Nihon Ki-in

The **Nihon Ki-in** (日本棋院), also known as the Japan Go Association, is the main (non-profit) organization for Go in Tokyo, Japan. It maintains Japan's professional player system and gives diplomas for amateur rankings.

## Professional Tournaments

The Nihon Ki-in organizes many tournaments for professional players. The major title tournaments include the Kisei (棋聖, Board Master), Meijin (名人, Grand Master, hosted with Asahi Shinbun), Honinbo (本因坊), Judan (10-dan), Tengen (天元, Center), Gosei (碁聖, Master of Go), and the Oza (王座, King). There are also separate Honinbo, Meijin, and Kisei titles for women.

## Major Title Winners by Year

- (*): Kansai Ki-in player.
- Non-Japanese players (Chinese or Korean) are described with their Japanese pronunciation.
|Year||Kisei||Meijin||Honinbo||Judan||Tengen||Gosei||Oza|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**1941**|-|-|Riichi Sekiyama|-|-|-|-||||||||
|**1943**|-|-|Utaro Hashimoto|-|-|-|-||||||||
|**1945**|-|-|Kaoru Iwamoto|-|-|-|-||||||||
|**1947**|-|-|Kaoru Iwamoto|-|-|-|-||||||||
|**1950**|-|-|Utaro Hashimoto|-|-|-|-||||||||
|**1951**|-|-|Utaro Hashimoto*|-|-|-|-||||||||
|**1952**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|-||||||||
|**1953**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|Utaro Hashimoto*||||||||
|**1954**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|Kaku Takagawa||||||||
|**1955**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|Utaro Hashimoto*||||||||
|**1956**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|Utaro Hashimoto*||||||||
|**1957**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|Shimamura Toshihiro||||||||
|**1958**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|Hosai Fujisawa||||||||
|**1959**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|Shoji Hashimoto*||||||||
|**1960**|-|-|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|-|Dogen Handa*||||||||
|**1961**|-|-|Eio Sakata|-|-|-|Eio Sakata||||||||
|**1962**|-|Fujisawa Hideyuki|Eio Sakata|Utaro Hashimoto*|-|-|Hidehiro Miyashita||||||||
|**1963**|-|Eio Sakata|Eio Sakata|Dogen Handa|-|-|Eio Sakata||||||||
|**1964**|-|Eio Sakata|Eio Sakata|Hosai Fujisawa|-|-|Eio Sakata||||||||
|**1965**|-|Rin Kaiho|Eio Sakata|Kaku Takagawa|-|-|Dogen Handa*||||||||
|**1966**|-|Rin Kaiho|Eio Sakata|Eio Sakata|-|-|Eio Sakata||||||||
|**1967**|-|Rin Kaiho|Eio Sakata|Eio Sakata|-|-|Fujisawa Hideyuki||||||||
|**1968**|-|Kaku Takagawa|Rin Kaiho|Eio Sakata|-|-|Fujisawa Hideyuki||||||||
|**1969**|-|Rin Kaiho|Rin Kaiho|Hideo Otake|-|-|Fujisawa Hideyuki||||||||
|**1970**|-|Fujisawa Hideyuki|Rin Kaiho|-|-|-|Eio Sakata||||||||
|**1971**|-|Rin Kaiho|Yoshio Ishida|Utaro Hashimoto*|-|-|Eio Sakata||||||||
|**1972**|-|Rin Kaiho|Yoshio Ishida|Eio Sakata|-|-|Eio Sakata||||||||
|**1973**|-|Rin Kaiho|Yoshio Ishida|Eio Sakata|-|-|Rin Kaiho||||||||
|**1974**|-|Yoshio Ishida|Yoshio Ishida|Shoji Hashimoto*|-|-|Yoshio Ishida||||||||
|**1975**|-|Hideo Otake|Yoshio Ishida|Rin Kaiho|Fujisawa Hideyuki|-|Hideo Otake||||||||
|**1976**|-|Hideo Otake|Masaki Takemiya|Masao Kato|Kobayashi Koichi|Masao Kato|Cho Chikun||||||||
|**1977**|Fujisawa Hideyuki|Rin Kaiho|Masao Kato|Masao Kato|Shimamura Toshihiro|Masao Kato|Norio Kudo||||||||
|**1978**|Fujisawa Hideyuki|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato|Masao Kato|Masao Kato|Hideo Otake|Yoshio Ishida||||||||
|**1979**|Fujisawa Hideyuki|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato|Masao Kato|Masao Kato|Cho Chikun|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1980**|Fujisawa Hideyuki|Cho Chikun|Masaki Takemiya|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1981**|Fujisawa Hideyuki|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato|Hideo Otake|Shoji Hashimoto*||||||||
