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Nihon-Kiin
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. 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 s ...
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Yoshio Ishida
is a professional Go player and author of several books on Go. Biography By the time he was 8, Ishida started learning Go. He was a student at the legendary Kitani Minoru go school. Famous along with his fellow students Cho Chikun, Kobayashi Koichi, Kato Masao, and Takemiya Masaki. He joined the dojo at a young age like his fellow students. He became a professional in 1963 when he was 15. His dan rank grew quickly because of the Oteai The was a tournament used in Japan, by the Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in, to determine the ranking of its go professionals on the dan scale. It was instituted in the 1920s soon after the Ki-in was set up in 1924. Initially it was run in Spring .... He would go up the ranks faster than rules allowed after winning the first 14 Oteai games when he was being promoted from 6 to 7 dan. He reached 9 dan in 11 years, faster than most other players do. Ishida was given the nickname "The Computer" because his Yose play and counting skills wer ...
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Kaku Takagawa
, also known as , was one of the most successful professional Go players of the twentieth century. Biography Kaku Takagawa won the Honinbō title nine times in a row, from 1952 to 1960, and was subsequently awarded the permanent title of Honorary Honinbo. He then chose Shukaku as his Honinbō name. He is one of the few Honorary Honinbos. He was known for having a healthy rivalry with Sakata Eio. This could be seen as Sakata would constantly beat Takagawa from 1959 to 1966 in the finals of major tournaments. Takagawa's books, translated from their original Japanese, were instrumental in educating Westerners in the ways of Go. He also wrote a series of articles from 1961 through 1977 for the Nihon Ki-in 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 associat ... which was the primary ...
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Fujisawa Hideyuki
, also known as Shuko Fujisawa, was a Japanese professional Go player. A younger uncle of another professional, Hosai Fujisawa and grandfather of professional Go player Rina Fujisawa. Biography Hideyuki Fujisawa was born in Yokohama, Japan. He was one of the best players during his era. One of the " Three Crows" along with Yamabe Toshiro and Keizo Suzuki (and later Takeo Kajiwara). Even though he was known more for his controversial acts, such as having a bad drinking habit, the most important thing that shone through about Fujisawa was his Go skill. Besides Go, he was known to gamble and was a successful real estate dealer. He was also known for his calligraphy and had several exhibits of his works. He also stated in his autobiography, although he did not mind being called Shuko, he preferred to be called Hideyuki. He is the father of Kazunari Fujisawa, an 8-dan Go professional, and the grandfather of Rina Fujisawa, a 7-dan Go professional who has won multiple female ...
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Tengen (Go)
Tengen (天元, ''center'' or ''origin of heaven'') is a Go competition in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea .... The name Tengen refers to the center point on a Go board. The event is held annually, and has run continuously since its inauguration in 1975. Tengen competition (天元戦) The Tengen competition is a Go tournament run by the Japanese Nihon-Kiin and Kansai-Kiin. The Tengen is the 5th of the 7 big titles in Japanese Go. It has the same format as the other tournaments. There is a preliminary tournament, which is single knockout, where the winner faces the holder in a best-of-five match. Before the 6th Tengen, the format was different. Instead of the title holder waiting for a challenger, it would be the two Go players left from the single ...
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Dan Rank
The ranking system is used by many Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, and other martial arts organizations to indicate the level of a person's ability within a given system. Used as a ranking system to quantify skill level in a specific domain, it was originally used at a Go school during the Edo period. It is now also used in most modern Japanese fine and martial arts. Martial arts writer Takao Nakaya claims that this dan system was first applied to martial arts in Japan by Kanō Jigorō (1860–1938), the founder of judo, in 1883, and later introduced to other East Asian countries. In modern Japanese martial arts, holders of dan ranks often wear a black belt; those of higher rank may also wear either red-and-white or red belts depending on the style. Dan ranks are also given for strategic board games such as Go, Japanese chess ('' shōgi''), and renju, as well as for other arts such as the tea ceremony (''sadō'' or ''chadō''), flower arrangement (''ikebana''), Japanese call ...
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Riichi Sekiyama
Riichi Sekiyama (関山利一, Sekiyama Riichi, December 23, 1909 – January 15, 1970) was a Japanese professional go player. Born in Hyogo, Riichi became a student of Tamejiro Suzuki in 1924 and turned professional a year later in 1925. He won the first ever Honinbo Honinbo (or Hon'inbō, 本因坊) is a title used by the head of the Honinbo house or the winner of the Honinbo tournament. Honinbo house The Honinbo house was a school of Go players officially founded in 1612 and discontinued in 1940. The foun ... title in 1941. However, he was unable to defend his title against Utaro Hashimoto in 1943 and was forced to retire due to health problems. He had several pupils, the most notable being Takeo Kajiwara and Yutaka Shiraishi. Titles and runners-up References 1909 births 1970 deaths Japanese Go players Sportspeople from Hyōgo Prefecture {{Japan-Go-bio-stub ...
