Nihon Ki-in explained

The Nihon Ki-in, also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main organizational body for Go in Japan, overseeing Japan's professional system and issuing diplomas for amateur dan rankings. It is based in Tokyo. The other major Go association in Japan is Kansai Ki-in. Its innovations include the Oteai system of promotion, time limits in professional games, and the introduction of issuing diplomas to strong amateur players, to affirm their ranks.

History

The Nihon Ki-in was established in July 1924.^[1] The first president of the Nihon Ki-in was Makino Nobuaki, a great Go patron himself, with Okura Kishichiro serving as vice president. The vast majority of pros at the time joined the fledgling organization, excepting the Inoue faction in Osaka and Nozawa Chikucho. A brief splinter group called Kiseisha was created soon after the Nihon Ki-in was formed, but most of the players involved had returned to the Nihon Ki-in within a couple of years. Then in 1950, its western branch split away to form the Kansai Ki-in.^[2]

Tournaments

The Nihon Ki-in organizes many tournaments for professional players. The major title tournaments include the Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo, Judan, Tengen, Gosei, and the Oza.^[3] There are also separate Honinbo, Meijin, and Kisei titles for women.

Major title winners by year

(*): Kansai Ki-in player

Year	Kisei^[4]	Meijin^[5]	Honinbo^[6]	Judan^[7]	Tengen^[8]	Gosei^[9]	Oza^[10]
1941	-	-		-	-	-	-
1943	-	-		-	-	-	-
1945	-	-		-	-	-	-
1947	-	-	Kaoru Iwamoto	-	-	-	-
1950	-	-	Utaro Hashimoto	-	-	-	-
1951	-	-	Utaro Hashimoto*	-	-	-	-
1952	-	-		-	-	-	-
1953	-	-	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	-	Utaro Hashimoto*
1954	-	-	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	-	Kaku Takagawa
1955	-	-	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	-	Utaro Hashimoto*
1956	-	-	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	-	Utaro Hashimoto*
1957	-	-	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	-	Shimamura Toshihiro
1958	-	-	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	-	Hosai Fujisawa
1959	-	-	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	-	Shoji Hashimoto
1960	-	-	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	-	Dogen Handa
1961	-	-		-	-	-	Eio Sakata
1962	-		Eio Sakata	Utaro Hashimoto*	-	-	Hidehiro Miyashita
1963	-	Eio Sakata	Eio Sakata	Dogen Handa	-	-	Eio Sakata
1964	-	Eio Sakata	Eio Sakata	Hosai Fujisawa	-	-	Eio Sakata
1965	-		Eio Sakata	Kaku Takagawa	-	-	Dogen Handa*
1966	-	Rin Kaiho	Eio Sakata	Eio Sakata	-	-	Eio Sakata
1967	-	Rin Kaiho	Eio Sakata	Eio Sakata	-	-	Fujisawa Hideyuki
1968	-	Kaku Takagawa	Rin Kaiho	Eio Sakata	-	-	Fujisawa Hideyuki
1969	-	Rin Kaiho	Rin Kaiho		-	-	Fujisawa Hideyuki
1970	-	Fujisawa Hideyuki	Rin Kaiho	-	-	-	Eio Sakata
1971	-	Rin Kaiho		Utaro Hashimoto*	-	-	Eio Sakata
1972	-	Rin Kaiho	Yoshio Ishida	Eio Sakata	-	-	Eio Sakata
1973	-	Rin Kaiho	Yoshio Ishida	Eio Sakata	-	-	Rin Kaiho
1974	-	Yoshio Ishida	Yoshio Ishida	Shoji Hashimoto*	-	-	Yoshio Ishida
1975	-	Hideo Otake	Yoshio Ishida	Rin Kaiho	Fujisawa Hideyuki	-	Hideo Otake
1976	-	Hideo Otake				Masao Kato	Cho Chikun
1977	Fujisawa Hideyuki	Rin Kaiho	Masao Kato	Masao Kato	Shimamura Toshihiro	Masao Kato	Norio Kudo
1978	Fujisawa Hideyuki	Hideo Otake	Masao Kato	Masao Kato	Masao Kato	Hideo Otake	Yoshio Ishida
1979	Fujisawa Hideyuki	Hideo Otake	Masao Kato	Masao Kato	Masao Kato	Cho Chikun	Masao Kato
1980	Fujisawa Hideyuki	Cho Chikun	Masaki Takemiya	Hideo Otake	Masao Kato	Hideo Otake	Masao Kato
1981	Fujisawa Hideyuki	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Hideo Otake	Masao Kato	Hideo Otake	Shoji Hashimoto*
1982	Fujisawa Hideyuki	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun		Hideo Otake	Masao Kato
1983	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Rin Kaiho	Masao Kato	Kataoka Satoshi	Hideo Otake	Masao Kato
1984	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Rin Kaiho	Kobayashi Koichi	Yoshio Ishida	Hideo Otake	Masao Kato