|**1982**|Fujisawa Hideyuki|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Kataoka Satoshi|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1983**|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Rin Kaiho|Masao Kato|Kataoka Satoshi|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1984**|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Rin Kaiho|Kobayashi Koichi|Yoshio Ishida|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1985**|Cho Chikun|Kobayashi Koichi|Masaki Takemiya|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Hideo Otake|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1986**|Kobayashi Koichi|Masao Kato|Masaki Takemiya|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Cho Chikun|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1987**|Kobayashi Koichi|Masao Kato|Masaki Takemiya|Masao Kato|Cho Chikun|Masao Kato|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1988**|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Masaki Takemiya|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Kobayashi Koichi|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1989**|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Rin Kaiho|Kobayashi Koichi|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1990**|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Cho Chikun|Masaki Takemiya|Rin Kaiho|Kobayashi Koichi|Yasumasa Hane||||||||
|**1991**|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Cho Chikun|Masaki Takemiya|Rin Kaiho|Kobayashi Koichi|Fujisawa Hideyuki||||||||
|**1992**|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Cho Chikun|Masaki Takemiya|Rin Kaiho|Kobayashi Koichi|Fujisawa Hideyuki||||||||
|**1993**|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Cho Chikun|Hideo Otake|Rin Kaiho|Kobayashi Koichi|Masao Kato||||||||
|**1994**|Cho Chikun|Kobayashi Koichi|Cho Chikun|Hideo Otake|Ryu Shikun|Rin Kaiho|Cho Chikun||||||||
|**1995**|Satoru Kobayashi|Masaki Takemiya|Cho Chikun|Norimoto Yoda|Ryu Shikun|Satoru Kobayashi|O Rissei||||||||
|**1996**|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Norimoto Yoda|Ryu Shikun|Norimoto Yoda|Ryu Shikun||||||||
|**1997**|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Masao Kato|Kudo Norio|Norimoto Yoda|Kimio Yamada||||||||
|**1998**|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Naoto Hikosaka|Kobayashi Koichi|Norimoto Yoda|O Rissei||||||||
|**1999**|Cho Chikun|Cho Chikun|Cho Sonjin|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|Kobayashi Koichi|O Rissei||||||||
|**2000**|O Rissei|Norimoto Yoda|O Meien|Kobayashi Koichi|Ryu Shikun|Keigo Yamashita|O Rissei||||||||
|**2001**|O Rissei|Norimoto Yoda|O Meien|O Rissei|Naoki Hane|Kobayashi Koichi|Cho Chikun||||||||
|**2002**|O Rissei|Norimoto Yoda|Masao Kato|O Rissei|Naoki Hane|Kobayashi Koichi|O Meien||||||||
|**2003**|Keigo Yamashita|Norimoto Yoda|Cho U|O Rissei|Naoki Hane|Norimoto Yoda|Cho U||||||||
|**2004**|Naoki Hane|Cho U|Cho U|O Rissei|Keigo Yamashita|Norimoto Yoda|Cho U||||||||
|**2005**|Naoki Hane|Cho U|Shinji Takao|Cho Chikun|Kono Rin|Norimoto Yoda|Cho U||||||||
|**2006**|Keigo Yamashita|Shinji Takao|Shinji Takao|Cho Chikun|Kono Rin|Cho U|Keigo Yamashita||||||||
|**2007**|Keigo Yamashita|Cho U|Shinji Takao|Cho Chikun|Kono Rin|Cho U|Keigo Yamashita||||||||
|**2008**|Keigo Yamashita|Cho U|Naoki Hane|Shinji Takao|Cho U|Cho U|Cho U||||||||
|**2009**|Keigo Yamashita|Yuta Iyama|Naoki Hane|Cho U|Keigo Yamashita|Cho U|Cho U||||||||
|**2010**|Cho U|Yuta Iyama|Keigo Yamashita|Cho U|Satoshi Yuki*|Hideyuki Sakai*|Cho U||||||||
|**2011**|Cho U|Keigo Yamashita|Keigo Yamashita|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Naoki Hane|Cho U||||||||
|**2012**|Cho U|Keigo Yamashita|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama||||||||
|**2013**|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Satoshi Yuki|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama||||||||
|**2014**|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Shinji Takao|Shinji Takao|Yuta Iyama|Daisuke Murakawa*||||||||
|**2015**|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Atsushi Ida|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama||||||||
|**2016**|Yuta Iyama|Shinji Takao|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama||||||||
|**2017**|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama||||||||
|**2018**|Yuta Iyama|Cho U|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Yuta Iyama|Kyo Kagen|Yuta Iyama||||||||
|**2019**|Yuta Iyama|Toramaru Shibano|Yuta Iyama|Daisuke Murakawa*|Yuta Iyama|Naoki Hane|Toramaru Shibano||||||||
|**2020**|Yuta Iyama|(tbd)|Yuta Iyama|Toramaru Shibano|(tbd)|(tbd)|(tbd)||||||||
|**Year**|**Kisei**|**Meijin**|**Honinbo**|**Judan**|**Tengen**|**Gosei**|**Oza**||||||||

