Kansai Ki-in

Keywords: Culture & History, Clubs & Places

Chinese: 关西棋院
Japanese: 関西棋院
Korean: -

The Kansai Ki-in is one of the professional go bodies in Japan, just like the Nihon Ki-in. About 130 active pros are affiliated to it.

(The [ext] Kansai is the region of Japan west of the old barrier at [ext] Hakone, as opposed to the [ext] Kanto region including Tokyo.)

The Nihon Kiin had a Kansai branch even before the Second World War. In 1947, it became a separate corporation, Kansai Kiin, still under the Nihon Ki-in control. In particular, the Kansai Kiin could not issue diplomas on its own. When a dispute over the Honinbo title ^[1] arose between the Tokyo and Osaka branches, the latter declared itself independent in September 1950. Hashimoto Utaro, Honinbo titleholder at the time, played a crucial role in securing independence. However, those who opposed the independence set up Nihon Kiin Kansai Branch anew and this divided state weakened the Kansai (the West) players as a whole.

[1]:The Nihon Kiin announced that the Honinbo title term would be shortened from two years to one year without consulting the reigning Honinbo, Hashimoto.

After a long slump, 2010 marked a milestone for Kansai, as Sakai Hideyuki won the Gosei and Yuki Satoshi won the Tengen. This was the first time its professionals simultaneously held two big titles.

Publisher of Igo Shincho(1950-1979) and Igo Kansai? (1980-2019) magazines, both discontinued.

[edit]