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Hideo Otake
is a retired Japanese professional Go (board game), Go player. Biography Otake was born in Kitakyūshū City, Japan. He joined the legendary Kitani Minoru school when he was 9, and quickly rose up the ranks to turn professional in 1956, when he was 14. He progressed swiftly, achieving 9 dan rank, dan in 1970. He did not have much patience, which could be seen as he would sometimes read comic books while he waited for his opponent to play. He retired from professional Go in 2021 at the age of 79. His career win–loss record was 1319 wins, 846 losses, 5 draws (''jigo (Go), jigo''), and 1 no-result. Titles and runners-up Ranks #4 in List of top title holders in Go, total number of titles in Japan. Trivia * Otake is Honorary Gosei. * Otake is known for his fast play and earned the nickname "God Of Hayago". Honours * Order of the Rising Sun, Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (2015) References

1942 births Japanese Go players Liv ...
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Rin Kaiho
Rin Kaihō or Lin Haifeng (; born May 6, 1942) is a professional Taiwanese Go player who made his name in Japan. He is, along with Cho Chikun, Kobayashi Koichi, Otake Hideo, Takemiya Masaki and Kato Masao, considered one of the 'Six Supers' who dominated the Japanese Go world in the last three decades of the twentieth century. Biography Rin Kaiho was born in Shanghai, China and moved to Taiwan after the second world war. He learned go from his older brother, and later was a student of Go Seigen when Go brought him to Japan in 1952. He was a promising player who won his first title at the age of 23, the Meijin. He is also part of the 1200 win group. Rin's rise to fame came in 1965 when he challenged Sakata Eio for his Meijin title. Rin, at the time, was still only 23 and critics thought he would stand no chance against the then powerful Sakata. Even Sakata himself said that no Go player under the age of thirty should be Meijin. However, Rin put up a great fight and won th ...
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Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. The Japanese archipelago consists of four major islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and List of islands of Japan, thousands of smaller islands, covering . Japan has a population of over 123 million as of 2025, making it the List of countries and dependencies by population, eleventh-most populous country. The capital of Japan and List of cities in Japan, its largest city is Tokyo; the Greater Tokyo Area is the List of largest cities, largest metropolitan area in the world, with more than 37 million inhabitants as of 2024. Japan is divided into 47 Prefectures of Japan, administrative prefectures and List of regions of Japan, eight traditional regions. About three-quarters of Geography of Japan, the countr ...
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Eio Sakata
was a 9- dan Japanese professional Go player. Biography Sakata became a professional Go player in 1935. His first title match was the Hon'inbō in 1951 when he challenged Hashimoto Utaro. More than usual was at stake in the match because Hashimoto played for the Kansai Ki-in, which Hashimoto had founded the year before. This put additional pressure on Sakata to win the title back for the Nihon Ki-in. Sakata started out well, winning three of the first four games, but Hashimoto fought back and won the final four games, and so kept the Hon'inbō title. Afterwards, Sakata went on to win a couple of small titles which were the start of a meteoric run of major wins in which he won almost all of the titles in Japan except the Hon'inbō. In 1961 he was once again the challenger for the Hon'inbō. His opponent, Takagawa Kaku, had held the title for nine years straight. Sakata won the Hon'inbō and held it for seven years in a row. Thus he became an honorary Honinbo, and was later c ...
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Dogen Handa
also known as Hayami Handa, was a professional Go player. Biography Handa grew up as Tamejiro Suzuki's disciple. He started as a pro in the Nihon Ki-in, but after the Kansai Ki-in The Kansai Ki-in (), i.e., Kansai Go Association, is an organizational body for the game of Go in Japan, which was founded by Hashimoto Utaro in 1950. Though it is not as large as its chief rival, the Nihon Ki-in, it also issues diplomas to stro ...'s founding, he joined Utaro Hashimoto in the Kansai-Kiin. He became a 9p in 1959. Titles & runners-up References 1915 births 1974 deaths Japanese Go players {{Japan-Go-bio-stub ...
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Shoji Hashimoto
was a professional Go player. Biography Hashimoto turned pro in 1947 when he was just 12. It took him only 11 years to reach 9p. He learned Go from his father Hashimoto Kunisaburō and his disciples include Takahara Shūji, Moriyama Naoki, Oda Hiromitsu, Okahashi Hirotada, and Hayashi Kōzō. He was a member of the Kansai Ki-in The Kansai Ki-in (), i.e., Kansai Go Association, is an organizational body for the game of Go in Japan, which was founded by Hashimoto Utaro in 1950. Though it is not as large as its chief rival, the Nihon Ki-in, it also issues diplomas to stro .... Titles & runners-up References 1935 births Japanese Go players 2009 deaths {{Japan-Go-bio-stub ...
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