Honinbo Sansa - Legacy

Legacy

Honinbō Sansa was succeeded by a youth named Sugimura, who due to his age, had to wait several years after Sansa's death to re-establish the Honinbō house as Honinbō Sanetsu when he turned twenty. However, the title of Meijin was regained by the third head of Honinbō, and altogether, seven of the ten generations of historic Meijin were Honinbō. In addition, all three traditional Kisei ("Go Sages") were Honinbō masters. (Both Meijin and Kisei are now titles administered by the Nihon Ki-in.)

The school established by Honinbō Sansa, along with the Inoue and Yasui schools, lasted into the 20th century, but struggled without government backing. In 1936, the last Honinbō master, the controversial Honinbō Shusai, turned selection of the Honinbō title over to the Nihon Ki-in. (See Honinbō Tournament.)