Shirataki Ranka Cup

The Shirataki Ranka Cup is a young women's Go tournament that debuted in 2026, pairing competitive play with Japanese cultural heritage: Nihon Ki-in women professionals aged twenty and under compete in kimono and hakama, hosted by a Tokyo kimono shop whose owner also patronizes young women in shogi and karuta. Its name, "Ranka" (爛柯, "the rotted axe-handle"), is a classical byname for Go drawn from the legend of the woodcutter Wang Zhi, who watched immortals play a game so absorbing that his axe handle rotted away and generations passed before he returned home — an emblem of losing all sense of time at the board. The winner earns a commemorative game against a reigning title-holder.