Honinbo Sansa
Encyclopedia
Honinbō Sansa was the assumed name of Kanō Yosaburō (加納 與三郎), one of the strongest Japanese Go
players
of the Edo period
(1603–1867), and founder of the house of Honinbō, first among the four great schools
of Go in Japan. He was a Buddhist
priest of the Nichiren sect, and his original dharma name
was Nikkai (日海).
and became a monk at age nine. The name "Honinbō", (originally pronounced "Honninbō"), comes from a sub-temple of the Jakkōji temple complex in Kyōto where Nikkai, the first "Honinbō", resided.
Among his students were the daimyo
Oda Nobunaga
, Toyotomi Hideyoshi
, and Tokugawa Ieyasu
, the three great "unifiers" of Feudal Japan. Nikkai considered the three generals to be "fifth-degree" players (五子, comparable to amateur 4 or 5 dan
), but "diplomacy" was likely a factor in Nikkai's even-handed assessment of these imposing figures.
It was the Shogun
Nobunaga who, in 1578, recognized twenty-year-old Nikkai as the first Meijin
of Go. In 1582, Nikkai, at the behest of Nobunaga, was involved in a notorious game at the Honnōji Temple against his rival, another Nichiren priest, Kashio Rigen (鹿塩 利玄 b. 1565). (Apparently, there is a theory that "Kashio" and "Rigen" were two different people. See the Japanese version of this article.) The game is traditionally held to have taken place on the eve of the treacherous Incident at Honnōji
, (in which Nobunaga was forced to commit seppuku
), and is said to have ended in a "triple ko". Hence the notion of triple ko as bad omen. There is a game record
, but typical for the period, it is incomplete. The triple ko may have occurred, somewhat implausibly, in unrecorded remaining plays, or in another game that day, but in the end, there is no evidence that this is more than a good story.
In 1587, Nobunaga's successor, the regent (kampaku) Hideyoshi gave Nikkai an official position, (forerunner to the office of Go-dokoro
), granting his temple an annual four koku
of rice
and setting up a tournament that he attended in person. In 1592, Nikkai was given the rank of Gon-no-Daisoku by the Go-Yozei Emperor.
In 1603, the Go-Yozei Emperor recognized sixty-year-old Tokugawa Ieyasu as Shogun, inaugurating the 250-year rule of the Tokugawa bakufu. At the direction of Ieyasu, Nikkai turned priestly duties at Jakkoji over to his younger brother Nichiei and became the first Go-dokoro, in which office Nikkai was provided fifty koku of rice and five servants. Also around this time (1605?), Nikkai took the name Honinbō Sansa (Sansa written 算砂: the characters for "calculating" and "sand").
Sansa was also a strong shogi
player, but in the Tokugawa era, Go was organised into four "houses" (or "academies"), and Shogi
into three, which would compete in oshirogo
or "Castle Go" (and "Castle Shogi") tournaments for the title Meijin
. (See more at Shogi.) The official nature of these arrangements meant that Go and Shogi masters held different offices. In 1612, eight Go and Shogi players were given individual state support. This system persisted over two and a half centuries, until the collapse of the Tokugawa government itself in the Meiji Restoration
.
The beginning of the oshirogo
matches in Edo
, seat of the Tokugawa government, meant that at the end of each year, Sansa had to travel east for a month. He is said to have turned down an official residence in Edo's early Nihonbashi
district, but was given other accommodations. (It was the unrivaled fourth Honinbō, Honinbō Dōsaku
(1645–1702) who finally moved the school to Edo.) Sansa died in Edo at the age of 65.
when he turned twenty. However, the title of Meijin was regained by the third head of Honinbō, and altogether, seven of the ten generations of historic Meijin were Honinbō. In addition, all three traditional Kisei
("Go Sages") were Honinbō masters. (Both Meijin and Kisei are now titles administered by the Nihon Ki-in
.)
The school established by Honinbō Sansa, along with the Inoue
and Yasui schools, lasted into the 20th century, but struggled without government backing. In 1936, the last Honinbō master, the controversial Honinbō Shusai
, turned selection of the Honinbō title over to the Nihon Ki-in. (See Honinbō Tournament
.)
