Castle Games

The Castle Games - Oshigoro (御城碁) - were a series of important annual games played in the Shogun's castle by the best Japanese players of the day between the years 1626 and 1863. The games were surrounded by the politics of the four main go houses (Honinbo, Hayashi, Inoue, and Yasui) and three minor houses (Sakaguchi, Hattori, and Mizutani).

Players allowed to participate were the heads and heirs of the great houses, and other of rank at least 7D.

In the wake of the Meiji Restoration Castle games, like many traditional ceremonies and institution, were abandoned. The last games were held in 1861. In 1951. the Castle Games Records - Oshiro Gofu (御城碁譜) - were published in ten volumes.

Castle Games Records

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1. 1626-11-05 (Kanei 3-9-17) Yasui Santetsu vs Nakamura Doseki (B+4 #M:272)