Who was this person?
A Go player of the Azuchi-Momoyama to early Edo periods and founder of the Hon'inbō house. Learning Go as Nikkai, a monk of Jakkōji in Kyoto, he was valued by all three unifiers, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Strong at shogi too, he laid the basis for the shogunate's patronage of Go players.
| Name | Hon'inbō Sansa (本因坊算砂) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1559 – 1623 |
| Period | Azuchi-Momoyama–Edo |
| Birthplace | Kyoto |
| Also known as | Nikkai |
| Main achievements |
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He was born in Kyoto, a son of Kanō Yosuke of a family of court dance musicians. In Kyoto at this time go was enjoyed among court nobles, monks and townspeople. He later took the name Hon'inbō Sansa and founded the Hon'inbō house, which would be the center of the go world throughout the Edo period.
As a small child he became a disciple at Jakkō-ji in Kyoto, founded by his uncle Nichien, entered religion and took the name Nikkai. While studying Buddhism, he learned go from Sen'ya, a strong player of the day. Living in a sub-temple called Hon'inbō within the temple later gave rise to the name Hon'inbō.
He is said to have played go before Oda Nobunaga and been praised as a true meijin, a master. This is sometimes called the origin of the word meijin still used today, though some hold that the word existed earlier. Nobunaga is said to have valued Sansa and had him as a go partner.
On the night before the Honnō-ji Incident, Sansa is said to have played before Nobunaga, and a rare position called a triple ko appeared so that the game could not end. Because Nobunaga was killed right afterward, the triple ko came to be called an ill omen, the story goes. Some, however, believe this story was invented in later times.
Okudaira Nobumasa, Tokugawa Ieyasu's son-in-law, had been learning go from Sansa in Kyoto, and through this link Ieyasu invited Sansa to Sunpu (Shizuoka). Ieyasu loved go and continued to value Sansa after founding the Edo shogunate. Sansa's ties through go with all three unifiers, Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu, are his great distinction.
Before Toyotomi Hideyoshi, well-known go players were gathered to play, and Sansa beat them all and received a stipend from Hideyoshi. One view holds that his being ordered at this time to oversee the rules of go was the beginning of the godokoro, the office in charge of go. Sansa came to be held in high regard by the rulers of the realm.
When Tokugawa Ieyasu opened his shogunate in Edo, Sansa was invited and went to Edo for a time. Afterward he accompanied guests when Date Masamune invited Ieyasu to his residence, and played before Toyotomi Hideyori at Osaka Castle, moving among the warlords as he played go. Go was also an important pastime for the warlords.
He played shogi against the shogi master Ōhashi Sōkei, and the record of that game is considered the oldest surviving shogi game record. Sansa was strong at shogi too. Around the same time he is said to have published the Hon'inbō Gokyō, a collection of go problems, called the first go book printed in Japan.
After receiving hōin, a high rank for monks, he was among the go and shogi players given stipends by the shogunate. In this way a system took shape in which the shogunate retained masters of go and shogi. Around this time he is said to have left shogi matters to Ōhashi Sōkei.
Entrusting the guardianship of his heir San'etsu to his disciple Nakamura Dōseki, he died in Kyoto. His farewell poem is said to have been: if this were go I could play a ko and live on, but in dying there is no move to make. The Hon'inbō house went on producing masters, and the name Hon'inbō lives on today as a go title.
A. A Go player of the Azuchi-Momoyama to early Edo periods and founder of the Hon'inbō house. Learning Go as Nikkai, a monk of Jakkōji in Kyoto, he was valued by all three unifiers, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Strong at shogi too, he laid the basis for the shogunate's patronage of Go players.
A. Period: Azuchi-Momoyama–Edo. Born in 1559, died in 1623.
A. Hon'inbō Sansa was born in Kyoto.
A. Sansa lived in a monks' residence called "Hon'inbō" within Jakkōji in Kyoto, where he became a monk, so he took the name Hon'inbō. It was passed down as the Hon'inbō house and survives today as the Go title "Hon'inbō."
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Oda NobunagaToyotomi HideyoshiTokugawa IeyasuDate MasamuneToyotomi Hideyori
Tōdō TakatoraUesugi KagekatsuOda NobutadaKatakura KagetsunaIshida MitsunariNaoe KanetsuguIi NaomasaFukushima Masanori
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.