The second Meijin Oohashi Souko II passed away in 1654. Itou Soukan I (伊藤宗看, 1618-1694), having gained a wealth of experience in fending off the challenges to the houses, was now undoubtedly the strongest player, and so became Meijin at the age of 37. He had presented his tsumeshogi gift to the shogunate, the 100-problem Shogi Komakurabe, five years prior in 1649. Following in his footsteps, future 8-dan players billed as the next Meijin would gift their tsumeshogi offerings before they acceded to the position too.
In dealing with so many independent players, some more idiosyncratic than others, Soukan had tried many different strategies. His varied experiences rapidly advanced the overall understanding of the game. In the field of tsumeshogi, he also did away with koma-amari (mates with pieces still left in the attacker’s hand), resulting in more refined compositions and a significant step towards the more artistic side of tsumeshogi.
Soukan never forgot his roots and how much he owed his master, Oohashi Soukei I. A well-known story of Soukan’s selflessness comes from 1664. The main Oohashi house had a crisis of succession when third head Oohashi Soukei III (Soukei I’s grandson, and whom Soukan had surpassed to be named Meijin) passed away in 1660, then just two years later fourth head Oohashi Souden IV (Soukei III’s son) at the age of 25. Soukan, prepared to have his house’s lineage end in just a single generation, sent his only son Itou Sougin (then aged 29) to be adopted by the main Oohashi family in 1664 and continue its lineage. Taking the name Oohashi Soukei V, Sougin would eventually inherit the title of Meijin from his birth father in 1691.
Soukan’s kindness was not overlooked. Later, through the arrangement of the temple and shrine magistrate Inoue Kawachi-no-kami (Inoue Masamine), Soukan adopted the talented Tsuruta Gen’an, continuing the lineage of the house of Itou. Gen’an took the name Itou Souin, and would become Meijin after Soukei V in 1713.
Itou Soukan I retired as Meijin and head of the Itou family in 1691 – the only Meijin in the Edo period to do so, instead of passing on the title upon death. He died three years later in 1694.