Go (board game)
Go , is an ancient board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,000 years ago...
players
Go players
This page gives an overview of well-known players of the game of Go throughout the ages. The page has been divided into sections based on the era in which the Go players played and the country in which they played. As this was not necessarily their country of birth, a flag of that country precedes...
of the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
(1603–1867), and founder of the house of Honinbō, first among the four great schools
Four go houses
In the history of go in Japan, the Four go houses were the four academies of Go instituted, supported, and controlled by the state, at the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate. At roughly the same time shogi was organised into three houses. Here 'house' implies institution run on the recognised...
of Go in Japan. He was a Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
priest of the Nichiren sect, and his original dharma name
Dharma name
A Dharma name is a new name acquired during a Buddhist initiation ritual in Mahayana Buddhism and monk ordination in Theravada Buddhism. The name is traditionally given by a Buddhist monastic, but is also given to newly ordained monks, nuns and laity....
was Nikkai (日海).
Life and career
Nikkai was born in KyōtoKyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
and became a monk at age nine. The name "Honinbō", (originally pronounced "Honninbō"), comes from a sub-temple of the Jakkōji temple complex in Kyōto where Nikkai, the first "Honinbō", resided.
Among his students were the daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
Oda Nobunaga
Oda Nobunaga
was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the shogunate in the late 16th century, which ruled Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His opus was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi...
, Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
was a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
, and Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...
, the three great "unifiers" of Feudal Japan. Nikkai considered the three generals to be "fifth-degree" players (五子, comparable to amateur 4 or 5 dan
Go ranks and ratings
Skill in the traditional board game Go is measured by a number of different national, regional and online ranking and rating systems. Traditionally, go rankings have been measured using a system of dan and kyu ranks...
), but "diplomacy" was likely a factor in Nikkai's even-handed assessment of these imposing figures.
It was the Shogun
Shogun
A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...
Nobunaga who, in 1578, recognized twenty-year-old Nikkai as the first Meijin
Meijin
Meijin , literally translated, means "Brilliant Man." It is the name of the second most prestigious Japanese Go Tournament. It also refers to a traditional Japanese title given to the strongest player of the day during the Edo period.- The tournament :...
of Go. In 1582, Nikkai, at the behest of Nobunaga, was involved in a notorious game at the Honnōji Temple against his rival, another Nichiren priest, Kashio Rigen (鹿塩 利玄 b. 1565). (Apparently, there is a theory that "Kashio" and "Rigen" were two different people. See the Japanese version of this article.) The game is traditionally held to have taken place on the eve of the treacherous Incident at Honnōji
Incident at Honnoji
The ' refers to the forced suicide on June 21, 1582 of Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga at the hands of his samurai general Akechi Mitsuhide. This occurred in Honnō-ji, a temple in Kyoto, ending Nobunaga's quest to consolidate centralized power in Japan under his authority.-Context:Oda Nobunaga was at...
, (in which Nobunaga was forced to commit seppuku
Seppuku
is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment. Seppuku was originally reserved only for samurai. Part of the samurai bushido honor code, seppuku was either used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies , or as a form of capital punishment...
), and is said to have ended in a "triple ko". Hence the notion of triple ko as bad omen. There is a game record
Kifu
Kifu is the Japanese term for a game record for a game of Go or shogi. Kifu is traditionally used to record games on a grid diagram, marking the plays on the points by numbers....
, but typical for the period, it is incomplete. The triple ko may have occurred, somewhat implausibly, in unrecorded remaining plays, or in another game that day, but in the end, there is no evidence that this is more than a good story.
In 1587, Nobunaga's successor, the regent (kampaku) Hideyoshi gave Nikkai an official position, (forerunner to the office of Go-dokoro
Godokoro
is a title that was given in Japan from the beginning of the Edo period until the Meiji Restoration. In that period it was the highest official standing that could be attained by a go player. Literally it is a metonym, meaning the 'go office'....
), granting his temple an annual four koku
Koku
The is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year...
of rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
and setting up a tournament that he attended in person. In 1592, Nikkai was given the rank of Gon-no-Daisoku by the Go-Yozei Emperor.
In 1603, the Go-Yozei Emperor recognized sixty-year-old Tokugawa Ieyasu as Shogun, inaugurating the 250-year rule of the Tokugawa bakufu. At the direction of Ieyasu, Nikkai turned priestly duties at Jakkoji over to his younger brother Nichiei and became the first Go-dokoro, in which office Nikkai was provided fifty koku of rice and five servants. Also around this time (1605?), Nikkai took the name Honinbō Sansa (Sansa written 算砂: the characters for "calculating" and "sand").
