Honinbo (or Hon'inbō, 本因坊) is a title used by the head of the Honinbo house or the winner of the Honinbo tournament.
Honinbo house
The
Honinbo house was a school of Go players officially founded in 1612 and discontinued in 1940.
The founder was the Buddhist priest
Nikkai, and 1612 is the year when
Oda Nobunaga
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...
started sponsoring the school.
The name Honinbo was that of the pavilion on the grounds of the Jakkoji temple in
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
where Nikkai lived.
When the capital was moved to
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, Nikkai moved along and turned "Honinbo" into a title, calling himself Honinbo Sansa.
Heads of the Honinbo house
* 1st Honinbo,
Sansa (算砂, 1612-1623)
* 2nd Honinbo,
San'etsu (算悦, 1630-1658)
* 3rd Honinbo,
Dōetsu (道悦, 1658-1677)
* 4th Honinbo,
Dōsaku (道策, 1677-1702)
** appointed successor,
Dōteki (道的) (died early)
** appointed successor,
Sakugen(策元)
* 5th Honinbo,
Dōchi (道知, 1702-1727)
* 6th Honinbo,
Chihaku (知伯, 1727-1733)
* 7th Honinbo,
Shuhaku (秀伯, 1733-1741)
* 8th Honinbo,
Hakugen (伯元, 1741-1754)
* 9th Honinbo,
Satsugen (察元, 1754-1788)
* 10th Honinbo,
Retsugen (烈元, 1788-1808)
* 11th Honinbo,
Genjo (元丈, 1809-1827)
* 12th Honinbo,
Jōwa (丈和, 1827-1839)
* 13th Honinbo,
Josaku (丈策, 1839-1847)
* 14th Honinbo,
Shuwa (秀和, 1847-1873)
** appointed successor,
Shūsaku
Shūsaku, Shusaku or Shuusaku is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese swordsman
*, Japanese professional Go player
*, Japanese artist and architect
*, Japanese author
*, Japanese footballer
*, Japanes ...
(秀策)
* 15th Honinbo,
Shuetsu (秀悦, 1873-1879)
* 16th Honinbo,
Shugen (秀元, 1879-1884)
* 17th Honinbo,
Shuei (秀栄, 1884-1886)
* 18th Honinbo,
Shuho (秀甫, 1886)
* 19th Honinbo,
Shuei (秀栄, 1887-1907)
* 20th Honinbo,
Shugen (秀元, 1907-1908)
* 21st Honinbo,
Shūsai (秀哉, 1908-1940)
Note: The 17th and 19th Honinbo are the same person, and the 16th and 20th are the same, too.
The titles 22nd-26th Honinbo are
honorary titles
An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include:
* Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States
* Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...
given to players who won the Honinbo tournament sufficiently often.
Honinbo tournament
The
Honinbo Tournament
The Honinbo (本因坊) is a Go competition and the oldest Go title in Japan. Sponsored by ''Mainichi Shimbun
The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by
In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day ...
is a yearly tournament
for the title of Honinbo, held since the retirement of Shūsai.
First Honinbo tournament
The last Honinbo, Shusai, gave
(or sold )
his title in 1938 to the
Nihon Ki-in
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 ...
, to be awarded in a yearly tournament.
Preliminary tournaments were held in 1939 and 1940, and the final title match,
between
Sekiyama Riichi and
Kato Shin, in 1941. This match ended in a tie, 3-3.
Since Sekiyama had been first after the preliminary tournaments, he was declared winner.
Thus, Sekiyama Riichi became the first to bear this new title Honinbo.
Honinbo name
Some winners of the Honinbo tournament choose an
art name
An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...
(professional name).
For the first two the name was chosen by the Nihon Ki-in.
For example, Sekiyama was called Honinbo Risen (本因坊 利仙).
For more details, see :ja:本因坊#本因坊戦勝者と雅号
Further Honinbo tournaments
There are now several further tournaments with names involving 'Honinbo',
such as the
Women's Honinbo tournament, the Amateur Honinbo tournament,
and the Student Honinbo tournament.
Since 1963, there is a yearly game between the current professional Honinbo
and the Amateur Honinbo.
References
External links
Sensei's Library page
Sources
*Richard Bozulich, The Go players almanac, Kiseido Press 2001, Chapter 10.
*Go: International handbook and dictionary, Ishi Press 1972.
*Andrew Grant and John Fairbairn, 400 Years of Go in Japan, Slate and Shell 2004.
{{Go (game)
History of Go