1985	Cho Chikun	Kobayashi Koichi	Masaki Takemiya	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Hideo Otake	Masao Kato
1986	Kobayashi Koichi	Masao Kato	Masaki Takemiya	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Cho Chikun	Masao Kato
1987	Kobayashi Koichi	Masao Kato	Masaki Takemiya	Masao Kato	Cho Chikun	Masao Kato	Masao Kato
1988	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Masaki Takemiya	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Kobayashi Koichi	Masao Kato
1989	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Rin Kaiho	Kobayashi Koichi	Masao Kato
1990	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Cho Chikun	Masaki Takemiya	Rin Kaiho	Kobayashi Koichi	Yasumasa Hane
1991	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Cho Chikun	Masaki Takemiya	Rin Kaiho	Kobayashi Koichi	Fujisawa Hideyuki
1992	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Cho Chikun	Masaki Takemiya	Rin Kaiho	Kobayashi Koichi	Fujisawa Hideyuki
1993	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Cho Chikun	Hideo Otake	Rin Kaiho	Kobayashi Koichi	Masao Kato
1994	Cho Chikun	Kobayashi Koichi	Cho Chikun	Hideo Otake		Rin Kaiho	Cho Chikun
1995	Satoru Kobayashi	Masaki Takemiya	Cho Chikun		Ryu Shikun		O Rissei
1996	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Norimoto Yoda	Ryu Shikun	Norimoto Yoda	Ryu Shikun
1997	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Masao Kato	Kudo Norio	Norimoto Yoda	Kimio Yamada
1998	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun		Kobayashi Koichi	Norimoto Yoda	O Rissei
1999	Cho Chikun	Cho Chikun		Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	Kobayashi Koichi	O Rissei
2000	O Rissei	Norimoto Yoda		Kobayashi Koichi	Ryu Shikun		O Rissei
2001	O Rissei	Norimoto Yoda	O Meien	O Rissei	Naoki Hane	Kobayashi Koichi	Cho Chikun
2002	O Rissei	Norimoto Yoda	Masao Kato	O Rissei		Kobayashi Koichi	O Meien
2003	Keigo Yamashita	Norimoto Yoda	Cho U	O Rissei	Naoki Hane	Norimoto Yoda	Cho U
2004	Naoki Hane		Cho U	O Rissei	Keigo Yamashita	Norimoto Yoda	Cho U
2005	Naoki Hane	Cho U		Cho Chikun		Norimoto Yoda	Cho U
2006	Keigo Yamashita	Shinji Takao	Shinji Takao	Cho Chikun	Kono Rin	Cho U	Keigo Yamashita
2007	Keigo Yamashita	Cho U	Shinji Takao	Cho Chikun	Kono Rin	Cho U	Keigo Yamashita
2008	Keigo Yamashita	Cho U	Naoki Hane	Shinji Takao	Cho U	Cho U	Cho U
2009	Keigo Yamashita		Naoki Hane	Cho U	Keigo Yamashita	Cho U	Cho U
2010	Cho U	Yuta Iyama	Keigo Yamashita	Cho U	Satoshi Yuki	Sakai Hideyuki	Cho U
2011	Cho U	Keigo Yamashita	Keigo Yamashita	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Naoki Hane	Cho U
2012	Cho U	Keigo Yamashita	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama
2013	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Satoshi Yuki	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama
2014	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Shinji Takao	Shinji Takao	Yuta Iyama	Daisuke Murakawa
2015	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama		Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama
2016	Yuta Iyama	Shinji Takao	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama
2017	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama
2018	Yuta Iyama	Cho U	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama		Yuta Iyama
2019	Yuta Iyama		Yuta Iyama	Daisuke Murakawa*	Yuta Iyama	Naoki Hane	Toramaru Shibano
2020	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Toramaru Shibano	Ichiriki Ryo	Ichiriki Ryo	Shibano Toramaru
2021	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama	Kyo Kagen	Koutarou Seki	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama
2022	Ryo Ichiriki	Toramaru Shibano	Yuta Iyama	Kyo Kagen	Koutarou Seki	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama
2023	Ryo Ichiriki	Toramaru Shibano	Ryo Ichiriki	Toramaru Shibano	Ryo Ichiriki	Yuta Iyama	Yuta Iyama
2024			Ryo Ichiriki
Year	Kisei	Meijin	Honinbo	Judan	Tengen	Gosei	Oza

