Meijin (名人) is one of the seven titles in Japanese professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryu-oh. This should not be confused with the "Amateur Meijin" title that is awarded each year to the winner of the Amateur Meijin Tournament. The word "meijin" means "an excellent person" in a certain field. ("mei"(名) = excellent, artful) ("jin"(人) = person)
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History
The Meijin institution started in the 17th century (Edo period), and for around 300 years was a hereditary title that was passed from the reigning Meijin upon his retirement or death to another selected from three families, as deemed to be worthy. In 1935, however, the Japan Shogi Association (日本将棋連盟, Nihon Shōgi Renmei), or JSA, announced that it was abolishing the existing system of succession in favor of something more short-term and reflective of actual playing strength. In 1937, the reigning 13th Meijin Kinjiro Sekine, who had received his title under the old system and was 70 years old at the time, voluntarily gave up his title so that a new Meijin could be decided through actual tournament play. Later that year Yoshio Kimura, who was a student of Sekine, became the first Meijin to gain the title based upon actual performance by winning a tournament which included eight other top players. From 1937 to 1947, the challenger for the Meijin title was determined through tournaments involving a select number of players. Finally, in 1947, the JSA officially established the preliminary round of ranking tournaments (順位戦, jun'isen) that it currently uses.
Qualifying
The Meijin ranking tournaments are divided into five leagues/classes (A, B1, B2, C1, C2) and players compete against others within their class throughout the year. Players who perform well during league play may be promoted to the next highest class while those who perform poorly may be relegated to the next lowest one. New professionals are placed at the bottom of the Class C2 league, and the top three players of Class C2 are promoted to Class C1 for the next year. Similarly, the top two players of Classes C1, B2, B1 are promoted to the B2, B1, and A, respectively, for the next year. The winner of the Class A league earns the right to challenge the reigning Meijin title holder in a 7-game match for the title. A new professional, therefore, needs at least five years experience (5 successive promotions) after their debut before they can qualify to challenge for the title of Meijin.
Lifetime Meijin
The first thirteen Lifetime Lifetime Meijins (永世名人, eisei meijin) were determined through succession. The Lifetime Meijin as a competitive title was established by the JSA in 1952. Players who capture the Meijin title five times (does not have to be consecutive) qualify to receive this title, but are only officially awarded it upon their retirement or death.
Past winners
Below is a list of past Meijin title holders from 1937 when the new method for determining the title holder was established. The number in parenthesis represents the culmulative times the player had won the title to date.