Japan's public broadcaster NHK (日本放送協会, nippon hōsō kyōkai).

History

Formerly known as the NHK Cup Competition Shogi Tournament (NHK杯争奪将棋トーナメント, enu eichi kei hai sōdatsu tōnamento), the 1st NHK Cup was held in 1951 with eight shogi professionals (棋士, kishi) The winner was Yoshio Kimura, who held the Meijin title at the time. Prior to 1962, the tournament was broadcast only on the radio, but starting with the 12th NHK Cup (1962), the tournament moved to television. The 26th NHK Cup (1976) was the first to be broadcast in color.

Up until and including the 15th NHK Cup (1965), only Class A professionals were allowed to participate. When the number of players was increased from 8 to 16 for the 16th NHK Cup (1966), the tournament became open to other professionals as well. The number of players was increased again from 16 to 26 for the 27th NHK Cup (1977) and to its current level of 50 for the 31st NHK Cup (1981). In addition, the preliminary tournaments also started with the 31st NHK Cup.

NHK

NHK (Japanese: 日本放送協会, Hepburn: Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai, official English name: Japan Broadcasting Corporation) is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.

NHK operates two terrestrial television services (NHK General TV and NHK Educational TV), two satellite television services (NHK BS-1 and NHK BS Premium, both now high-definition television services), and three radio networks (NHK Radio 1, NHK Radio 2, and NHK FM).

NHK also provides an international broadcasting service, known as NHK World. NHK World is composed of NHK World TV, NHK World Premium, and the shortwave radio service NHK World Radio Japan. World Radio Japan also makes some of its programs available on the internet.

Organization

NHK is an independent corporation chartered by the Japanese Broadcasting Act and primarily funded by license fees. NHK World broadcasting (for overseas viewers/listeners) is funded by the Japanese government. The annual budget of NHK is subject to review and approval by the Diet of Japan. The Diet also appoints the 12-member Board of Governors (経営委員会 keiei iinkai) that oversees NHK.

NHK (disambiguation)

NHK may refer to the following: