Before diving into the history, here are a few notes on the cultural context and a few conventions I’ll be following.
Dates
In the Edo period, and indeed for a fair portion of the 20th century, Japan used its own calendar system (actually a series of slightly different but largely similar systems).
Years are numbered by the gengou (元号) system. Every year belongs to an era, the start of which corresponds to the ascension of each new Emperor (or in the Edo period and before, other significant events as decided by court officials). Eras start at year 1; the numbering resets for each new era. For instance, in the modern era Heisei 1 started on 7th January 1989; then Heisei 2 on 1st January 1990, and so on. This year numbering is still in use today (2021 is Reiwa 3).
Months and days followed the lunisolar calendar prior to 1872. Each year was subdivided into 12 months of 29 or 30 days to follow the lunar cycle. To keep the calendar in sync with the solar cycle and seasons however, every three years or so an extra “leap month” would be added.
As a result, the start of each lunisolar year does not exactly correspond to the start of a Gregorian calendar year. For example, the 1st day of the 1st month of Bunsei 9 was 7th February 1826, and the 1st day of the 1st month of Bunsei 10 was 27th January 1826.
Japan moved from the lunisolar calendar to the solar calendar in 1872. The “old calendar” Meiji 5, 3rd day of the 12th month was declared to be the 1st day of the 1st month of Meiji 6, synchronising with the Gregorian calendar.
In light of all these complications, I have chosen the following conventions to work with here:
- I have simply converted the era year to the closest corresponding Gregorian calendar year; this may cause some dates to be apparently or actually off by one year, especially for events that occurred in the first or last months of the year.
- I do not refer to months by their western names (January, February etc.) prior to 1872, unless actually referring to the Gregorian date. (For clarity, I do not use the Japanese names either.)
Ages
In Japan, as in some other East Asian cultures, people are born at the age of 1. Age then reflects the number of years a person has lived in.
In most Western cultures, people are born at the age of 0. Age then reflects the number of years a person has lived through.
This difference results in apparent “off-by-one” errors when comparing ages written in western texts and in Japanese sources. Here I will use the western convention for age.
Names
Following Japanese naming conventions, the family name is given first, and the given name second. For example for Itou Kanju (伊藤看寿), Itou (伊藤) is the family name and Kanju (看寿) is the given name.
Before the Meiji Restoration, Japanese personal names were fluid and would change for a variety of reasons. It was typical for men to discard their childhood names and adopt a new adult name when they came of age, or to adopt a new name altogether when rising in social rank or position.
In the context of shogi history, this means that the same player could be recorded under various names at different points in their life (e.g. Oohashi Ryuusetsu was born as Nakamura Kitajirou, then adopted by the Oohashi branch family and changed his name to Oohashi Eishun, then to Oohashi Souei when named as the candidate to succeed the branch family, then to Oohashi Ryuusetsu when he was disowned). I have tried to be as consistent as possible in naming people, mentioning their other names where appropriate but sticking to the name they are most well-known under.
I will also note that while it is indisputably normal and polite to refer to people by their family name in writing (in Japanese and in English), in the context of this work it would be confusing to say the least when about half of the main personages are named Oohashi and the other half are Itou. Sacrificing accepted convention for clarity, I shall refer to everyone by their given names, even those outside of the shogi families.
Generation numbering
In the houses, each succeeding head of house has a number (first head, second head, third head, and so on). When a person became the next head he would usually change his name, often to the name of one of their predecessors. However, in the Japanese way of distinguishing these individuals, the number of the head of house would be used. So the fifth head of the Oohashi main family is often referred to as Oohashi Soukei V (五代大橋宗桂), although he is only the third person to have the name of Oohashi Soukei.
Here I will keep with the Japanese way of numbering. One exception is made for Itou Kanju II, the son of the original Itou Kanju, and not the second head of the Itou house.