## Domestic Headquarters

- **Tokyo Head Quarter (Ichigaya)** : 7-2 Goban-cho, Chiyoda, Tokyo
- **Tokyo Yurakucho Go Center**: 9F Tokyo Kotsu-Kaikan, 2-10-1 Yuraku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
- **Osaka Head Quarter**: 10F Applause Tower, 19-19 Sayamachi, Osaka
- **Osaka Umeda Go Salon**: 6F Hankyu Five Annex Building, 1-23 Sumidacho, Kita-ku, Osaka
- **Chubu Head Quarter**:  1-19  Syumoku-cho, Higashi-ku, Nagoya

## Foreign Branches

- **The Nihon Ki-in European Go Cultural Centre**: Schokland14,1181 HV Amstelveen, Netherlands
- **Nihon Ki-in Do Brasil**:  R. Dr Fabricio Vampre No116, Ana Rosa - Sao Paulo - Brazil
- **Nihon Ki-in Go Institute of The West U.S.A**: 700,N.E.,45 th Street, Seattle WA

## Related pages

- All Japan Student Go Federation
- American Go Association (American counterpart of Nihon Ki-in)
- British Go Association
- European Go Federation
- International Go Federation
- Tomoko Ogawa (former director of Nihon Ki-in, former president of the professional players assembly at Nihon Ki-in)
- Chizu Kobayashi (former director of Nihon Ki-in)
- Sachiko Hara (former director of Nihon Ki-in)

## Famous players at Nihon Ki-in

- Go Seigen
- Eio Sakata - He holds the honorary NHK Cup
- Kaku Takagawa
- Hideyuki Fujisawa
- Masao Sugiuchi - He used to be the oldest professional player during 2004 to 2017
- Masao Kato - former president of the International Go Federation

### Female players

- Asami Ueno
- Ayumi Suzuki
- Chiaki Mukai
- Izumi Kobayashi
- Kaori Chinen
- Keiko Kato
- Kumiko Yashiro
- Miori Shimosaka
- Narumi Ohsawa
- Reiko Kobayashi
- Rina Fujisawa
- Sachiko Honda
- Terumi Koyama
- Tomoko Kato
- Tomoko Ogawa
- Xie Yimin - she was born in Taiwan
- Yukari Yoshihara

## Other websites

- Nihon Ki-in English Website