In the continued absence of a Meijin, the leadership of the houses changed hands to the next generation: the Itou house from Itou Tokuju IV to Itou Souin V in 1763, the Oohashi branch house from Oohashi Souyo IV to Oohashi Soujun V in 1764, and the Oohashi main house from Oohashi Soukei VIII to Oohashi Soukei IX in 1774. There was a dearth of talent who could match up to the greatness of the previous generation of players, although they were by no means mediocre; Soukei IX would later become the eighth Meijin, and Souin V was a creative player who would be the first to explore yokofudori (the side pawn picker opening) as sente, and the Mino castle as uwate in lance handicap games.
There was however a silver lining to the Meijinless years from 1761 to 1789. Coinciding with this period was the reign of shogun Tokugawa Ieharu (徳川家治, 1737-1786), 10th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate from 1760 to 1786 – and the most passionate about shogi of all the shoguns.
Ieharu was an avid shogi player, achieving the rank of 7-dan – and not simply due to his office, for he was a motivated amateur player. During his reign, the official Tanuma Okitsugu had held a high office, who as a shrewd if corrupt politician took the reins of government (that period is sometimes also called the “Tanuma era”); this left Ieharu with time to focus on painting and shogi.
Ieharu would frequently play against the heads of the shogi houses, including Oohashi Soukei IX (Oohashi Inju), Itou Kanju II, Itou Souin V and Itou Soukan VI (Itou Inka), as well as his close associates; around 100 of those game records survive today.
He was so passionate for shogi that even the annual Castle Game between the iemoto (or their representatives) was insufficient; he would have the shogi house representatives play against his officials in official “okonomi” teaching games; many of those kifu from 1767 to 1785 survived. They were recorded in a peculiar form of notation favoured by Ieharu, Iroha notation, using the syllables of the classic poem Iroha and other characters to label each square of the board.
Although Ieharu was strong at playing shogi, he was some way from being the strongest. He was perhaps history’s best “amateur” in all senses of the word: he did not make his living off shogi, so did not have to worry about his results; nor did he have to worry about the competition, rivalry and intrigues of being in one of the shogi houses; and of course, he truly loved the game.
Ieharu’s tsumeshogi compositions though were an entirely different matter altogether. The late Futakami Tatsuya 9-dan, Habu Yoshiharu’s master and skilled tsumeshogi composer, remarked that while Ieharu’s shogi games were ultimately “amateurish”, his tsumeshogi compositions were “peerless”.
Ieharu composed a collection of 100 tsumeshogi, the Gyosen Shougi Koukaku (御撰象棊攷格), which was completed in 1785. This was an impressive feat for an amateur and a work of no little quality, especially in the golden era of tsumeshogi ushered in by the Itou brothers a generation earlier. Tsumeshogi expert Kadowaki Yoshio notes that many of the positions within are grand but unpolished; but he also points out that nevertheless the Koukaku brought to the table a richness of ideas, including a significant number of kyoku-dzume and themed problems compared to the works of the contemporary iemoto. Around 20 of the problems are cooked; however, this does not detract from the originality and artistic energy of the work as a whole.
The original manuscript of the Koukaku can be found in the National Archives of Japan, together with the other dedicated tsumeshogi collections such as the Shogi Musou, Shogi Zukou, Shogi Taikou, and the Shogi Komakurabe which Ieharu had treasured so.
And the Meijinless period would pass, with shogun Tokugawa Ieharu in some sense as its shepherd. He passed away in 1786 from illness, and his tombstone lies in Kan’eiji Temple in Taitou Ward, Tokyo.