Meijin (Go)
Full nameMeijin
Started1976
Honorary Winners
SponsorsAsahi
Prize money30 million yen
AffiliationNihon Ki-in

Meijin (名人) means "Brilliant Man". It is the name of the second most prestigious Japanese Go Tournament. It also refers to a traditional Japanese title given to the strongest player of the day during the Edo period.

The tournament

The Meijin tournament is sponsored by the Asahi newspaper, and has prize money of ¥30,000,000 for the winner (since the 45th Meijin in 2020).[1]

The tournament is open to Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in players. A nine-player league decides the challenger each year. Every year, the three worst-ranked players in the league drop out. Entrance into the league is decided by three preliminaries. The first is between 1-4 dans (6 winners: 4 Nihon ki-in and 2 Kansai ki-in). The second is between 5-9 dans and the six winners (18 winners). The third is between these 18 and the 3 people dropped from the league (3 winners, who enter the league). Komi is 6.5. The time limit is 8 hours each in the title matches and 3 hours in the league and prelims. Byo-yomi is 1 minute per move.

History

The title of "Meijin" derives from a game played by the first Hon'inbō, Sansa. An onlooker (no less than Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga) watched him play a particularly brilliant move and exclaimed "Meijin!" in appreciation of its greatness. The term was thereafter applied to the strongest player of the day. Sansa, besides being Nobunaga's Go tutor, also taught Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who, after taking control, established Sansa as Godokoro, roughly meaning "Head of the Government Go Bureau." The Meijin title came to be greatly prized by all of the most promising Go prodigies of the age, freed from the cares of everyday life by the government stipends coming from the Go Bureau. Most often held by members of the Hon'inbō school, it was also held by brilliant Yasuis and Inoues. No player from Hayashi house attained Meijin status. The title "Meijin" is also attached to the rank of 9 dan during this period hence there is only one 9-dan/Meijin at a time even if there are many players that are at the strength of a 9 dan. 8-dans in the Edo period are called Jun-Meijin which means half-Meijin which is a rank accorded to sixteen players in the Edo period. After the Meiji Revolution, the four houses fell into disrepair due to the lack of government stipends.

In 1958, the Yomiuri newspaper decided to sponsor a "Strongest Player" tournament to decide the strongest player of the current time. In 1961 the tournament's name was changed to Meijin.

Since they already sponsored the Shogi Meijin tournament, in 1975 the Asahi newspaper offered to buy the rights to the Meijin tournament from the Yomiuri. After months of debating, the title was sold and the Yomiuri began sponsoring a new title, Kisei (Go Saint). The tournament before 1976 thus became called the Old Meijin.

Historic Meijins

Number Player Years
1st Hon'inbō Sansa 1612–1623
2nd Inoue Nakamura Doseki 1623–1630
3rd Yasui Sanchi 1668–1676
4th Hon'inbō Dōsaku 1677–1702
5th Inoue Dōsetsu Inseki 1708–1719
6th Hon'inbō Dōchi 1721–1727
7th Hon'inbō Satsugen 1767–1788
8th Hon'inbō Jōwa 1831–1839
9th Hon'inbō Shūei 1906–1907
10th Hon'inbō Shūsai 1914–1940

Past winners

Edition Year Winner Score Runner-up
1962Hideyuki Fujisawa9–3
1963Eio Sakata4–3Hideyuki Fujisawa
19644–1
1965Rin Kaiho4–2Eio Sakata
19664–1
19674–1
1968Kaku Takagawa4–1Rin Kaiho
1969Rin Kaiho4–2Kaku Takagawa
1970Hideyuki Fujisawa4–2Rin Kaiho
1971Rin Kaiho4–2Hideyuki Fujisawa
19724–2
19734–3Yoshio Ishida
1974Yoshio Ishida4–3Rin Kaiho
1975Hideo Otake4–3Ishida Yoshio
119764–1
21977Rin Kaiho4–0Hideo Otake
31978Hideo Otake4–2Rin Kaiho
419794–1Eio Sakata
51980Cho Chikun4–1–1Hideo Otake
619814–0Masao Kato
719824–1Hideo Otake
819834–1
919844–3
101985Koichi Kobayashi4–3Cho Chikun
111986Masao Kato4–0Koichi Kobayashi
1219874–0Rin Kaiho
131988Koichi Kobayashi4–1Masao Kato
1419894–1Shuzo Awaji
1519904–2Hideo Otake
1619914–1Rin Kaiho
1719924–3Hideo Otake
1819934–1
1919944–0Rin Kaiho
201995Masaki Takemiya4–1Koichi Kobayashi
211996Cho Chikun4–2Masaki Takemiya
2219974–2Kobayashi Koichi
2319984–2–1Ō Rissei
2419994–1Norimoto Yoda
252000Norimoto Yoda4–0Cho Chikun
2620014–2Rin Kaiho
2720024–1Cho Chikun
2820034–1Keigo Yamashita
292004Cho U4–2Norimoto Yoda
3020054–3Satoru Kobayashi
312006Shinji Takao4–2Cho U
322007Cho U4–3Shinji Takao
3320084–3Yuta Iyama
342009Yuta Iyama4–1Cho U
3520104–0Shinji Takao
362011Keigo Yamashita4–2Yuta Iyama
3720124–3Naoki Hane
382013Yuta Iyama4–1Keigo Yamashita
3920144–2Rin Kono
4020154–0Shinji Takao
412016Shinji Takao4–3Yuta Iyama
42 2017 Yuta Iyama 4–1 Shinji Takao
43 2018 Cho U 4–3 Yuta Iyama
44 2019 Toramaru Shibano 4–1 Cho U
452020Yuta Iyama 4–1 Toramaru Shibano
46 2021 4–3 Ryo Ichiriki
47 2022 Toramaru Shibano 4–3 Yuta Iyama
48 2023 4–2 Yuta Iyama

In fiction

In the manga Hikaru no Go, there is a Meijin called Toya Koyo.

See also

References

  • Classical Budo (1973), by Donn F. Draeger, pp. 27–30
  • MEIJIN (2010, fiction), by John DiStano (ISBN 978-1-4392-2545-5)
  1. "第45期 名人戦". Nihon Ki-in (in Japanese).
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