Kiyoharu Yashiro

Age: 15 A player from the Kansai Go institute. Yashiro studied Go when he was ten and became a professional player by the age of fifteen, thus praised by his teacher and regulars of the Kansai institute as a prodigy. However, he often has trouble garnering supports from from his parents, who believe playing Go has no future and force him to continue high school. Unabashed by this setback, Yashiro strives to become a successful player to prove he made the right choice. Yashiro was first fleetingly mentioned as a potential contender for the Hokuto cup prelims in Japan, and made his first appearance during Honda's study group, in which he defeated Honda in a game he opened with Tengen. He later showed up in the Hokuto prelims quarter final, and after easily beating his Tokyo opponents, went up against Hikaru. To the onlookers' amazement, their game, which Yashiro opened at (even more unconventional than a Tengen opening) 5-5 and Hikaru responded at the Tengen itself, progressed recklessly as both players continue retorting with agressive moves and yet still brought their prodigious skiills to light. The gap between their level and Ochi - winner of the other final match and thus made it to the Hokuto team - was so evident that even though Yashiro lost to Hikaru's superior strategies, Ochi still requested a game between him and Yashiro to decide the true 3rd representative for Japan. Yashiro was officially accepted into the Hokuto team when he beat Ochi in this game. In the Hokuto cup, Yashiro was appointed 3rd seat of Japan, against Zhao Shii of China and later Hong Suyong of Korea. He lost both games, but still got acknowledged by Japanese and international professionals alike as a powerful player. Yashiro's style is considered by many as offbeat and even rather reckless, as he tends to try out unconventional hands (such as a Tengen and 5-5 opening, which are very rarely used due to the risks they present) yet still plays very well. However, Kurata comments that Yashiro's strength isn't enough to play moves of that level, as proven by his devastating loss against the superior Hikaru when he started their game with a 5-5.