is one of the seven titles in Japanese professional shogi

Shogi

, also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan...

, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryu-oh

Ryu-oh

Ryu-oh or Ryūō is the name of a promoted piece in shogi, a Japanese professional shogi tournament, and the title of its winner....

.

The word "meijin" means "an excellent person" in a certain field. ("mei"(名) = excellent, artful) ("jin"(人) = person)

The Meijin institution started in the 17th century (Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

), but the person who assumed the Meijin position was selected by succession.

In the 1930s, Kinjiro Sekine (13th Meijin) made a courageous decision. He abandoned his Meijin position and proposed the institution of a tournament. Since 1937, the Meijin title has been given to the person who wins the Meijin Championship each year.

The preliminary round of the Meijin tournament is called "Rank Tournament" (Jun-i Sen 順位戦) and involves five league classes (A, B1, B2, C1, C2). The top three players of the C2 league are promoted to next year's C1 league. The top two of the C1, B2, B1 leagues are promoted to next year's B2, B1, and A leagues, respectively. Only the winner of the A-Class league can challenge the Meijin title holder. Therefore, at least five years experience of Rank-Tournament-league is needed for challenging for the title of Meijin after one's professional debut.

The player that wins four games out of seven first in the championship will become the new Meijin title holder.

Honorary Meijin

Honorary Meijin (Permanent Meijin, Eiseimeijin 永世名人) title is given to a person who won Meijin Championship five times.

• (1st - 13th : in succession)
• 14th Honorary Meijin : Yoshio Kimura
• 15th Honorary Meijin : Yasuharu Oyama
• 16th Honorary Meijin : Makoto Nakahara
• 17th Honorary Meijin : Koji Tanigawa
• 18th Honorary Meijin : Toshiyuki Moriuchi
• 19th Honorary Meijin : Yoshiharu Habu

Winners

Year	Winner	Score	Opponent
1935 -1937	Yoshio Kimura
1940	Yoshio Kimura	4-1	Doi Ichitaroh
1942	Yoshio Kimura	4-0	Kanda Tatsunosuke
	Yoshio Kimura	no match
	Yoshio Kimura	no match
1947	Masao Tsukada	4-2	Yoshio Kimura
1948	Masao Tsukada	4-2	Yasuharu Oyama
1949	Yoshio Kimura	3-2	Masao Tsukada
1950	Yoshio Kimura	4-2	Yasuharu Oyama
1951	Yoshio Kimura	4-2	Kozoh Masuda
1952	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Yoshio Kimura
1953	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Kozoh Masuda
1954	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Kozoh Masuda
1955	Yasuharu Oyama	4-2	Takashima Kazukiyo
1956	Yasuharu Oyama	4-0	Hanamura Motoji
1957	Kozoh Masuda	4-2	Yasuharu Oyama
1958	Kozoh Masuda	4-2	Yasuharu Oyama
1959	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Kozoh Masuda
1960	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Hifumi Katoh
1961	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Maruta Yuzoh
1962	Yasuharu Oyama	4-0	Tatsuya Futakami
1963	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Kozoh Masuda
1964	Yasuharu Oyama	4-2	Tatsuya Futakami
1965	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Michiyoshi Yamada
1966	Yasuharu Oyama	4-2	Kozoh Masuda
1967	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Tatsuya Futakami
1968	Yasuharu Oyama	4-0	Kozoh Masuda
1969	Yasuharu Oyama	4-3	Michio Ariyoshi
1970	Yasuharu Oyama	4-1	Rensho Nada
1971	Yasuharu Oyama	4-3	Kozoh Masuda
1972	Makoto Nakahara	4-3	Yasuharu Oyama
1973	Makoto Nakahara	4-0	Hifumi Katoh
1974	Makoto Nakahara	4-3	Yasuharu Oyama
1975	Makoto Nakahara	4-3	Nobuyuki Ouchi
1976	Makoto Nakahara	4-3	Kunio Yonenaga
1977		blank
1978	Makoto Nakahara	4-2	Keiji Mori
1979	Makoto Nakahara	4-2	Kunio Yonenaga
1980	Makoto Nakahara	4-1	Kunio Yonenaga
1981	Makoto Nakahara	4-1	Kiyozumi Kiriyama
1982	Hifumi Katoh	4-3	Makoto Nakahara
1983	Koji Tanigawa	4-2	Hifumi Katoh
1984	Koji Tanigawa	4-1	Hidemitsu Moriyasu
1985	Makoto Nakahara	4-2	Koji Tanigawa
1986	Makoto Nakahara	4-1	Yasuharu Oyama
1987	Makoto Nakahara	4-2	Kunio Yonenaga
1988	Koji Tanigawa	4-2	Makoto Nakahara
1989	Koji Tanigawa	4-0	Kunio Yonenaga
1990	Makoto Nakahara	4-2	Koji Tanigawa
1991	Makoto Nakahara	4-1	Kunio Yonenaga
1992	Makoto Nakahara	4-3	Michio Takahashi
1993	Kunio Yonenaga Kunio Yonenaga is a retired professional shogi player, and president of Japan Shogi Association.- Biography :Yonenaga became a professional in 1963, and was promoted to 9 dan in 1979....	4-0	Makoto Nakahara
1994	Yoshiharu Habu	4-2	Kunio Yonenaga
1995	Yoshiharu Habu	4-1	Taku Morishita
1996	Yoshiharu Habu	4-1	Toshiyuki Moriuchi
1997	Koji Tanigawa	4-2	Yoshiharu Habu
1998	Yasumitsu Satoh	4-3	Koji Tanigawa
1999	Yasumitsu Satoh	4-3	Koji Tanigawa
2000	Tadahisa Maruyama	4-3	Yasumitsu Satoh
2001	Tadahisa Maruyama	4-3	Koji Tanigawa
2002	Toshiyuki Moriuchi	4-0	Tadahisa Maruyama
2003	Yoshiharu Habu	4-0	Toshiyuki Moriuchi
2004	Toshiyuki Moriuchi	4-2	Yoshiharu Habu
2005	Toshiyuki Moriuchi	4-3	Yoshiharu Habu
2006	Toshiyuki Moriuchi	4-2	Koji Tanigawa
2007	Toshiyuki Moriuchi	4-3	Masataka Goda
2008	Yoshiharu Habu	4-2	Toshiyuki Moriuchi
2009	Yoshiharu Habu	4-3	Masataka Goda
2010	Yoshiharu Habu	4-0	Hiroyuki Miura
2011	Toshiyuki Moriuchi	4-3	Yoshiharu Habu