Meijin (renju) explained

is a Renju title in Japan. The Meijin title tournament, formally called the, is played every year in Japan since 1962. The Meijin-sen tournament is one of the most important Renju tournaments in Japan.[1]

History and Rule

The first Meijin-sen tournament is organized by the Japanese Renju Federation in 1962.[2] Since then, the tournament is played every year except for 1974. During every year with the Meijin title match, two rounds of qualification tournaments are held in parallel in different regions of Japan. The A-class league is made up of 10 players, which are composed of winners of different qualification tournaments, together with three seeds from the last tournament. A round-robin tournament is held among the A-class league, and the winner of the A-class league becomes the challenger of that year. Then a 5-round match is held between the challenger and current title holder. If the challenger gets at least 3 points from 5 games, he wins the match and gains the Meijin title. Otherwise, the current holder keeps the title.

Past winners

!No.!Year!Winner!Result
(Win-Draw-Loss)!Opponent
1[3] 1962Toshinori Yamakita2-2-0Masao Mitsumori
21963Toshio Nishimura3-1-1Toshinori Yamakita
31964Toshio Nishimura (2)1-3-1Taizan Isobe
41965Taizan Isobe3-0-2Toshio Nishimura
51966Taizan Isobe (2)3-0-2Toshio Nishimura
61967Taizan Isobe (3)3-0-0Toshio Nishimura
71968Toshio Nishimura (3)3-0-2Taizan Isobe
81969Taizan Isobe (4)3-0-0Toshio Nishimura
9[4] 1970Taizan Isobe (5)3-0-0Toshio Nishimura
101971Taizan Isobe (6)1-3-1Toshio Nishimura
111972Taizan Isobe (7)1-3-0Toshio Nishimura
121973Taizan Isobe (8)2-1-1Toshio Nishimura
131975Shigeru Nakamura3-1-0Taizan Isobe
141976Toshio Nishimura (4)3-0-0Shigeru Nakamura
151977Shigeru Nakamura (2)3-0-2Toshio Nishimura
161978Shigeru Nakamura (3)2-1-1Toshio Nishimura
171979Shigeru Nakamura (4)2-1-0Hisashi Takahashi
18[5] 1980Atsushi Nishiyama3-0-2Shigeru Nakamura
191981Shigeru Nakamura (5)3-1-1Atsushi Nisiyama
201982Shigeru Nakamura (6)2-1-0Atsushi Nisiyama
211983Shigeru Nakamura (7)3-0-2Shigeru Tomimori
221984Shigeru Nakamura (8)2-2-0Shigeru Tomimori
231985Shigeru Nakamura (9)2-1-0Takashi Sagara
241986Shigeru Nakamura (10)2-2-1Takashi Sagara
251987Shigeru Nakamura (11)2-1-1Norihiko Kawamura
261988Shigeru Nakamura (12)3-0-0Kazuto Hasegawa
271989Shigeru Nakamura (13)2-1-1Kazuto Hasegawa
28[6] 1990Shigeru Nakamura (14)2-1-1Kazuto Hasegawa
291991Shigeru Nakamura (15)3-0-0Norihiko Kawamura
301992Shigeru Nakamura (16)2-1-1Kazuto Hasegawa
311993Shigeru Nakamura (17)3-0-1Norihiko Kawamura
321994Norihiko Kawamura3-0-2Shigeru Nakamura
33[7] 1995Norihiko Kawamura (2)3-0-0Kazuto Hasegawa
341996Kazuto Hasegawa2-2-1Norihiko Kawamura
351997Shigeru Nakamura (18)3-0-0Kazuto Hasegawa
361998Shigeru Nakamura (19)2-1-0Norio Nishizono
371999Shigeru Nakamura (20)2-1-0Norihiko Kawamura
38[8] 2000Shigeru Nakamura (21)2-1-0Kazuto Hasegawa
392001Shigeru Nakamura (22)2-1-0Kazuto Hasegawa
402002Makoto Yamaguchi3-0-1Kazuto Hasegawa
412003Makoto Yamaguchi (2)3-0-2Kazuto Hasegawa
422004Norihiko Kawamura (3)3-1-0Makoto Yamaguchi
432005Kazuto Hasegawa (2)3-1-1Norihiko Kawamura
442006Kazuto Hasegawa (3)2-1-0Norihiko Kawamura
452007Kazuto Hasegawa (4)2-1-0Yusui Yamaguchi
462008Kazuto Hasegawa (5)2-1-0Hiroshi Okabe
472009Kazuto Hasegawa (6)2-1-1Norihiko Kawamura
482010Yuuki Oosumi3-1-1Kazuto Hasegawa
492011Yuuki Oosumi (2)2-1-1Yusui Yamaguchi
502012Shigeru Nakamura (23)2-2-1Yuuki Oosumi
512013Shigeru Nakamura (24)2-2-0Yuuki Oosumi
522014Shigeru Nakamura (25)1-3-1Yuuki Oosumi
532015Shigeru Nakamura (26)3-0-0Kazuto Hasegawa
542016Shigeru Nakamura (27)2-1-0Shunsuke Kamiya
552017Tomoharu Nakayama2-2-0Shigeru Nakamura
562018Shigeru Nakamura (28)2-2-0Tomoharu Nakayama
572019Shigeru Nakamura (29)2-1-1Shunsuke Kamiya
582020Shigeru Nakamura (30)2-1-1Tomoharu Nakayama
592021Shunsuke Kamiya1-4-0Tomoharu Nakayama
602022Shunsuke Kamiya (2)2-1-0Tomoharu Nakayama
612023Shunsuke Kamiya (3)3-0-0Hiroshi Okabe

Lifetime Meijin

Lifetime Meijin is a lifetime honorable title which is given to Japanese Renju players. Before the Meijin-sen tournaments were launched in 1962, the title of Lifetime Meijin was awarded to the players who had made outstanding contributions to the development of Renju. Since 1962, the title is awarded to the players who have outstanding performance in the Meijin-sen tournaments.

Before 1962

Before the Meijin-sen tournaments were started, there were five Japanese players who were awarded the title of Lifetime Meijin.

After 1962

After 1962, the title of Lifetime Meijin is awarded to the outstanding players who have won the Meijin title for at least 7 times in total, or 5 times in a row. A player who meets the above conditions can get this title when he is at least 60 years old.

Up to 2023, there are three players who have won this title is this way:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 主な棋戦. renjusha.net. ja. 2018-10-20.
  2. Web site: 全日本連珠名人戦成績表 1960年代(第1期から第8期). renjusha.net. 2018-10-20.
  3. Web site: 1960年代 連珠名人戦. renjusha.net. 2018-10-20.
  4. Web site: 1970年代 連珠名人戦. renjusha.net. 2018-10-20.
  5. Web site: 1980年代 連珠名人戦. renjusha.net. 2018-10-20.
  6. Web site: 連珠名人挑戦者決定リーグ 第28期〜第33期順位表. renjusha.net. 2018-10-20.
  7. Web site: 連珠名人挑戦者決定リーグ 第33期〜第37期順位表. renjusha.net. 2018-10-20.
  8. Web site: 連珠データベース. renjusha.net. ja. 2018-10-20.