That was the custom in China until around the beginning of the 20th century. The game started with diagonally-opposite corners occupied by a pair of Black resp. White stones, so that every side had the initial formation considered in part 1 of this series. There is no right or wrong to be discussed here, but issues of taste certainly enter. One can speculate endlessly on national characteristics, but perhaps poetry can make the point.
Japanese taste is said to run to the asymmetric.
Each successive five-line block was to make up a poem complete in its own terms, until a fixed number, say 100, had been completed. The initial haiku sets the scene, though the whole renga doesn't make narrative sense if you read it though. You can't have been reading your Harold Bloom. The other answer is that Go masters are taken to be artists as well as sportsmen. Be all that as it may, the Japanese are fiercely appreciative of their innovation of 3-4 point opening plays, adding asymmetry and freedom to the game.