Meijin (Go)
| Meijin (Go) | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Meijin |
| Started | 1976 |
| Honorary Winners | |
| Sponsors | Asahi |
| Prize money | 36 million yen ($330,000 USD) |
| Affiliation | Nihon 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 ¥36,000,000 for the winner and ¥10,400,000 for the runner-up.
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 Dosaku | 1677–1702 |
| 5th | Inoue Dosetsu Inseki | 1708–1719 |
| 6th | Hon'inbō Dochi | 1721–1727 |
| 7th | Hon'inbō Satsugen | 1767–1788 |
| 8th | Hon'inbō Jowa | 1831–1839 |
| 9th | Hon'inbō Shuei | 1906–1907 |
| 10th | Hon'inbō Shusai | 1914–1940 |
Past winners
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Hideyuki Fujisawa | 9–3 | |
| 1963 | Eio Sakata | 4–3 | Hideyuki Fujisawa |
| 1964 | 4–1 | ||
| 1965 | Rin Kaiho | 4–2 | Eio Sakata |
| 1966 | 4–1 | ||
| 1967 | 4–1 | ||
| 1968 | Kaku Takagawa | 4–1 | Rin Kaiho |
| 1969 | Rin Kaiho | 4–2 | Kaku Takagawa |
| 1970 | Hideyuki Fujisawa | 4–2 | Rin Kaiho |
| 1971 | Rin Kaiho | 4–2 | Hideyuki Fujisawa |
| 1972 | 4–2 | ||
| 1973 | 4–3 | Yoshio Ishida | |
| 1974 | Yoshio Ishida | 4–3 | Rin Kaiho |
| 1975 | Hideo Otake | 4–3 | Ishida Yoshio |
| 1976 | 4–1 | ||
| 1977 | Rin Kaiho | 4–0 | Hideo Otake |
| 1978 | Hideo Otake | 4–2 | Rin Kaiho |
| 1979 | 4–1 | Eio Sakata | |
| 1980 | Cho Chikun | 4–1–1 | Hideo Otake |
| 1981 | 4–0 | Masao Kato | |
| 1982 | 4–1 | Hideo Otake | |
| 1983 | 4–1 | ||
| 1984 | 4–3 | ||
| 1985 | Koichi Kobayashi | 4–3 | Cho Chikun |
| 1986 | Masao Kato | 4–0 | Koichi Kobayashi |
| 1987 | 4–0 | Rin Kaiho | |
| 1988 | Koichi Kobayashi | 4–1 | Masao Kato |
| 1989 | 4–1 | Shuzo Awaji | |
| 1990 | 4–2 | Hideo Otake | |
| 1991 | 4–1 | Rin Kaiho | |
| 1992 | 4–3 | Hideo Otake | |
| 1993 | 4–1 | ||
| 1994 | 4–0 | Rin Kaiho | |
| 1995 | Masaki Takemiya | 4–1 | Koichi Kobayashi |
| 1996 | Cho Chikun | 4–2 | Masaki Takemiya |
| 1997 | 4–2 | Kobayashi Koichi | |
| 1998 | 4–2–1 | Ō Rissei | |
| 1999 | 4–1 | Norimoto Yoda | |
| 2000 | Norimoto Yoda | 4–0 | Cho Chikun |
| 2001 | 4–2 | Rin Kaiho | |
| 2002 | 4–1 | Cho Chikun | |
| 2003 | 4–1 | Keigo Yamashita | |
| 2004 | Cho U | 4–2 | Norimoto Yoda |
| 2005 | 4–3 | Satoru Kobayashi | |
| 2006 | Shinji Takao | 4–2 | Cho U |
| 2007 | Cho U | 4–3 | Shinji Takao |
| 2008 | 4–3 | Yuta Iyama | |
| 2009 | Yuta Iyama | 4–1 | Cho U |
| 2010 | 4–0 | Shinji Takao | |
| 2011 | Keigo Yamashita | 4–2 | Yuta Iyama |
| 2012 | 4–3 | Naoki Hane | |
| 2013 | Yuta Iyama | 4–1 | Keigo Yamashita |
| 2014 | 4–2 | Rin Kono | |
| 2015 | 4–0 | Shinji Takao | |
| 2016 | Shinji Takao | 4–3 | Yuta Iyama |
| 2017 | Yuta Iyama | 4–1 | Shinji Takao |
| 2018 | Cho U | 4-3 | Yuta Iyama |
| 2019 | Toramaru Shibano | 4-1 | Cho U |
| 2020 | Yuta Iyama | 4-1 | Toramaru Shibano |
In fiction
In the manga Hikaru no Go, there is a Meijin called Toya Koyo.
See also
- International Go Federation
- List of professional Go tournaments
- Honorary Meijin
- Yasunari Kawabata, author of The Master of Go
External links
References
- Classical Budo (1973), by Donn F. Draeger, pp. 27–30
- MEIJIN (2010, fiction), by John DiStano (ISBN 978-1-4392-2545-5)