The Oathbound Master
Honinbo Douchi, barely a teenager at the time, had defeated the powerful Yasui Senkaku with a legendary three-game streak. The first match was played while Douchi was sick with dysentery, and he still won by a single point. The second, he won by fifteen. The third, by three. Senkaku tried to protest, then tried to resign, but Douchi refused. He demanded all ten games be played to humiliate his opponent fully.
Only after the heads of every major Go house intervened did Douchi relent.
That’s how dominant the Honinbo school had become.
That’s how dangerous Douchi was.
And yet, behind that rise stood someone even more dangerous in his own way: Doseki, the head of the Inoue house, and Douchi’s teacher.
He had trained Douchi. Protected him. Promised the dying Dosaku that Douchi would one day take the Meijin title.
But now the question began to turn:
When would Doseki step aside?
The Rising Storm
Douchi’s strength only deepened with time. By 17, he was already being whispered about as a prodigy to rival Dosaku himself. He studied relentlessly. His wins became quiet, surgical acts—dispassionate, methodical, and exact. And in private, Doseki prepared the way for his ascension.
He gathered Douchi and arranged a seven-game private trial, attended only by the most trusted figures in the Honinbo and Inoue houses.
No results were ever shared.
No one outside the schools ever knew what happened.
But within a year, Doseki formally stepped back from his protector role, allowing Douchi to lead the Honinbo house in full.
Publicly, the torch had passed.
But inside Doseki, something stirred.
The Promise and the Temptation
Years earlier, as the great Dosaku lay dying, he summoned Doseki to his side and gave him a mission:
Raise Douchi. Guide him. And never stand in his way.
To seal that trust, Doseki swore that he would never claim the title of Meijin, even though he had the strength to do so.
But now, as Douchi became a man, Doseki began to feel the old temptation return. He’d carried the Go world on his back. He had sacrificed ambition for duty. Why shouldn’t he, just once, receive what he had long deserved?
The final push came from outside Japan.
A New Challenger from Ryukyu
In 1710, envoys from the Ryukyu Kingdom arrived in Edo. Among them was a teenage prodigy named Yara no Satonushi, trained by none other than Hamahika, who had once faced Dosaku.
Now, years later, Konishi had come to repay that humiliation—with interest. He demanded a match with Japan’s strongest.
Tradition held that a foreign challenger would face the Meijin, and that the Meijin would give a three-stone handicap. There was just one problem.
There was no Meijin.
The position had remained vacant since Dosaku’s death.
Only one player had the reputation and strength to justify the title: Doseki.
And just like that, the conversation changed.
The Return of the Throne
To fulfill the diplomatic obligation, someone had to wear the mantle. Doseki approached the other houses, starting with Hayashi Monnyu, head of the Hayashi school, and explained the situation:
He didn’t want the title.
He didn’t seek it.
He simply had no choice. Who else would issue the certificates of rank Ryukyu requested?
Monetsu agreed. Quietly, respectfully.
Doseki then turned to Douchi.
And Douchi said yes.
But with one condition: It must be temporary.
Doseki promised.
He was formally granted the title of Meijin, fulfilling Ryukyu’s request.
But something changed.
He liked the weight of the title.
The respect. The power. The sense of legacy.
And when the months turned to years…
He didn’t step down.
The Waiting Game
Douchi said nothing, but everyone in the Go world noticed. The young master, the hero who had defeated Yasui Senkaku and risen so swiftly, was suddenly made to wait. And the man who had sworn to step aside now occupied the very seat he had once sworn never to take.
Was it ambition?
Was it pride?
Or was Doseki merely playing for time? Either way, Douchi waited. And the tension began to rise.
Because power, once claimed, rarely surrenders itself willingly.
To Be Continued in Next Blog: The Throne That Wouldn’t Yield
Betrayals. Politics. Legacy at war with ambition. You won’t want to miss it.
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Copyright Notice
This English adaptation is based on Japanese Go Stories (《日本围棋故事》, 2016) by Xue Zhicheng (薛至诚).
For non-commercial use only: Shared for educational purposes under fair use.
Rights retained: All copyrights belong to the original author and cited sources.
Modifications: Minor narrative adjustments were made for readability; all historical content remains accurate.
No affiliation or endorsement: This work is independent and unaffiliated with the original author or publishers.
Contact: For verification or takedown requests, please email help@zeejyan.com.
References
Adapted from:
Xue Zhicheng (薛至诚), Japanese Go Stories (《日本围棋故事》), 2016.
Cited in original work:
Watanabe Hideo (渡辺英夫), Shin Zaigin Dansō (《新坐隱談叢》)
Watanabe Yoshimichi (渡部義通), Kodai Igo no Sekai (《古代囲碁の世界》)
Lin Yu (林裕), Weiqi Encyclopedia (《围棋百科辞典》)