Organization

• Tokyo Headquarters (Ichigaya): 7-2 Goban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
• Tokyo Yurakucho Igo Center: 9F Tokyo Kotsu-Kaikan, 2-10-1 Yuraku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
• Osaka Headquarters: 10F Applause Tower, 19-19 Sayamachi, Osaka
• Osaka Umeda Igo Salon: 6F Hankyu Five Annex Building, 1-23 Sumidacho, Kita-ku, Osaka
• Chubu Headquarters: 1-19 Syumoku-cho, Higashi-ku, Nagoya
• The Nihon Ki-in European Go Cultural Centre: Schokland14,1181 HV Amstelveen, Netherlands
• Nihon Ki-in Do Brasil: R. Dr Fabricio Vampre No116, Ana Rosa - São Paulo - Brazil
• Nihon Ki-in Go Institute of The West U.S.A.: 700 N.E., 45th Street, Seattle WA

See also

• International Go Federation
• List of professional Go tournaments
• All Japan Student Go Federation
• Hanguk Kiwon (Korean Go Association)
• Zhongguo Qiyuan (governing body for mind game organizations, including Chinese Go Association)
• Taiwan Chi-Yuan (Taiwanese Go Association)
• Hoensha
• American Go Association
• British Go Association
• Irish Go Association
• European Go Federation
• Singapore Weiqi Association
• Hong Kong Go Association
• New Zealand Go Society

External links

• Nihon Ki-in English Website

Notes and References

1. Book: Power. John. The Go Player's Almanac. 1992. Ishi Press. 4-87187-040-5. 48/1.
2. Book: Power. John. The Go Player's Almanac. 1992. Ishi Press. 4-87187-040-5. 63/1.
3. Web site: Japanese Go Tournaments . 2022-11-24 . GoBase.org.
4. Web site: The Nihon Ki-in - Kisei match archive . 2023-11-06 . nihonkiin.or.jp.
5. Web site: The Nihon Ki-in - Meijin match archive . 2023-11-06 . nihonkiin.or.jp.
6. Web site: The Nihon Ki-in - Honinbo match archive . 2023-11-06 . nihonkiin.or.jp.
7. Web site: The Nihon Ki-in - Judan match archive . 2023-11-06 . nihonkiin.or.jp.
8. Web site: The Nihon Ki-in - Tengen match archive . 2023-11-06 . nihonkiin.or.jp.
9. Web site: The Nihon Ki-in - Gosei match archive . 2023-11-06 . nihonkiin.or.jp.
10. Web site: The Nihon Ki-in - Oza match archive . 2023-11-06 . nihonkiin.or.jp.