In the history of Go in Japan, the four Go houses were four major schools of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. (There were also many minor houses.) At roughly the same time

shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as Western chess, ''chaturanga, Xiangqi'', Indian chess, and '' janggi''. ''Shōgi'' ...

was organised into three houses. Here "house" implies an institution run on the recognised lines of the ''

iemoto is a Japanese term used to refer to the founder or current Grand Master of a certain school of traditional Japanese art. It is used synonymously with the term when it refers to the family or house that the iemoto is head of and represents. Th ...

'' system common in all Japanese traditional arts. In particular, the house head had, in three of the four cases, a name handed down:

Inoue Inseki In the history of Go in Japan, the four Go houses were four major schools of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate. (There were also many minor houses.) At roughly the same time shogi w ...

, Yasui Senkaku,

Hayashi Monnyu Hayashi ( 林, literally " woods"), is the 19th most common Japanese surname. It shares the same character as the Chinese surname Lin. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese synchronized swimmer *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese s ...

. References to these names, therefore, mean to the contemporary head of the house. The four houses were the Honinbo, Hayashi, Inoue, and Yasui. They were originally designed to be on a par with each other, and competed in the official castle games called ''

oshirogo ''Oshirogo'' (御城碁 "castle Go") or castle games were official matches of high-level Go played in Japan during the Edo period, usually in the castles of the ''shōgun''. Players were mostly from the four go houses. Matches were played in the ...

''.

The houses

Hon'inbō

The Hon'inbō house (本因家) was easily the strongest school of Go for most of its existence. It was established in 1612 and survived until 1940. Upon the closure of the school, the title ''Hon'inbō'' came to be used for the winner of the

Honinbo Tournament The Honinbo (本因坊) is a Go competition and the oldest Go title in Japan. Sponsored by ''Mainichi Shimbun'', the Honinbo pays out ¥32 million ($415,000 as of October 2011). Rules The holder of the title is challenged by whoever wins the rou ...

, which is now an annual professional Go event in Japan. It is run under the

titleholder system {{Unreferenced, date=August 2007 The titleholder system is the most common type of structure used in professional tournaments in the game of go and shogi. Overview In practice these events almost always are based in East Asian countries with a prof ...

, meaning that at any given time there is a player who can use the title Hon'inbō. It is customary for Japanese players to take a special personal name as Hon'inbō, a unique feature of this title; for example

Takagawa Kaku , also known as , was one of the most successful professional Go players of the twentieth century. Biography Kaku Takagawa won the Honinbō title nine times in a row, from 1952 to 1960, and was subsequently awarded the permanent title of Ho ...

held the title for nine years, and during this time was referred to as Hon'inbō Shukaku. Players of other nationalities by custom do not adopt a special name but do use the Hon'inbō title. Hon'inbō Shūsai sold his title to the Japan Go Association before retiring in 1936, effectively ending the Hon'inbō line. All three of the "Go saints" (or '' Kisei'') came from this school— Dosaku, Shusaku, and Jowa (although Jowa is frequently reviled because of his machinations while trying to become ''

Meijin is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word ''meijin'' (名 ''mei'' "excellent, artful", 人 ''jin'' "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (t ...

''). Most of the holders of the ''Meijin'' title (awarded to a player recognised by all as strongest) were also from this house. Another prominent member was

Hon'inbō Shūsaku Shusaku (本因坊秀策, Yasuda Eisai, Kuwahara Shusaku, ''Invincible Shusaku'', born Kuwabara Torajiro (桑原虎次郎); June 6, 1829 – September 3, 1862) was a Japanese professional Go player during the 19th century. He is known for his ...

(秀策, 1829–1862), who was heir to become head of the school, but died of

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

before officially becoming Hon'inbō.

Hayashi

The Hayashi house (林家) was one of the four Go houses of

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

Japan. It was in effect the junior partner in the system of Go schools, never providing a

player. Always an ally of the Honinbo school, for traditional reasons, it didn't survive to the end of the period as truly independent. Its headship went to

Honinbo Shuei In the history of Go (board game), Go in Japan, the four Go houses were four major schools of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate. (There were also many minor houses.) At roughly the s ...

, and when he became also Honinbo head, it was ''de facto'' merged into the Honinbos. From the second head onwards, the head of the house when playing was known as Hayashi Monnyū.

Inoue

The Inoue house (井上家) was one of the four Go houses, the state-supported schools for the game of Go in Japan during the

. The numbering of the heads of the house is that introduced by Inoue Genan Inseki, at the start of the nineteenth century, and including Nakamura Doseki for reasons of prestige. During their playing careers all the heads, apart from Doseki, were called Inoue Inseki. For reasons of convenience the retirement or posthumous names are used, in the style Inoue Genkaku Inseki with the personal part of the name interposed. Variant names abound.

Yasui

The Yasui house (安井家) was one of the four Schools (or Houses) of Go which were officially recognized during the

of Japanese history. Each of the four schools were founded by

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

in 1612.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005). "Go" in ; n.b., Louis-Frédéric is pseudonym of Louis-Frédéric Nussbaum, ''see'
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Authority File
. The house had one

, in

Yasui Sanchi Yasui Sanchi (安井算知, 1617–1703) was a Japanese professional Go player, and second head of the Yasui house. He became ''Meijin''-''godokoro'' in 1668. It has always been said''Go Monthly Review'' 1963/5 p.54 that this promotion was achie ...

