Historic Meijin

Meijin is a title in Japanese Go, written 名人. Its original meaning is "master" or "expert" or "virtuoso" of any field, not just Go. Historically, during the Edo period in Japan, there was only one Meijin, equivalent to a 9-dan rank. This person had to stand out from their peers as the undisputed strongest player in the country, so there was not always a Meijin when there was no consensus. The ten players who held the Meijin title prior to the 1960s tournament title:

 1. Honinbo Sansa         1612-1623
 2. Inoue Nakamura Doseki 1623-1630
 3. Yasui Sanchi          1668-1676
 4. Honinbo Dosaku        1677-1702
 5. Inoue Dosetsu Inseki  1708-1719
 6. Honinbo Dochi         1721-1727
 7. Honinbo Satsugen      1767-1788
 8. Honinbo Jowa          1831-1839
 9. Honinbo Shuei         1906-1907 *
10. Honinbo Shusai        1914-1940 *

• Shuei and Shusai were Meijin, though by the time they achieved such status, the Godokoro had been abolished (1868).
  

There were also several Jun-Meijin or 8-Dan Edo players.