''Oshirogo'' (御城碁 "castle Go") or castle games were official matches of high-level Go played in Japan during the

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 characte ...

, usually in the castles of the ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamak ...

''. Players were mostly from the

four go houses 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 ...

. Matches were played in the ''shōguns presence. With the passage of the years, this became a formality: the players would replay a game that had already been played, and the ''shōgun'' would often be represented by an official, rather than attend himself. The games themselves were, though, bitterly contested, since the castle games had a major effect on the prestige of the four houses. Throughout 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 was an ongoing struggle to take control of the official positions of ''

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 ( ...

'' 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 ...

''. Hundreds of game records of the castle games survive; a large collection was edited by

Kensaku Segoe was a professional Go player. (His surname is occasionally given as Segoshi, but that appears to be a misreading, even if attested by furigana in some books he authored.) Biography Segoe had Go Seigen, Utaro Hashimoto, and Cho Hunhyun as ...

. The game series was suspended in 1862 as the political situation became tense. Apart from one 1863 game between

Hayashi Hakuei 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 ...

and

Yasui Sanei Yasui (written: 安井 or 保井) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese judge *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese politician *, Japanese businessman *, Japanese biologist *, Japanese voice actor *, American lawyer ...

, it was never resumed.

External links

Sensei's Library page
{{Go (game) History of Go