How to promote Shogi?

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/shogi3

A friend of mine is thinking about the best way to promote Shogi (japanese chess - you can know a little more about it on the above post). An obvious target would be chess players and, in fact, most chess players that goes through the first couple of games and come to the point of understanding its basic principles state that it is a richer game than chess. Yet, my goal isn`t to convince anyone of this statement, since I believe this is a mostly personal matter. I`m just trying to make a point that Shogi is a game that really has the potential of hooking chess players.

Yet, those promoting Shogi outside Japan face some resistance which are, usually, subject of some debates on the forums. Some blame the japanese characters; others blame the closed cultural aspects of Japan and the language barrier, since most of the didactic material is written in japanese (some good material is being printed in english already); others just think that chess player conservatism is to be blamed, etc.

I would like to hear from chess players on this site what they think prevents them from trying Shogi and what would increase the chance for them to try it?

The goal is to find a better way of promoting the game for english speaking players, so any opinions, be it in reproval or not of the way promotion is being carried (like in the above post) is welcome, as far as it contributes to improving the way it's being done.

Notice that even if you wouldn't come to the point of trying Shogi whatever the changes to its promotion or its nature should be, pointing what would make the idea of playing it more attractive is already helpful.

The main thing that would prevent me from picking it up is that there is practically no competitive scene for shogi where I live.

Other stuff like the japanese characters are just annoying and make learning the game more trouble than its worth.

The lack of a dynamic competitive scene was already considered by many, but some efforts are already being carried, mainly in Europe, to promote Shogi competition. It's being successful, as long as I know, but very localized in character. The main competition scene is Japan and it seems a very restrictive environment, but I don't know much about it.

Some tried to go around the problem of japanese characters by designing "western sets". In my opinion, at present, non of them were very successful, since most try to mimic western chess, making the game look like just another arbitratily created variation, among hundreds of others.

Come on, folks. I need help on this. It is really difficult to diagnose what is wrong with promotional actions without feedback, and the only really valid feedback I can get on this, in western world, is among chess players.

You don't need to expose your reasoning. Just tell what would, if you were considering to learn another chess like game, prevent you from trying Shogi. I'll set up a list with some possible reasons:

1- japanese characters;

2- lack of competitive scene;

3- difficulty to find someone to play OTB;

4- lack of literary material to develop game knowledge;

5- wouldn't play any other kind of chess like game;

6- not a common reference among people around;

7- lack of good english speaking sites for playing;

8- drop rule;

9- aesthetics (don't like the 2d wooden pieces);

10- longer to play than chess;

11- more difficult to deal with rules;

12- time available to deal with another complex game;

13- no clubs around;

14- too similar to the game I already play;

15- would hurt my chess skills.

Man shogi is cool. I never forget how i drank gemaicha while watching the funny panda playing it with akanes father.... But still i like chess better

1. Easily remedied with westernized pieces or pictograms. Plus, most people can memorize the characters after a while anyways.

2. There are always online shogi (i.e. playok.com).

3. See #2

4. A lot of similarities exist between chess and shogi anyway, so with practice, you could easily get to the equivalent of 1400 (at least) in shogi.

5. Well, that's their taste.

6. True.

7. See #2.

8.  I have trouble with that too. That's why I look online for shogi lessons (or befriend a smart Japanese person!).

9. I'm sure there are stauntonized shogi pieces.

10. Not if there are time restrictions, like chess. Chess might otherwise take the same amount of time to play as shogi!

11. Easily remedied with an instruction book.

12. Not sure how one complex game stops people from playing others.

13. True. Try an online club.

14. What's wrong with that?

15. Not if you balance the two.

lol I remember that.

Amongst chess players, the biggest barrier is probably time. We’re too busy wasting our time on chess to waste our time on Shogi. I’ve actually played Shogi a few times over the years. Personally I thought it was super boring. The only interesting thing about it was the piece drops, which made me want to play crazyhouse or bughouse rather than play Shogi some more. 

How exactly does one play bughouse? Would the captured pieces stay the same colour?

And you have (at least) too pets! Amazing!

I appreciate your inputs, but I need to make clear that I wasn't making any statements with this list. Those are possible impressions that chess players can have about Shogi, which, true or false, would influence their decision of trying the game.

Impressions are the determinant variable when taking decisions, not the truth about the facts which induce those impressions. Most chess players will never have tried Shogi before and those who tried only very few games may be in a worse position yet, because they may consolidate the wrong impressions and prejudices without even allowing enough time to see clearly the dynamics of what they are judging.

I have tried Go three or four times and my impressions weren't favourable, perhaps because of associations with some very simple and poor games from my childhood which had similar characteristics (rules, look, etc). Yet, I know I must be incorrect about much of those impressions, because all comments I read, from veteran players or those that gave it a greater chance than me, contradict these impressions. I think one day, when I find time for it, I'll give it a real chance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTtEcvCMjKU

Someone posted this video on a Shogi forum. I thought it would be nice to post it here, since it introduces the game (it's history, environment, popularity in Japan, etc) to westerners.