Meijin (名人) is one of the eight titles in Japanese professionalshogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word meijin (名mei "excellent, artful", 人jin "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (the various arts found in traditional Japanese culture, such as the Japanese tea ceremony, go, competitive karuta, rakugo, budō).[1]
History
Sekine's Meijin Resignation Ceremony (将棋名人退就位式) in February 1938. Pictured sitting in the foreground are Sekine (left) and Kimura (right). (The person standing in the foreground is Kenosuke Kosuge.)
The Meijin institution started in the 17th century (Edo period), and for around 300 years (1612–1937) was a hereditary title that was passed from the reigning Meijin upon his retirement or death to another selected from three families (the Ohashi Main family, the Ohashi Branch family, and the Ito family), as deemed to be worthy.[2][3] This is known as the Lifetime Meijin system (終生名人制). 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 (実力名人制). In 1937, the reigning 13th Meijin Kinjirō Sekine [ja], 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 (順位戦, jun'isen) that it currently uses.[4]
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.[5]
The Meijin ranking tournaments are divided into five classes (A, B1, B2, C1, C2) 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,[6] except in the case of Class C2 where players are relegated to "Free class" status.[7] 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.[6] A new professional, therefore, needs at least five years experience (five successive promotions) after their debut before they can qualify to challenge for the title of Meijin.[8]
Lifetime Meijin
Kinjirō Sekine 關根金次郞 (1868–1946), the thirteenth Lifetime Meijin and last hereditary Meijin
The first thirteen Lifetime Meijins (終生名人, shūsei meijin) were determined through succession.[9] The Lifetime Meijin as a competitive title, eisei meijin (永世名人), was established by the JSA in 1952. Players who capture the Meijin title five times (does not have to be consecutive) qualify to receive this title, but are only officially awarded it upon their retirement or death (with exceptions).[10][11]
14th Lifetime Meijin: Yoshio Kimura (Qualified for title in 1946 at age 41. Awarded in 1952 upon retirement)
15th Lifetime Meijin: Yasuharu Ōyama (Qualified for title at age 33 in 1956. Awarded in 1976[a])
16th Lifetime Meijin: Makoto Nakahara (Qualified for title at age 29 in 1976. Awarded in 2007,[12] prior to his retirement in 2009[13] )
17th Lifetime Meijin: Kōji Tanigawa (Qualified for title at age 35 in 1997.[14] Still active)
18th Lifetime Meijin: Toshiyuki Moriuchi (Qualified for title in 2007[15] at age 36. Still active)
19th Lifetime Meijin: Yoshiharu Habu (Qualified for title in 2008[16] at age 37. Still active)
Honorary Meijin
The Honorary Meijin (名誉名人, meiyo meijin) is another Mejin-related title. Only two have received this title, Kensosuke Kosuke in 1936 and Ichitarō Doi in 1954.[17]
Posthumous Meijin
Sankichi Sakata
A special Posthumous Meijin (追贈名人, Tsuizō Meijin) title was given to Sankichi Sakata in 1955 by the Japan Shogi Association after his death in 1945.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19]
Most consecutive titles: Yasuharu Ōyama, 13 in a row (1959-1971).[f]
Oldest player to win title: Kunio Yonenaga, 49 years 11 months (1993)[37]
Youngest player to win title: Sōta Fujii, 20 years old (2023)
Oldest player to challenge for title: Yasuharu Ōyama, 63 years old (1986)
Youngest player to challenge for title: Hifumi Katō (1960) and Sōta Fujii (2023) at 20 years old
Most times recapturing title: Yoshiharu Habu, 3[g]
Longest period between titles: Yoshiharu Habu, 6 years (1997-2002)
Players by Meijin class
Below is a list of professional players grouped by their class for the 83rd Meijin league including their rank in dan as of 20 May 2024[update].[39] The current Meijin title holder is Sōta Fujii.
Other professional players not listed here do not participate in the Meijin league and are known as Free Class (フリークラス furī kurasu) players. There were 38 such players as of 1 April 2024[update].[40]
^Although typically awarded upon retirement or death, a special exception was made for Ōyama and he was officially awarded the title while still active in special recognition of his excellent results in professional play, including being the Meijin for 13 years in a row from 1959 to 1971.
