As there is Iemoto (craftsmen or families that have inherited Japanese performing arts as a family tradition) in the industry of tea and other arts, and in the world of go, the four homes of iemoto such as Hon-inbo, Yasui, Inoue and Hayashi were allowed to work or were active as professionals during the Edo period. The first iemoto, “Hon-inbo Sannsa”, who was praised at the same lavel as “Sen-no-rikyu” in the tea industry and as “Zeami” in of the Noh industry, was deeply fated to the Kaga Domain because of go. The monument of the first Hon-inbo “Sansa” is located inside the Hongyou-ji shine, located south of Kenrokuen in Honda-machi, Kanazawa. This monument was erected in 1925 by local go enthusiasts. The title lettering was written by Shusai, who was the last iemoto in Hon-inbo.
Hon-inbo Sansa, who served Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu
Hon-inbo Sansa
“Nikkai Shonin” was born in Kyoto in 1559. He was known for his high-level of ability in go, and was said to be the best. He was called “the master [of go]” by Nobunaga Oda, was praised to be the best player in Japan, and he received the “4 goku” Prize from Hideyoshi Toyotomi. He was renamed “Hon-inbo Sansa”, and was appointed as a go teacher for the Tokugawa shogun (general) when Tokugawa Ieyasu started the shogun era. His role was quite huge, for example, he helped spread go from a game that only nobles and monks played, to a game that the common people also took pleasure in. Afterward, “Hon-inbo” became the name of an iemoto of go, and the title was passed down to succeeding generations by his pupils. However, the 21st generation of Hon-inbo “Shusai” decided to hand the “Hon-inbo” title over to Nihon Ki-in (The Japan Go Association) in 1936, stating that “only someone who has true and best ability is supposed to have this name”. The Hon-inbo Championship was then created, and still takes place today.
Relocation to Kanazawa as a Go Teacher for Maeda Toshitsune
Sansa was invited to Kanazawa as a go teacher by the 3rd Maeda lord of the Kaga Domain, Maeda Toshitsune. Not only did he play against Toshitsune as an opponent, but he also played against local go champions in front of him in order to show the shogun the game. While he stayed in Kanazawa, he also worked as a monk in Jakkoji temple in Kyoto, and he often went back and forth between Kanazawa and Kyoto for a period of three years. However, once the go players that served Toshitsune started playing go with him, they were not able to freely go outside the castle, because a single game could last up to a few days. It is said that because of this, the phrase “Go players cannot be present at their parents’ death” was created. However, the phrase has been often misinterpreted to mean “Go players are too absorbed in playing go to be present at their parents’ death”. Once Sansa returned to Kyoto, he was given about 1 ha of temple grounds as a courtesy gift from Toshitsune. There, he built the Hon-gyoji temple in present-day Kanazawa and became the temple’s first Chief Priest. The temple has burned down three times, and the present building was relocated from Toyama.
Hon-gyoji Temple
Source: Jakkoji Temple Dayori, Hon-gyoji historical book, Honjoji historical book / Supervised by Yuko Tsukuda
This story was introduced at the 4th Japan Go Congress 2019 in Kanazawa held from July 12 to 15, 2019.