Sansa was also a strong shogi
Shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan...
player, but in the Tokugawa era, Go was organised into four "houses" (or "academies"), and Shogi
Shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan...
into three, which would compete in oshirogo
Oshirogo
A castle game , in relation to high-level go played in Japan during the Edo period, was an official match played by representatives of the four go houses in the castle of the shogun...
or "Castle Go" (and "Castle Shogi") tournaments for the title Meijin
Meijin
Meijin , literally translated, means "Brilliant Man." It is the name of the second most prestigious Japanese Go Tournament. It also refers to a traditional Japanese title given to the strongest player of the day during the Edo period.- The tournament :...
. (See more at Shogi.) The official nature of these arrangements meant that Go and Shogi masters held different offices. In 1612, eight Go and Shogi players were given individual state support. This system persisted over two and a half centuries, until the collapse of the Tokugawa government itself in the Meiji Restoration
Meiji Restoration
The , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, Reform or Renewal, was a chain of events that restored imperial rule to Japan in 1868...
.
The beginning of the oshirogo
Oshirogo
A castle game , in relation to high-level go played in Japan during the Edo period, was an official match played by representatives of the four go houses in the castle of the shogun...
matches in Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
, seat of the Tokugawa government, meant that at the end of each year, Sansa had to travel east for a month. He is said to have turned down an official residence in Edo's early Nihonbashi
Nihonbashi
, or Nihombashi, is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603, and the current bridge made of stone dates from 1911...
district, but was given other accommodations. (It was the unrivaled fourth Honinbō, Honinbō Dōsaku
Honinbo Dosaku
Hon'inbō Dōsaku was a professional go player.- Biography :Dōsaku was one of the greatest go players in history. He was born in the Iwami province of Japan and studied Go in the Hon'inbō school, becoming Meijin at a very young age....
(1645–1702) who finally moved the school to Edo.) Sansa died in Edo at the age of 65.
Legacy
Honinbō Sansa was succeeded by a youth named Sugimura, who due to his age, had to wait several years after Sansa's death to re-establish the Honinbō house as Honinbō SanetsuHoninbo Sanetsu
Hon'inbō Sanetsu was a professional Go player, and second head of the Honinbo house.- Biography :Sanetsu was the second Honinbo. A minor at the time of Honinbo Sansa's death, he inherited a difficult situation since he could not receive the official allowance for the house...
when he turned twenty. However, the title of Meijin was regained by the third head of Honinbō, and altogether, seven of the ten generations of historic Meijin were Honinbō. In addition, all three traditional Kisei
Kisei
The Kisei is a Go competition. The title, meaning go sage in Japanese, was a traditional honorary appellation given to a handful of players down the centuries. The element ki can also apply to shogi, and there were also recognized kisei in the shogi world.-Background:Kisei is a Go competition...
("Go Sages") were Honinbō masters. (Both Meijin and Kisei are now titles administered by the Nihon Ki-in
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 association in Japan is Kansai Ki-in.Nihon Ki-in was established...
.)
The school established by Honinbō Sansa, along with the Inoue
Inoue house
The Inoue house was one of the four go houses, the state-supported schools for the game of go in Japan during the Edo period.The numbering of the heads of the house is that introduced by Inoue Genan Inseki, at the start of the nineteenth century, and including Nakamura Doseki for reasons of prestige...
and Yasui schools, lasted into the 20th century, but struggled without government backing. In 1936, the last Honinbō master, the controversial Honinbō Shusai
Honinbo Shusai
is the professional name of Hoju Tamura, also known as , who was a Japanese professional Go player.- Biography :He was born in Shiba, Tokyo, son of Tamura Yasunaga, a retainer of the shogun. He learned go at age 10 and joined the Hoensha in 1883, then under the leadership of Murase Shuho. He was...
, turned selection of the Honinbō title over to the Nihon Ki-in. (See Honinbō Tournament
Honinbo Tournament
The Honinbo is a Go competition.-Outline:It is the oldest Go title in Japan. Sponsored by Mainichi Shimbun, the Honinbo pays out ¥32 million . The holder is challenged by whoever wins the round robin league. Players can get into the round robin league by going through many preliminary tournaments...
.)