Meijin (Go)

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Meijin (Go) is one of Japan’s top Go titles, the second-most prestigious after Kisei. The name Meijin means expert or master and originated as an Edo-period title for the day’s strongest player.

The modern Meijin began in 1976, sponsored by Asahi Shimbun, with a 30 million yen prize for the winner (as of the 45th Meijin in 2020). The tournament is open to players from Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in. Each year a nine-player league decides the challenger to the current Meijin. The bottom three players in the league are eliminated, and three newcomers enter through three preliminaries:

- Prelim 1: players ranked 1–4 dan compete for six winners (four Nihon Ki-in, two Kansai Ki-in).
- Prelim 2: players ranked 5–9 dan compete for eighteen total winners.
- Prelim 3: the eighteen players face the three league dropouts for three more entrants to the league.

Komi is 6.5. Time limits are 8 hours for the title match and 3 hours for the league and prelims. Byo-yomi is 1 minute per move.

Origin and history in brief: The Meijin name comes from Hon’inbō Sansa; a brilliant move was praised by Oda Nobunaga with the exclamation “Meijin!” The term then signified the strongest player of the day. In Edo times, the rank 9-dan Meijin was held by one person at a time; 8-dan players were called Jun-Meijin. After the Meiji Restoration, government support faded. In 1958 Yomiuri Shimbun started a “Strongest Player” tournament to decide the top player, which was renamed Meijin in 1961. In 1975 Asahi Shimbun bought the rights from Yomiuri; Yomiuri then sponsored a new title, Kisei, and the old Meijin era became known as Old Meijin. The Meijin title also appears in popular culture, such as the manga Hikaru no Go with a character named Toya Koyo.