Go and Shogi: Inside Japan's Two Great Strategy Board Games

In a quiet room with tatami floors, two players sit across a thick wooden board, and for several minutes nothing seems to happen. Then a stone clicks onto the grid, or a wooden piece slides forward, and the whole room seems to lean in. Go and shogi are the two great strategy board games of Japan. Both have professional players, televised matches, and passionate followings, and both are treated with the respect given to an art.

This guide explains how each game works in plain terms, where the games came from, how Japan organized them into professional systems, and why names such as Honinbo and Fujii are known even to people who have never played. It ends with practical ideas for trying both games during a trip, including where the professional associations are based.

Go: Simple Rules, Endless Depth

Go is played on a grid of 19 by 19 lines, which gives 361 intersections. Two players, one with black stones and one with white, take turns placing a stone on an empty intersection. Once placed, a stone does not move. A stone or group of stones is captured when the opponent surrounds all of its neighboring empty points. The aim is to enclose more territory than your opponent, and the winner is decided by territory and captured stones.

Because the rules are so short, beginners often start on smaller boards of 9 by 9 or 13 by 13 lines, which teach the same ideas in a shorter game. To keep games fair between players of different strength, Go uses handicap stones, which let a weaker player begin with an advantage, and komi, a point bonus given to White for moving second. Under Japanese rules komi is 6.5 points. The game is said to have been invented in China more than 2,500 years ago, which makes it one of the oldest board games still played today.

How Go Became Japanese

Go reached Japan in around the 7th century and became popular at the imperial court in the 8th century. Its greatest institutional moment came in 1603, when Tokugawa Ieyasu appointed a monk called Nikkai, later known as Honinbo Sansa, as Godokoro, the government's minister of Go. The Honinbo house he founded took its name from a pavilion at Jakkoji temple in Kyoto. Four official Go houses, Honinbo, Yasui, Inoue, and Hayashi, competed in annual games before the shogun at the castle.

A leading figure of the Honinbo house in this era was Dosaku, the fourth Honinbo, who held the title from 1677 to 1702. In the 20th century the old house system gave way to modern organizations. The Nihon Ki-in (Japan Go Association) was formed in July 1924, and the Kansai Ki-in, based in western Japan, split from it in 1950. In 1938 Honinbo Shusai gave up the title to the Nihon Ki-in, which created a yearly tournament. The first Honinbo title match was held in 1941.

The Seven Great Titles and the Age of AI

Today the top of professional Go in Japan is organized around seven major titles: Kisei, Meijin, Honinbo, Judan, Tengen, Gosei, and Oza. The Honinbo title is the direct heir of the old house name, which makes it one of the most storied in the game. The Nihon Ki-in has its headquarters in Ichigaya, Tokyo, and women's tournaments carry their own Honinbo, Meijin, and Kisei titles.

The game has also entered the global spotlight through artificial intelligence. In 2016 the program AlphaGo defeated the professional Lee Sedol four games to one, and in 2017 it beat the player Ke Jie in a three-game match.

Shogi: Chess With Reusable Pieces

Shogi is played on a 9 by 9 board of 81 squares with 40 pieces in total, 20 for each player. Each side has a king, a rook, a bishop, two gold generals, two silver generals, two knights, two lances, and nine pawns. The pieces are flat wedge shapes marked with characters, and instead of using colors to show ownership, shogi uses direction: each piece points toward the opponent's side of the board.

The most distinctive rule is the drop. When you capture an opponent's piece, it goes into your hand, and on a later turn you can place it back on the board as your own. This keeps the game lively until the end, because no army ever truly shrinks. Pieces also promote when they reach the far third of the board: rooks and bishops gain the extra steps of a king, and most other pieces take on the movement of a gold general.

How the Shogi Pieces Move

Learning the moves is the first step, and they are easier than they look. The king steps one square in any direction. The rook slides any distance in a straight line along a row or column, and the bishop slides any distance diagonally. The gold general steps one square forward, diagonally forward, sideways, or straight back, and the silver general steps one square forward or in any of the four diagonal directions. The knight jumps two squares forward and one to the side, and it is the only piece that can leap over others. The lance runs straight forward any distance, and the pawn steps one square forward, capturing in the same direction.

Promotion adds a second layer of strategy. A promoted piece is flipped over to show a different character on the back, and a promoted pawn, lance, knight, or silver moves like a gold general. Because a captured piece returns to the board under its new owner in its unpromoted form, players constantly weigh the risk of leaving a piece exposed against the reward of pressing an attack. This constant exchange is why shogi games can swing suddenly, and why watching the professionals is so exciting.

A Game With Medieval Roots

The direct ancestor of modern shogi is a Heian-period game recorded in a text called the Nichureki, from about 1210 to 1221. The drop rule came later, and the rules were largely settled by the 16th century. During the Edo period, the Ohashi and Ito families held hereditary status under the Tokugawa shogunate, in a system comparable to the Go houses. The Japan Shogi Association traces its founding to 1924, and from 1937 the Meijin title began to pass to winners of title matches.

There are now eight major titles, including Meijin, Ryuo, Kisei, and Osho. In 1996 Yoshiharu Habu became the first player to hold seven at once. Then Sota Fujii, who became a professional on 1 October 2016 at age 14 years and 2 months, the youngest ever, won his first 29 official games, a record. He won the Kisei title in 2020 at 17 years and 11 months, the youngest major title holder in history, and in October 2023 he became the first player to hold all eight titles at once. As of the latest reports he holds six; check current news for any change.

Plan Your Visit

Visitors can meet both games in several easy ways. Go and shogi sets, books, and beginner boards are sold in specialist game shops and large department stores, and compact travel sets make good souvenirs. The Nihon Ki-in headquarters is in Ichigaya, Tokyo, while the Japan Shogi Association is based in Sendagaya in Shibuya Ward, in a new building that opened to the public on 1 October 2024. The association also has a western headquarters in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture. Check each official site for visitor information, events, and opening hours before you go.

Professional matches are broadcast on television and online, often with commentators who explain the moves, and many fans enjoy both games on their phones. If you want to try playing, start with Go on a 9 by 9 board or shogi against a friendly computer opponent, and learn the piece names as you go. The etiquette in a game room is simple: do not touch the pieces of a game in progress, and stay silent near a match.