You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (October 2024) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,495 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:本因坊]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|本因坊}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Part of a series on
Go
Game specifics
Rules Handicaps professional Proverbs List of terms Strategy and tactics Opening (theory; strategy) Fuseki (whole-board openings) Jōseki (corner-based openings) Life and death Tsumego (Go puzzles)
History and culture
History Equipment Variants Four go houses List of games
Players and organizations
Players European Female Ranks and ratings Professionals Organizations Competitions
Computers and mathematics
Go and mathematics Computer Go Go software Internet Go servers AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol
v t e

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.

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.^[1]

• 1st Honinbo, Sansa (算砂, 1612-1623)
• 2nd Honinbo, San'etsu (算悦, 1630-1658)
• 3rd Honinbo, Dōetsu (道悦, 1658-1677)
• 4th Honinbo, Dōsaku (道策, 1677-1702)
  • appointed successor, Dōteki (道的) (died early)
  • appointed successor, Sakugen(策元)
• 5th Honinbo, Dōchi (道知, 1702-1727)
• 6th Honinbo, Chihaku (知伯, 1727-1733)
• 7th Honinbo, Shuhaku (秀伯, 1733-1741)
• 8th Honinbo, Hakugen (伯元, 1741-1754)
• 9th Honinbo, Satsugen (察元, 1754-1788)
• 10th Honinbo, Retsugen (烈元, 1788-1808)
• 11th Honinbo, Genjo (元丈, 1809-1827)
• 12th Honinbo, Jōwa (丈和, 1827-1839)
• 13th Honinbo, Josaku (丈策, 1839-1847)
• 14th Honinbo, Shuwa (秀和, 1847-1873)
  • appointed successor, Shūsaku (秀策)
• 15th Honinbo, Shuetsu (秀悦, 1873-1879)
• 16th Honinbo, Shugen (秀元, 1879-1884)
• 17th Honinbo, Shuei (秀栄, 1884-1886)
• 18th Honinbo, Shuho (秀甫, 1886)
• 19th Honinbo, Shuei (秀栄, 1887-1907)
• 20th Honinbo, Shugen (秀元, 1907-1908)
• 21st Honinbo, Shūsai (秀哉, 1908-1940)

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.

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

The last Honinbo, Shusai, gave (or sold ^[2]) 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.

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#本因坊戦勝者と雅号

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.^[6]

• Sensei's Library page

• Richard Bozulich, The Go players almanac, Kiseido Press 2001, Chapter 10.
• Go: International handbook and dictionary, Ishi Press 1972.
• Andrew Grant and John Fairbairn, 400 Years of Go in Japan, Slate and Shell 2004.