. It has been commented that the general style of play tended to the pragmatic, rather than the artistic way. From 1737 to the present, the current head of the Yasui house has been known as Senkaku. The retirement or posthumous names are listed here.

History

The first of the four houses was the house Honinbo, founded by Honinbo Sansa. Honinbo Sansa was a Buddhist monk and had been appointed Godokoro (minister of Go) by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the unification of Japan in 1603.

Buddhist connections

They were also nominally Buddhist institutions, with the Honinbo and Hayashi aligned with the

Nichiren sect Nichiren Buddhism ( ja, 日蓮仏教), also known as Hokkeshū ( ja, 法華宗, meaning ''Lotus Sect'') is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of ...

, and the Inoue and Yasui with the Jodo Shu.''Go Monthly Review'' 1963/4 p.41 All players were therefore male. Some outward forms only persisted of that connection, with the ''oshirogo'' games being played in Buddhist dress and with shaven heads; the stylish

Ota Yuzo OTA or ota may stand for: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Off the Air'', an Adult Swim television series * Otakon, an annual anime convention in Baltimore, Maryland Electronics, science, and technology * Ochratoxin A (also termed OTA), a mycoto ...

was given a waiver of the obligation since he was proud of his hair. After

Honinbo Doetsu In the history of Go in Japan, the four Go houses were four major schools of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate. (There were also many minor houses.) At roughly the same time shogi w ...

made a representation that long sleeves were troublesome for the players, a dispensation for shorter sleeves was allowed to them. At least, in theory, matters on succession in the houses were subject to the authority of the ''

jisha bugyo , along with the titles ''inji'' and ''sannō'',Hori, pp. 638–639 are Japanese terms used in reference to the personal attendant of a monastery's abbot or teacher in Zen Buddhism. In the Rinzai school, the term is usually either ''inji'' or ...

'', an official regulating religious establishment. Nominations as heir, typically within the ''iemoto'' system of the best disciple, who might not be a natural son but in effect adopted, were supposed to be made official. Deaths at an early age particularly affected the Honinbo house, and irregular succession could occur with the potential for scandal.

Official status

The official posts of

and

godokoro {{Nihongo, Godokoro, 碁所, ''godokoro'' is a title that was given in Japan from the beginning of the Edo period until the Meiji Restoration. In that period it was the highest official standing that could be attained by a go player. Literally it i ...

were awarded, somewhat sporadically, and brought great prestige to the house. In practice, backstairs intrigue was often brought to bear on the appointments. More creditably, since the Meijin title could only be awarded to the undisputed master player of the time, there were occasions when it was withheld from two candidates whose merit was very close (an example was Genjo and Chitoku, around 1810–1820).

Teaching

The mode of teaching, by apprenticeship, brought a consistent and high level of play (though some say the standard sagged in the eighteenth century).

Esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

teaching was normal, with collections of very difficult ''

tsumego is the Japanese term for a type of go problem based on life-and-death. The term likely comes from , as means checkmating in shogi but has different meanings in go. ''Tsumego'' problems are common in newspaper columns. ''Tsumego'' problems h ...

'' being compiled, one of which, the ''

Igo Hatsuyōron ''Igo Hatsuyōron'' (囲碁発陽論, literally : ''On yang production in the game of go'', often abbreviated Hatsuyōron) is a collection of 183 go problems (mostly tsumego), compiled in 1713 by the Japanese go master Inoue Dōsetsu Inseki. U ...

'', is still used for professional training. Prepared variations were used in top games (notably in the

blood-vomiting game The blood-vomiting game ( ja, 吐血の一局, translit=toketsu no ikkyoku) is a famous game of Go of the Edo period of Japan, played on June 27, 1835, between Hon'inbō Jōwa (white) and Akaboshi Intetsu (black). It is noted for the three ''g ...

of Jowa and

Akaboshi was a Japanese professional 7 ''dan'' Go player.Akaboshi Intetsu's entry

...

). Go secrets were state secrets, in effect; since the country was closed to foreigners, in the main, the only international competition was against players from the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

, but those games are still cited as examples of the difference between strong amateurs and extremely strong players.

Dissolution

After a while, the Honinbo house (of Dosaku) emerged as the most prestigious, and the Hayashi house ran into difficulties, eventually being taken over by the Honinbo. The

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

threw the system into disarray, but three houses survived some hard times to 1900.

Honinbo Shusai In the history of Go in Japan, the four Go houses were four major schools of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate. (There were also many minor houses.) At roughly the same time shogi ...

arranged that the

Honinbo title In the history of Go in Japan, the four Go houses were four major schools of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate. (There were also many minor houses.) At roughly the same time shogi w ...

should become a tournament of the

Nihon Kiin The Nihon Ki-in (), also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main organizational body for Go in Japan, overseeing Japan's professional system and issuing diplomas for amateur dan rankings. It is based in Tokyo. The other major Go associat ...

after his death (1939). The Yasui house died out; it is not certain whether the Inoue house theoretically continues or not, though it dropped out of the mainstream from the 1920s.

Notes

* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). ''Japan Encyclopedia.'' Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Shuzō Ōhira and John Fairbairn. (1977). ''Appreciating Famous Games.'' Tokyo: Ishi
OCLC 252292851
{{Go (game) History of Go