- Meijin
-
This article is about a title in Go. For a title in shogi, see Meijin (shogi).
Meijin Full name Meijin Started 1976 Honorary Winners Cho Chikun
Koichi KobayashiSponsors Asahi Prize money 36 million Yen ($330,000 USD) Affiliation Nihon Ki-in Meijin (名人), literally translated, 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.
Contents
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 Meijin 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. 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 Honinbo, 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 Meijin 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 Honinbo 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).
Historic Meijins
Number Player Years 1st Honinbo Sansa 1612–1623 2nd Inoue Nakamura Doseki 1623–1630 3rd Yasui Sanchi 1668–1676 4th Honinbo Dosaku 1677–1702 5th Inoue Dosetsu Inseki 1708–1719 6th Honinbo Dochi 1721–1727 7th Honinbo Satsugen 1767–1788 8th Honinbo Jowa 1831–1839 9th Honinbo Shuei 1906–1907 10th Honinbo Shusai 1914–1940 Past winners
Year Winner Runner-up Details 1962 Fujisawa Shuko Go Seigen Details 1963 Sakata Eio Fujisawa Shuko Details 1964 Sakata Eio Fujisawa Shuko Details 1965 Rin Kaiho Sakata Eio Details 1966 Rin Kaiho Sakata Eio Details 1967 Rin Kaiho Sakata Eio Details 1968 Takagawa Kaku Rin Kaiho Details 1969 Rin Kaiho Takagawa Kaku Details 1970 Fujisawa Shuko Rin Kaiho Details 1971 Rin Kaiho Fujisawa Shuko Details 1972 Rin Kaiho Fujisawa Shuko Details 1973 Rin Kaiho Ishida Yoshio Details 1974 Ishida Yoshio Rin Kaiho Details 1975 Otake Hideo Ishida Yoshio Details 1976 Otake Hideo Ishida Yoshio Details 1977 Rin Kaiho Otake Hideo Details 1978 Otake Hideo Rin Kaiho Details 1979 Otake Hideo Sakata Eio Details 1980 Cho Chikun Otake Hideo Details 1981 Cho Chikun Kato Masao Details 1982 Cho Chikun Otake Hideo Details 1983 Cho Chikun Otake Hideo Details 1984 Cho Chikun Otake Hideo Details 1985 Koichi Kobayashi Cho Chikun Details 1986 Kato Masao Kobayashi Koichi Details 1987 Kato Masao Rin Kaiho Details 1988 Kobayashi Koichi Kato Masao Details 1989 Kobayashi Koichi Awaji Shuzo Details 1990 Kobayashi Koichi Otake Hideo Details 1991 Kobayashi Koichi Rin Kaiho Details 1992 Kobayashi Koichi Otake Hideo Details 1993 Kobayashi Koichi Otake Hideo Details 1994 Kobayashi Koichi Rin Kaiho Details 1995 Takemiya Masaki Koichi Kobayashi Details 1996 Cho Chikun Takemiya Masaki Details 1997 Cho Chikun Kobayashi Koichi Details 1998 Cho Chikun O Rissei Details 1999 Cho Chikun Yoda Norimoto Details 2000 Yoda Norimoto Cho Chikun Details 2001 Yoda Norimoto Rin Kaiho Details 2002 Yoda Norimoto Cho Chikun Details 2003 Yoda Norimoto Yamashita Keigo Details 2004 Cho U Yoda Norimoto Details 2005 Cho U Kobayashi Satoru Details 2006 Takao Shinji Cho U Details 2007 Cho U Takao Shinji Details 2008 Cho U Iyama Yuta Details 2009 Iyama Yuta Cho U Details 2010 Iyama Yuta Takao Shinji Details 2011 Yamashita Keigo Iyama Yuta Details 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
- Classical Budo(1973), by Donn F. Draeger(ref.to MEIJIN on pgs.27-30)
- MEIJIN (2010,fiction), by John DiStano (ISBN 978-1-4392-2545-5)
External links
Japanese Go titles Major Minor Defunct Acom Cup · Asahi Pro Best Ten · Asahi Top Eight Players · Asahi Top Position · Chikurin · Dai-ichi · Hayago Championship · Hayago Meijin · Hosu · IBM Cup · Igo Senshuken · JAL Super Hayago Championship · JT Cup · Kakusei · Kirin Cup · NEC Shun-Ei · Nihon Ki-In Championship · Old Meijin · Phoenix Cup · Prime Minister Cup · Ryuen Cup · Shin-Ei · TatsujinWomen's Defunct Female Nihon Ki-in Championship · Female Kakusei · Female JAL Super Hayago
Categories:- History of go
- Go competitions
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
