Table: Japanese go terms and their translations

Published 8 Jun 2020 by antti (last edited 21 Mar 2021)

tags: terms, table

This table is an attempt to list all go terms, Japanese or otherwise, used on this website, along with their English translations and sample diagrams.

Japanese term	Direct translation	English term
butsukari	bump	bump
chūban	middle game	middle game
de	come out	push through
gote	following move	gote (losing the initiative)
hai	crawl	crawl (rarely also push)
hane	jump	hane (also possibly ‘bend’)
hekomi	hollow	(cave-in)
hiki	draw-back	draw or pull back
joban	opening	opening
kifu	game record (of a shōgi or go game)	game record
kikashi	seasoning	good exchange
magari	turn	turn
mannen kō	ten-thousand-year-kō	(ten-)thousand-year-kō
miai	counterbalance	miai (a pair of interchangeable moves)
mochikomi	carry-in	mochikomi (uncompensated sacrifice)
narabi	line-up
nobi	extension	extension
oshi	push	push
sagari	descent	descent
sashikomi	thrust
sente	preceding move	sente (having the initiative)
shūban	endgame	endgame (stage)
soi	run-along
suji	thread (of thought)	(technique)
tachi	stand-up
takefu	bamboo joint	bamboo joint
tecchū	iron pillar	iron pillar
tedomari	end of moves	last move
tesuji	key move	tesuji
tsukiatari	end of a street	bump
tsumego	go problem	life-and-death problem
tsuppari	tension pole