Honinbo Shuho

Hon'inbō Shūho (本因坊 秀甫, 1838 – October 14, 1886), known also as Murase Shūho (村瀬 秀甫), was the first Japanese professional go player to have a reputation in the Western world.

Biography

A disciple in the Honinbo house, he founded the Hoensha institution and taught the game of Go to a German visitor by the name of Oskar Korschelt. Korschelt later was the first person to spread and popularize Go to any effect, in a non-Asian country. Shuho became the 18th Honinbō in 1886.

Shuho became a student in the Honinbō house at the age of seven and was awarded a 1-dan rank in 1848, reaching 6-dan in 1861. He was the strongest Honinbō disciple after Shusaku, and Shuwa wanted to make him his heir when Shusaku died, but Jowa's widow blocked this plan. He became head of the Hoensha in 1879. Shuho published the famous book Hoen Shinpo in 1882, which outlined the Meiji era fuseki. After a rapprochement between the Hoensha and the Honinbo house in 1886, Shuei promoted Shuho to 8-dan and stepped aside to allow him to become head of the Honinbō house. Shuho died only three months after becoming Honinbō. In the last few years of his life he was the strongest player in Japan.