# Ōza (Go)

Ōza (王座, "throne") is a title in Go. The association that holds this title is the Japanese Nihon Ki-in. It is sponsored by the Nikkei newspaper.

## Outline

Recently, the format for the tournament was changed to a best of five. The challenger is decided in a tournament of 16 players, other than the title player. The winner's purse is ¥14 million.

## Past winners

| Edition | Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
| 1st | 1953 | Utaro Hashimoto | 1–0 | Nobuaki Maeda |
| 2nd | 1954 | Kaku Takagawa | 2–1 | Hidehiro Miyashita |
| 3rd | 1955 | Utaro Hashimoto | 2–1 | Toshihiro Shimamura |
| 4th | 1956 | Utaro Hashimoto | 2–0 | Eio Sakata |
| 5th | 1957 | Toshihiro Shimamura | 2–0 | Dogen Handa |
| 6th | 1958 | Hosai Fujisawa | 2–0 | Dogen Handa |
| 7th | 1959 | Shoji Hashimoto | 2–0 | Toshiro Yamabe |
| 8th | 1960 | Dogen Handa | 2–0 | Hidehiro Miyashita |
| 9th | 1961 | Eio Sakata | 2–1 | Kaku Takagawa |
| 10th | 1962 | Hidehiro Miyashita | 2–0 | Katsuji Kada |
| 11th | 1963 | Eio Sakata | 2–0 | Hosai Fujisawa |
| 12th | 1964 | Eio Sakata | 2–0 | Takeo Kajiwara |
| 13th | 1965 | Dogen Handa | 2–0 | Ichigen Okubo |
| 14th | 1966 | Eio Sakata | 2–1 | Rin Kaiho |
| 15th | 1967 | Hideyuki Fujisawa | 2–0 | Shoji Hashimoto |
| 16th | 1968 | Hideyuki Fujisawa | 2–0 | Eio Sakata |
| 17th | 1969 | Hideyuki Fujisawa | 2–0 | Hideo Otake |
| 18th | 1970 | Eio Sakata | 2–0 | Hideyuki Fujisawa |
| 19th | 1971 | Eio Sakata | 2–0 | Shoji Hashimoto |
| 20th | 1972 | Eio Sakata | 2–1 | Utaro Hashimoto |
| 21st | 1973 | Rin Kaiho | 2–1 | Eio Sakata |
| 22nd | 1974 | Yoshio Ishida | 2–1 | Rin Kaiho |
| 23rd | 1975 | Hideo Otake | 2–0 | Yoshio Ishida |
| 24th | 1976 | Cho Chikun | 2–1 | Hideo Otake |
| 25th | 1977 | Norio Kudo | 2–0 | Cho Chikun |
| 26th | 1978 | Yoshio Ishida | 2–1 | Norio Kudo |
| 27th | 1979 | Masao Kato | 2–0 | Yoshio Ishida |
| 28th | 1980 | Masao Kato | 2–0 | Yoshio Ishida |
| 29th | 1981 | Shoji Hashimoto | 2–1 | Masao Kato |
| 30th | 1982 | Masao Kato | 2–0 | Shoji Hashimoto |
| 31st | 1983 | Masao Kato | 2–0 | Hideo Otake |
| 32nd | 1984 | Masao Kato | 3–0 | Hiroshi Yamashiro |
| 33rd | 1985 | Masao Kato | 3–0 | Koichi Kobayashi |
| 34th | 1986 | Masao Kato | 3–1 | Rin Kaiho |
| 35th | 1987 | Masao Kato | 3–1 | Cho Chikun |
| 36th | 1988 | Masao Kato | 3–0 | Masaki Takemiya |
| 37th | 1989 | Masao Kato | 3–1 | Yasumasa Hane |
| 38th | 1990 | Yasumasa Hane | 3–2 | Masao Kato |
| 39th | 1991 | Hideyuki Fujisawa | 3–1 | Yasumasa Hane |
| 40th | 1992 | Hideyuki Fujisawa | 3–2 | Koichi Kobayashi |
| 41st | 1993 | Masao Kato | 3–0 | Hideyuki Fujisawa |
| 42nd | 1994 | Cho Chikun | 3–2 | Masao Kato |
| 43rd | 1995 | O Rissei | 3–0 | Cho Chikun |
| 44th | 1996 | Ryu Shikun | 3–0 | O Rissei |
| 45th | 1997 | Kimio Yamada | 3–1 | Ryu Shikun |
| 46th | 1998 | O Rissei | 3–0 | Kimio Yamada |
| 47th | 1999 | O Rissei | 3–1 | Cho Chikun |
| 48th | 2000 | O Rissei | 3–1 | Cho Chikun |
| 49th | 2001 | Cho Chikun | 3–0 | O Rissei |
| 50th | 2002 | O Meien | 3–2 | Cho Chikun |
| 51st | 2003 | Cho U | 3–1 | O Meien |
| 52nd | 2004 | Cho U | 3–1 | Keigo Yamashita |
| 53rd | 2005 | Cho U | 3–0 | Keigo Yamashita |
| 54th | 2006 | Keigo Yamashita | 3–1 | Cho U |
| 55th | 2007 | Keigo Yamashita | 3–1 | Toshiya Imamura |
| 56th | 2008 | Cho U | 3–1 | Keigo Yamashita |
| 57th | 2009 | Cho U | 3–0 | Kimio Yamada |
| 58th | 2010 | Cho U | 3–0 | Kimio Yamada |
| 59th | 2011 | Cho U | 3–0 | Hane Naoki |
| 60th | 2012 | Yuta Iyama | 3–0 | Cho U |
| 61st | 2013 | Yuta Iyama | 3–1 | Cho U |
| 62nd | 2014 | Daisuke Murakawa | 3–2 | Yuta Iyama |
| 63rd | 2015 | Yuta Iyama | 3–0 | Daisuke Murakawa |
| 64th | 2016 | Yuta Iyama | 3–0 | Yo Seiki |
| 65th | 2017 | Yuta Iyama | 3–0 | Ryo Ichiriki |
| 66th | 2018 | Yuta Iyama | 3–2 | Ryo Ichiriki |
| 67th | 2019 | Shibano Toramaru | 3–1 | Yuta Iyama |
| 68th | 2020 | Shibano Toramaru | 3–1 | Kyo Kagen (Hsu Chia Yuan) |
| 69th | 2021 | Yuta Iyama | 3–2 | Shibano Toramaru |
| 70th | 2022 | Yuta Iyama | 3–0 | Yo Seiki |
| 71st | 2023 | Yuta Iyama | 3–2 | Yo Seiki |
| 72nd | 2024 | Yuta Iyama | 3–1 | Shibano Toramaru |