Go is also big business in Japan. His actual income from writing, teaching and personal-appearance fees is estimated to be double of that. There are 304 professional go players in Tokyo alone, of which 38 are women. Go in Japan is controlled by a professional go-players' guild, the Japan Go Association, and admission to that guild is strictly regulated. Rui Naiwei However, beneath the surface of Japanese go, there has been a simmering controversy regarding the emergence of leading Chinese women players in Japan.
Woman go players in China are far stronger than their Japanese counterparts.
However, the matter does not end there. It appears that the top Chinese woman go player might be able to defeat the best Japanese man at go, if only she were allowed to play him, that is. The situation was heightened in the beginning of March with the conclusion of the two rounds of the Fujitsu Cup World Go Championship in Tokyo. There were five matches between a Japanese player and a Chinese opponent. In all five matches, the Japanese player lost.