Meijin (shogi)


Meijin is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field.

History

The Meijin institution started in the 17th century, and for around 300 years was a hereditary title that was passed from the reigning Meijin upon his retirement or death to another selected from three families, as deemed to be worthy. This is known as the Lifetime Meijin system. In 1935, however, the Japan Shogi Association, or JSA, announced that it was abolishing the existing system of succession in favor of something more short-term and reflective of actual playing strength, known as the Real Strength Meijin system. In 1937, the reigning 13th Meijin, who had received his title under the old system and was 70 years old at the time, voluntarily gave up his title so that a new Meijin could be decided through actual tournament play. Later that year Yoshio Kimura, who was a student of Sekine, became the first Meijin to gain the title based upon actual performance by winning a tournament which included eight other top players. From 1937 to 1947, the challenger for the Meijin title was determined through tournaments involving a select number of players. Finally, in 1947, the JSA officially established the preliminary round of ranking tournaments that it currently uses.

Qualifying

The Meijin title is only open to professional shogi players that are members of the Meijin tournament system. This means that unlike some other tournaments amateur players, women's professional players, and regular professionals outside of the Meijin tournament system are not allowed to compete in the tournament.
The Meijin ranking tournaments are divided into five classes and players compete against others within their class in a round-robin tournament throughout the year. Players who perform well during their class tournament may be promoted to the next highest class while those who perform poorly may be relegated to the next lowest one, except in the case of Class C2 where players are relegated to "Free class" status. New professionals are placed at the bottom of Class C2, and the top three players of Class C2 are promoted to Class C1 for the next year. Similarly, the top two players of Classes C1, B2, B1 are promoted to the B2, B1, and A, respectively, for the next year. A new professional, therefore, needs at least five years experience after their debut before they can qualify to challenge for the title of Meijin.

Lifetime Meijin

The first thirteen Lifetime Meijins were determined through succession. The Lifetime Meijin as a competitive title, 2=永世名人, was established by the JSA in 1952. Players who capture the Meijin title five times qualify to receive this title, but are only officially awarded it upon their retirement or death.
The is another Mejin-related title. Only two have received this title, Kensosuke Kosuke in 1936 and Ichitarō Doi in 1954.

Posthumous Meijin

A special title was given to Sankichi Sakata in 1955 by the Japan Shogi Association after his death in 1945. Sakata, a folk hero for the Osaka area, was known during his heyday for his brilliant, inventive playing but was prevented from becoming a normal Meijin by circumstances. Sakata is the only person to receive this title.

