I agree; I don't think it's out of maliciousness or neglect, just a kind of adrift cluelessness. The 'support' was meant more in the sense of "so how did you do today, glad to hear it, can't wait to see you in the next tournament, you better let us know, so what are your plans" kind of active engagement and communication.

Given who his own father is, I like to imagine that Masao makes a point to read Go Weekly during lunch and has a much better idea than his poor wife does of how things are going career-wise for Hikaru.

In my fantasies I like to think that once the boys start dating, Akiko starts making overtures of friendship towards Mitsuko and they end up having coffee klatches and through Akiko Mitsuko can finally gain a foundation for being able to relate to her own son as well as Akiko does to hers.