60450 In 1935 when the then-13th shogi Meijin, Kinjiro Sekine, decided to retire, a new title championship was established to decide the Japanese champion based on skill instead of the more than 300-year old traditional hereditary Meijin system.
60451 The Meijin Tournament was born.
60452 Afterward, many shogi players carried on competing with the aim of becoming the top player and attaining legendary status, which has continued to attract shogi fans.
60453 From the first Meijin Yoshio Kimura to the birth last year of Meijin Yoshiharu Habu, only nine people have managed to reach the pinnacle all shogi players dream of.
60454 The demands of the Meijin are evident.
60455 This year's plans center around holding the best-of-seven match beginning in April, which also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the tournament's founding, and are likely to attract further attention.
60456 Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, Sokei I Ohashi became the first Meijin in 1612.
60457 Afterwards, the three shogi houses of Ohashi Honke, Ohashi Bunke and Ito carried on the name of Meijin through successive generations, and the era of the 13th Meijin Sekine came after the turbulence of the Meiji Restoration was overcome.
60458 The Tokyo Shoji Association was created in 1924 and newspapers began carrying the shogi record, which in turn raised the level of interest in professional shogi players.
60459 Meijin Sekine retired, paving the way for the first Meijin title match and a league tournament comprising nine shogi players began with a match between Chotaro Hanada and Kingoro Kaneko in June 1935, with the shogi records carried solely by the Tokyo Nichinichi and the Osaka Mainichi Daily News newspapers.
60460 Kimura won the championship in the end and became the first Meijin to reign under the tournament system.
60461 Kimura continued to demonstrate unmatchable prowess and became a hero of the times, joining the ranks of yokozuna Futabayama.
60462 Following a suggestion by Meijin Kimura after the war, a tournament system was introduced to rank all shogi players in the nation except the Meijin, with the top player competing against the Meijin once a year.
60463 The first challenger for the title of Meijin after the war was a man called Masao Tsukada, who beat Kimura-once thought of as invincible-to capture the title of Meijin.
60464 The new wave after the war included prodigies of Kinjiro Kimi, including Kozo Masuda and Yasuharu Oyama, who battled against each other in 1948 for the right to challenge for the Meijin title in a three-game match on Mount Koya in Wakayama prefecture.