^12-player preliminary tournament held and top four finishers awarded "reserve qualifier" status. Each reserve qualifier then played a 3-game half-handicap non-title match against Kimura: Kimura alternated between giving a lance handicap and no handicap. Reserve qualifiers had to win their respective 3-game match to gain the right to challenge Kimura in a 7-game match for the title. (A playoff was to be held if multiple reserve qualifiers won their respective matches.) Since Kimura won all of the half-handicap matches, no reserve qualifier was able qualify as his challenger.
^A tournament to determine a challenger for Kimura did start, but was cancelled while in progress due to the Second World War.
^The JSA unable to come to terms with Asahi Shimbun, the match's sponsor, over the prize fund. The JSA requested that the total prize fund be increased from 11,000,000 yen to 30,000,000 yen, but Asahi Shimbun refused. Negotiations were held in attempt to find a compromise, but were unsuccessful and the Asahi Shimbun's sponsorship of the match was ended.
^Nakahara is next with 15, followed by Kimura, Moriuchi, and Habu with eight apiece, and Tanigawa with five. Only Tanigawa, Habu and Moriuchi are still active.
^Habu lost the title for first time in 1997, but won it back in 2003. He lost the title again in 2004, only to recapture it for the second time in 2008. He lost title for the third time in 2011, but recaptured it again three years later in 2014.[38]
^The loser of the previous season's Meijin title match is seeded first in the following season's Class A League play
References
^There is also an unrelated Amateur Meijin title that is awarded each year to the winner of the Amateur Meijin Tournament.
^組織概要: 創立・沿革 [Organization outline: Founding and history] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
^将棋の略史:家元の成立 [Brief history of Shogi: The Iemoto system] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association, Kansai Headquarter. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
^名人戦・順位戦 [The Meijin Match and Jun'isen] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^For instance, the Ryūō title allows one top amateur player and one top women's professional to compete in the lowest bracket of the Ryūō tournament.
^ abShōgikai no Ichiban Nagai Hi: Dai Nanajūsanki A Kyū Jun'isen Saishūkyoku 将棋界の一番長い日: 第73期A級順位戦最終局 [Shogi's Longest Day: The Final Round of the 73rd Class A Ranking Class] (Television production) (in Japanese). NHK Educational TV. 29 March 2015. Event occurs at 8:33. 順位戦は全部で5つのクラスがあります。その中で一番上がA級です。そしてA級優勝者が名人に挑戦します。そして, 順位戦は各クラスとも一年間のリーグ戦です...成績上位者は上のクラスに行くことができるんですが, 成績が悪いと降級してしまういうわけなんです。[There are a total of 5 ranking classes. Class A is the top class and the winner earns the right to challenge the current Meijin. Each of the ranking classes lasts one year. Those who finish at the top of their respective class may be promoted to the next highest class, and those who finish at the bottom may be relegated to the next lowest class.
^永世称号の規定はどうなっているのでしょうか。 [What are the requirements for "lifetime titles"?] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^歴代名人一覧 [List of Lifetime Meijin] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^中原 誠永世十段・名誉王座が永世名人（十六世名人）を襲位 [Makoto Nakahara, Lifetime 10 dan and Lifetime Oza, awarded Lifetime Meijin title (16th Lifetime Meijin)] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟. 9 November 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
^中原誠十六世名人が引退へ [Makoto Nakahara, 16th Lifetime Meijin, announces retirement] (in Japanese). 日本将棋連盟. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
^米長邦雄さん死去 将棋永世棋聖・元名人 [Lifetime Kisei and former Meijin Kunio Yonenaga dies.]. 朝日新聞 Digital (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Asahi Shimbun. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^山村, 英樹 (22 May 2014). 名人戦:羽生、４戦全勝で奪取 史上初３回目返り咲き [Meijin Match: Habu wins four of four to take title, first player in history to recapture title three times.]. 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Mainichi Newspapers. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^"Kishi Dētābēsu" 棋士データベース [Player database] (in Japanese). Japan Shogi Association. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
