kurata atsushi

First mentioned as a prominent 4-dan player, Kurata doesn't make an appearance until later in the story as a 6-dan. Despite being only in his early twenties, Kurata, along with Ogata 9-dan, is widely considered one of Japan's best professionals and has been the challenger for multiple titles, though he hasn't won any yet. One of Kurata's most notable abilities is his keen sixth sense, which he believes will always provide solutions to problems. Although good-natured, Kurata is overly confident and enjoys signing autographs, often adding hypothetical titles to his name, much to the chagrin of those around him, like Hikaru. Kurata is one of the rare successful Japanese players in international Go tournaments and is referred to as "Japan's Ahn Tae-seon," another famous young player from Korea (later selected as team manager for Korea in the Hokuto Cup). Ironically, Kurata holds a rivalry with Ahn Tae-seon after losing to him in the Samsung Cup quarterfinals. This rivalry intensified when Ahn Tae-seon bluntly asked if Kurata had been in a slump. Kurata first appeared at a Go convention after Hikaru's celebratory 1-dan match against Touya Kouyo. There, he met Hikaru, who had just defeated a 5-dan player for forging Honinbo Shuusaku's autograph on a Go board (Sai was playing, feeling personally affronted by the fraudulent signature). Kurata dubbed Hikaru "Shuusaku's calligraphy expert." He played Hikaru in a one-color Go game after Sai's match with Touya Kouyo and recognized the boy as a potential future rival, alongside Touya Akira. In the Hokuto Cup, Kurata became the team manager for Japan's representatives (after learning that his rival, Ahn Tae-seon, would manage Korea's team). He refused Hikaru's request to be the 1st board (to play against Korea's Ko Yeong-ha) twice, considering Hikaru less skilled than Touya Akira. To motivate Hikaru, Kurata promised to swap positions if Hikaru could win against China's 2nd board, Wang Shi Zhen. This strategy initially backfired, putting immense pressure on Hikaru, but he eventually rallied, losing by only 1.5 moku. Despite the earlier agreement, Kurata acknowledged Hikaru's strength and placed him as 1st board against Ko Yeong-ha, moving Akira down to 2nd board against Korea's Im Il-hwan. Though initially met with skepticism, Kurata's decision proved wise when Hikaru played a game deemed "worthy of 1st board position" and lost by just half a moku.