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 founder was the Buddhist priest Nikkai, and 1612 is the year when Oda Nobunaga started sponsoring the school. The name Honinbo was that of the pavilion on the grounds of the Jakkoji temple in Kyoto where Nikkai lived. When the capital was moved to Tokyo, Nikkai moved along and turned "Honinbo" into a title, calling himself Honinbo Sansa.

Heads of the Honinbo house

Note: The 17th and 19th Honinbo are the same person, and the 16th and 20th are the same, too. The titles 22nd-26th Honinbo are honorary titles given to players who won the Honinbo tournament sufficiently often.

Honinbo tournament

The Honinbo Tournament is a yearly tournament for the title of Honinbo, held since the retirement of Shūsai.

First Honinbo tournament

The last Honinbo, Shusai, gave (or sold ) his title in 1938 to the Nihon Ki-in, to be awarded in a yearly tournament. Preliminary tournaments were held in 1939 and 1940, and the final title match, between Sekiyama Riichi and Kato Shin, in 1941. This match ended in a tie, 3-3. Since Sekiyama had been first after the preliminary tournaments, he was declared winner. Thus, Sekiyama Riichi became the first to bear this new title Honinbo.

Honinbo name

Some winners of the Honinbo tournament choose an art name (professional name). For the first two the name was chosen by the Nihon Ki-in. For example, Sekiyama was called Honinbo Risen (本因坊 利仙). For more details, see ja:本因坊

Further Honinbo tournaments

There are now several further tournaments with names involving 'Honinbo', such as the Women's Honinbo tournament, the Amateur Honinbo tournament, and the Student Honinbo tournament. Since 1963, there is a yearly game between the current professional Honinbo and the Amateur Honinbo.

Sources