Oza

Oza, meaning “throne” in Japanese, is the second oldest among the seven major titles in professional Go in Japan. Established in 1953, it quickly gained prestige and remains a symbol of professional excellence. The title is currently sponsored by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, with a winner’s purse of ¥14,000,000, ranking fourth among the major Japanese titles in terms of prize money.

The title is open to all professional players from the Nihon Ki-in and Kansai Ki-in. Since 1968, the tournament format includes a single-elimination preliminary stage culminating in a best-of-five title match against the reigning champion. Prior to that, the title match was determined by a best-of-three final between the last two players in the preliminary knockout, making consecutive wins more difficult.

The Oza is part of the promotion system of the Nihon Ki-in: reaching the title match grants automatic promotion to 7-dan, winning the title leads to 8-dan, and winning it twice results in a direct promotion to 9-dan. This further emphasizes the tournament’s prestige in the Go world.

Additional Notes

Notable players who have won the Oza include Sakata Eio, Kato Masao, Cho Chikun, and more recently, Iyama Yuta and Shibano Toramaru. The tournament has played a major role in the careers of many top players and remains a highly respected title both in Japan and internationally.

You can read more about Japan’s Go titles in our article.