Meijin

The Meijin ("Master") carries more historical weight than any other Go title. During Japan's Edo period, "Meijin" was a singular honor bestowed on the one player acknowledged as the strongest of his generation -- legend has it the title originated when warlord Oda Nobunaga exclaimed "Meijin!" after witnessing a brilliant move by Honinbo Sansa in the late 1500s. The modern tournament was established in 1962, sponsored by the Asahi Shimbun, with a prize of 36 million yen. A nine-player round-robin league determines the challenger, who then faces the defending Meijin in a best-of-seven title match. Holding the Meijin remains the ultimate mark of prestige in Japanese Go.

Country Japan Type Title Match Format League Title Cycle 1y Komi 6.5 Editions 54

2007 · Edition #32

Champion: Cho U · Runner-up: Takao Shinji

Final Preliminary, Group 3, Round 2 2 games

Aug 24 O Rissei W+R Tsuruyama Atsushi Aug 24 Ko Iso B+2.5 Iyama Yuta

Final Preliminary, Group 3, Round 1 2 games

Sep 7 Rin Kaiho B+2.5 Chin Kaei Sep 28 Rin Kaiho W+9.5 Kataoka Satoshi

Final Preliminary, Group 2, Round 2 2 games

Aug 24 O Meien W+R Yokota Shigeaki Aug 31 Takemiya Masaki B+R Takei Takashi

Final Preliminary, Group 2, Round 1 1 game

Aug 24 Cho Chikun W+0.5 Kiyonari Tetsuya

Final Preliminary, Group 2 Semi-final 1 game

Oct 5 Takemiya Masaki W+8.5 Hikosaka Naoto

Final 7 games

Sep 6 Takao Shinji B+4.5 Cho U Sep 19 Cho U B+R Takao Shinji Sep 26 Takao Shinji W+1.5 Cho U Oct 10 Cho U B+R Takao Shinji Oct 17 Takao Shinji B+2.5 Cho U Nov 1 Cho U W+0.5 Takao Shinji Nov 8 Cho U B+2.5 Takao Shinji

Relegation Playoff 1 game

Aug 16 Ko Iso B+R Mimura Tomoyasu

Final Preliminary 7 games

May 18 Suzuki Ayumi W+4.5 Rin Kaiho May 18 Cho Sonjin B+R Cho Riyu May 25 Takemiya Masaki B+R Hashimoto Yujiro Aug 31 Fujii Shuya B+R Mochizuki Kenichi Aug 31 Imamura Toshiya B+R Yo Kagen Sep 13 Yamada Noriyoshi B+R Kiyonari Tetsuya Sep 14 Honda Kunihisa W+R So Yokoku

Preliminary 1 game

Jul 20 Takemiya Masaki B+R Arimura Hiroshi

A Preliminary 2 games

Jan 11 Kubo Katsuaki W+3.5 Murakawa Daisuke May 31 Kiyonari Tetsuya B+R Sekiyama Toshimichi

League 35 games

Nov 30 Ko Iso B+R Mimura Tomoyasu Dec 7 Yoda Norimoto W+1.5 Yamada Kimio Dec 14 Hikosaka Naoto W+R Kobayashi Satoru Dec 21 Sakai Hideyuki B+R Yamashita Keigo Jan 11 Mimura Tomoyasu B+1.5 Hikosaka Naoto Jan 11 Yamada Kimio B+R Ko Iso Jan 25 Kobayashi Satoru W+1.5 Yoda Norimoto Jan 25 Yamashita Keigo W+0.5 Cho U Feb 1 Mimura Tomoyasu W+R Yamada Kimio Feb 1 Cho U B+1.5 Hikosaka Naoto Feb 1 Yoda Norimoto B+0.5 Sakai Hideyuki Feb 12 Ko Iso W+R Yamashita Keigo Mar 1 Yamada Kimio W+R Hikosaka Naoto Mar 8 Cho U W+0.5 Sakai Hideyuki Mar 15 Yoda Norimoto B+R Mimura Tomoyasu Mar 22 Ko Iso B+R Kobayashi Satoru Mar 22 Yamashita Keigo W+4.5 Yoda Norimoto Mar 29 Cho U B+4.5 Ko Iso Apr 12 Yamada Kimio W+R Kobayashi Satoru Apr 26 Yoda Norimoto W+5.5 Cho U May 3 Hikosaka Naoto B+R Yamashita Keigo May 10 Kobayashi Satoru W+R Mimura Tomoyasu May 10 Sakai Hideyuki B+R Ko Iso May 31 Yamashita Keigo W+0.5 Mimura Tomoyasu Jun 7 Kobayashi Satoru B+0.5 Sakai Hideyuki Jun 7 Hikosaka Naoto W+1.5 Ko Iso Jun 21 Cho U B+R Yamada Kimio Jul 2 Ko Iso B+3.5 Yoda Norimoto Jul 12 Kobayashi Satoru W+0.5 Cho U Jul 12 Yamada Kimio B+5.5 Yamashita Keigo Jul 12 Mimura Tomoyasu B+0.5 Sakai Hideyuki Aug 2 Sakai Hideyuki W+R Yamada Kimio Aug 2 Mimura Tomoyasu W+R Cho U Aug 2 Yamashita Keigo W+R Kobayashi Satoru Aug 2 Hikosaka Naoto B+0.5 Yoda Norimoto