Winners

Below is a list of past Meijin title holders from 1937 when the new tournament method for determining the title holder was established. The number in parentheses represents the cumulative times the player had won the title to date.
No.YearWinnerScoreOpponentNote
11937–1938Yoshio KimuraleagueThe first Meijin was decided by tournament of nine players. Kimura placed first in the league. Chōtarō Hanada was second place. The others in the league were Ichitarō Doi, Kumao Ōsaki, Yasujirō Kon, Kinjirō Kimi, Kingorō Kaneko, Tatsunosuke Kanda, Kiyoshi Hagiwara.
21940Yoshio Kimura 4-1Ichitarō Doi
31942Yoshio Kimura 4-0Tatsunosuke Kanda
41943Yoshio Kimura No match held. Kimura retained title by default.
51944Yoshio Kimura No match held. Kimura retained title by default.
61947Masao Tsukada4-2Yoshio Kimura
71948Masao Tsukada 4-2Yasuharu Ōyama
81949Yoshio Kimura 3-2Masao Tsukada
91950Yoshio Kimura 4-2Yasuharu Ōyama
101951Yoshio Kimura 4-2Kōzō Masuda
111952Yasuharu Ōyama4-1Yoshio Kimura
121953Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Kōzō Masuda
131954Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Kōzō Masuda
141955Yasuharu Ōyama 4-2Kazukiyo Takashima
151956Yasuharu Ōyama 4-0Motoji Hanamura
161957Kōzō Masuda4-2Yasuharu Ōyama
171958Kōzō Masuda 4-2Yasuharu Ōyama
181959Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Kōzō Masuda
191960Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Hifumi Katoh
201961Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Yuzoh Maruta
211962Yasuharu Ōyama 4-0Tatsuya Futakami
221963Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Kōzō Masuda
231964Yasuharu Ōyama 4-2Tatsuya Futakami
241965Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Michiyoshi Yamada
251966Yasuharu Ōyama 4-2Kōzō Masuda
261967Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Tatsuya Futakami
271968Yasuharu Ōyama 4-0Kōzō Masuda
281969Yasuharu Ōyama 4-3Michio Ariyoshi
291970Yasuharu Ōyama 4-1Rensho Nada
301971Yasuharu Ōyama 4-3Kōzō Masuda
311972Makoto Nakahara4-3Yasuharu Ōyama
321973Makoto Nakahara 4-0Hifumi Katoh
331974Makoto Nakahara 4-3Yasuharu Ōyama
341975Makoto Nakahara 4-3Nobuyuki Ōuchi
351976Makoto Nakahara 4-3Kunio Yonenaga
351977Makoto NakaharaNo match held. Nakahara retained title by default.
361978Makoto Nakahara 4-2Keiji Mori
371979Makoto Nakahara 4-2Kunio Yonenaga
381980Makoto Nakahara 4-1Kunio Yonenaga
391981Makoto Nakahara 4-1Kiyozumi Kiriyama
401982Hifumi Katoh4-3Makoto Nakahara
411983Koji Tanigawa 4-2Hifumi Katoh
421984Koji Tanigawa 4-1Hidemitsu Moriyasu
431985Makoto Nakahara 4-2Koji Tanigawa
441986Makoto Nakahara 4-1Yasuharu Ōyama
451987Makoto Nakahara 4-2Kunio Yonenaga
461988Koji Tanigawa 4-2Makoto Nakahara
471989Koji Tanigawa 4-0Kunio Yonenaga
481990Makoto Nakahara 4-2Koji Tanigawa
491991Makoto Nakahara 4-1Kunio Yonenaga
501992Makoto Nakahara 4-3Michio Takahashi
511993Kunio Yonenaga4-0Makoto Nakahara
521994Yoshiharu Habu4-2Kunio Yonenaga
531995Yoshiharu Habu 4-1Taku Morishita
541996Yoshiharu Habu 4-1Toshiyuki Moriuchi
551997Koji Tanigawa 4-2Yoshiharu Habu
561998Yasumitsu Satō4-3Koji Tanigawa
571999Yasumitsu Satō 4-3Koji Tanigawa
582000Tadahisa Maruyama4-3Yasumitsu Satō
5920014-3Koji Tanigawa
602002Toshiyuki Moriuchi4-0Tadahisa Maruyama
612003Yoshiharu Habu 4-0Toshiyuki Moriuchi
622004Toshiyuki Moriuchi 4-2Yoshiharu Habu
632005Toshiyuki Moriuchi 4-3Yoshiharu Habu
642006Toshiyuki Moriuchi 4-2Koji Tanigawa
652007Toshiyuki Moriuchi 4-3Masataka Gōda
662008Yoshiharu Habu 4-2Toshiyuki Moriuchi
672009Yoshiharu Habu 4-3Masataka Gōda
682010Yoshiharu Habu 4-0Hiroyuki Miura
692011Toshiyuki Moriuchi 4-3Yoshiharu Habu
702012Toshiyuki Moriuchi 4-2Yoshiharu Habu
7120134-1Yoshiharu Habu
722014Yoshiharu Habu 4-0Toshiyuki Moriuchi
732015Yoshiharu Habu 4-1Hisashi Namekata
742016Amahiko SatōYoshiharu Habu
752017Amahiko Satō 4-2Akira Inaba
762018Amahiko Satō 4-2Yoshiharu Habu
772019Masayuki Toyoshima4-0Amahiko Satō
782020Akira Watanabe4-2Masayuki Toyoshima
792021Akira Watanabe 4-1Shintarō Saitō
802022Akira Watanabe 4-1Shintarō Saitō
812023Sōta Fujii4-1Akira Watanabe
822024Sōta Fujii 4-1Masayuki Toyoshima
832025Sōta Fujii 4-1Takuya Nagase