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Meijin
    Keywords: Culture & History, Go term, People

Meijin is a title in Japanese go. In Japanese the term is represented by two characters (Wiki does not allow to use Japanese characters, does it?) which separately mean "name" and "person". Two characters together are translated by [ext] Babelfish as "an expert".

The title is the second most prestigious (at least in sense of prize money) in Japan: the winner's purse is 36 million Yen. The competition for the title is sponsored by [ext] Asahi Shinbun newspaper since 1976. Before that it was sponsored by [ext] Yomiuri Shinbun and was considered to be the most prestigious in Japanese go.

The current holder is Yoda Norimoto Meijin.

- StefanVerstraeten


The modern Meijin title came about in 1962,from the former title of Saikyo(1959-1961).- TimBrent


Here's a little background about "meijin." In feudal Japan, there was an official government job for the Meijin Godokoro -- the famous expert go tutor to the Shogun. (There was a similar job for the nation's best shogi player.) This post was supposed to be held by the undisputed strongest player in the country, who was appointed by the Commissioner of Temples and Shrines. In years when it was unclear who was the best player, the position was sometimes vacant.

Strong and ambitious go players sought the job, sometimes resorting to scandalous political maneuvers. The Meijin Godokoro had significant power, prestige, and perquisites, for he had a government stipend and some access to the Shogun. It was practically a lifetime appointment because the Godokoro was exempt from from competing in the CastleGames, and indeed barred from serious contests (since he was supposed to devote his every effort to helping the Shogun be a better player). This made it hard for other players to demonstrate that they were stronger, and therefore the rightful Meijin.

Because of this and other governmental support for go (i.e., the FourHouses), during the Tokugawa period, the quality of of play grew faster in Japan than elsewhere.

John Fairbairn has written about this, out on the Mind Sports Olympiad site ([ext] www.msoworld.com). Also, Ohira's Appreciating Famous Games provides some details, including a few games from the jubango that sometimes decided who would be Meijin Godokoro.

- TakeNGive (10 kyu)

For those interested in Edo era HistoricMeijin here is the list.



This is a copy of the living page "Meijin" at Sensei's Library.
(C) the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.