(Original post by karakoro-san: https://note.com/karakorororo/n/n806887c435e0)
Because I sensed a need for it, I summarise here to the best of my knowledge the elements of chess culture that are likely to stir trouble if directly introduced to shogi culture.
There are some unspoken taboos involved; as the lishogi project advances, I was worried that it would run into them unless someone who is familiar with the issues collates these, so I took up the pen.
This article respects as far as possible both shogi culture and JSA policy, places emphasis on Japanese cultural sensibilities, and will avoid referencing any legal issues.
As a matter of principle, it is best to consider that professional and even amateur kifu that are published in newspapers are not freely usable.
Resources such as kifudb2 just so happen to be left alone, and are not permitted by the JSA.
This is especially strictly regarded where videos are concerned.
The principle sources of income for the JSA are the issuing of diplomas and the sponsorships received from newspaper companies.
Using kifu without permission reduces the (monetary) value of the same kifu appearing in a newspaper column.
Although this is a frequently controversial topic, most shogi fans do faithfully adhere to this usage guideline. Because they too understand the income system of the JSA, and they will not do anything that would quite possibly contribute to a collapse of the professional shogi player system.
Ratings of professional players, online or otherwise, are all unofficial.
At least in the past, it was taboo. This was because such ratings could lead to an invalidation of the professional ranking system. Also, in the shogi world, the mainstream view is that professionals and amateurs differ fundamentally in some quality that is not just about playing strength. A rating system would risk measuring professionals and amateurs on the same scale, and I heard this was the subject of a dispute with the Japan Amateur Shogi Association.
It seems like now professionals themselves sometimes talk about ratings. Although it is probably not the case that all professionals are against a rating system, but this is certainly a topic that will cause trouble.
It is more or less unheard of for shogi professionals to use their real name to play online, unlike the case of chess.
This is the same for the Nihon-kiin (for igo), so it could be considered to come from Japanese net anonymity norms.
Professionals do play "teaching games" online, without displaying a rating.
YouTube videos and streams are quite exceptional in this regard. Although I don't know what the culture will be like in the future, I think it would be quite unthinkable for a professional to play under their real name on lishogi without a good reason.
I can only offer my personal opinion on this matter, but rules notwithstanding, this will very likely be frowned upon.
This is less of a shogi cultural issue than it is a Japanese cultural one, but for the completely unaffiliated lishogi to suddenly host a "Fujii Souta Arena" would likely antagonise most Japanese. Names, to the Japanese people, are something precious. This is even more so in the case of deceased individuals.
As suggested in Discord chat, tournament names like "Tataki-no-fu Arena" or "Kinzoko-no-fu Arena" I think would be fine.
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There is an official kifu database within the JSA, but this is inaccessible to outsiders.
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There isn't a touch-move rule, but it is not permitted to change a move after the hand leaves the piece.
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There is no culture of recording kifu of one's own games.
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Illegal moves are considered an immediate loss, and in official games the opponent cannot choose to allow the move to be replayed either.
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The dominant presence in online shogi has for a long time been Shogi Club 24. Recently Shogi Wars has become the most popular.
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"Fischer rule" (i.e. increment time control) is not common. It was only introduced in the PC version of Shogi Club 24. Time controls are more or less only byo-yomi or kiremake (sudden death).
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Shogi tactics and next-move problems are not as commonplace as tsumeshogi problems.
* Translation of the tweet by math26: "I don't think that younger shogi fans would know this, but there once was a shogi journal magazine that calculated rating point values for professional players based on their official match results, and the JSA raised on objection to this (the reason was something like 'don't publish things that could negate the meaning of the Juni-sen.')"
TN: The Juni-sen is the league system used to decide the challenger to the Meijin, as well as being one of the criteria for professional dan promotion.
~translated from Japanese by Illion