Edo period

The whole period of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan, from 1603 to 1868, brought to an end by the Meiji restoration, is often called the ‘Edo period’ for convenience; the traditional Japanese method of division into era names is less useful for generalisation. The period spans the time from the first Honinbo Sansa to Shuwa and Shusaku.

Edo (江戸) was the old name for Tokyo (‘eastern capital’), which was renamed as part of the political upheavals of the 1860s. Tokyo (東京) means eastern Kyo (capital), which is relative to Kyoto (京都) where the Emperor resided until Meiji Restoration.

The last part of this period, with Shuwa and Shusaku, is sometimes called a golden era of go, from a Japanese perspective. Shusaku’s thirty game match against Ota Yuzo, his strongest opponent, marked the end of that golden era in Japan.