The Game of Go was invented in China 2500-3000 years ago. Its origin story is not well known but the earliest poem dated about Go is during the Tang dynasty (618-907CE). Its popularity as a game spread from China to other Eastern territories such as Korea, Tibet, and Japan. During the Tang dynasty, Go was viewed as a virtuous game. A person who could play the game well was thought to have moral character similar to that of calligraphy and orthography, which the Chinese highly praised.
Over the centuries, Go has only gotten more popular not only as a world competition between players but also as one that has grown in popularity because of computers. It was once thought that Go was an impossible game for a computer to simulate and play effectively because of its many combinations. It is no longer true thanks to AlphaGo (link here) which has recently beat Lee Sedol in a 5 game match 4 to 1.
With this defeat, Go has become an even more popular game and is spreading into Western culture due to its notoriety. The last time a popular Go boom happened was in 1998 when the first Hikaru no Go manga serialized and again when it was animated into an anime in 2001. In this series, it followed a Jr. High school student that finds a Go board with a spirit trapped inside of it. This spirit turns out to be a considerable Go player who will eventually inspire Hikaru, who has never played Go, to take up the game himself. Due to the young protagonist and antagonist, many youngster were also inspired by Hikaru’s actions to play Go.