Two games down, Shibano Toramaru has won two in a row to make the 51st Meijin 2–2. The last time these two were tied after four games, Ichiriki won the next two. Game 5 is in Toba on September 30.
Three weeks ago the 51st Meijin looked like it might end early. Ichiriki Ryo had won the first two games, one with each color, and was two wins from a third straight Meijin.
Shibano Toramaru has since won twice. In Game 3 at Gamagori he won as White by resignation at move 184. In Game 4 at Izunokuni, on September 17, he won as Black by resignation after 243 moves. The series is now a best-of-three, and Game 5 is at the Todaya in Toba, Mie Prefecture, on September 30 and October 1.
For anyone who has followed these two, 2–2 is familiar ground.
Three years, one script
This is the third straight year Ichiriki and Shibano have met in the Meijin final, and the first two followed the same outline.
In 2024 Shibano was the titleholder and Ichiriki the challenger. Ichiriki won the first two games. Shibano won the next two to make it 2–2. Ichiriki then won Games 5 and 6 and took the title 4–2.
In 2025 the roles were reversed and Shibano was the challenger. Ichiriki again went 2–0 up. Shibano won Game 3, lost Game 4, won Game 5 to stay alive, and lost Game 6. Ichiriki won 4–2 again.
In 2026 Ichiriki won Games 1 and 2, and Shibano won Games 3 and 4.
Across the three series, Ichiriki has won all six of the opening two games. Shibano has won six of the ten games played after that. The trouble for Shibano is that Ichiriki has won every Game 6, the one that has ended the series both times.
So the 2–2 score is not new. What would be new is Shibano winning Game 5 from level.
What’s different this time
The case for Shibano this year starts in March. At the Kisei, Japan’s richest title, he took the title from Ichiriki. That series also went the distance: Shibano won Game 7 as Black by resignation on March 26. It was his first Kisei, and it cost Ichiriki the honorary Kisei title he had been playing for.
Then in July, Fukuoka Kotaro took the Honinbo from Ichiriki. So Ichiriki, who held five titles at the start of the year, now holds three: the Meijin, the Oza and the Tengen. Shibano holds two, the Kisei and the Judan.
That makes this a different match from the last two Meijin finals. In 2024 and 2025, Ichiriki was the clear top player in Japan. This year he has lost two titles, and one of them went to the player across the board.
Why Game 5 matters more than usual
Game 5 in a 2–2 series is important in any title match. In this rivalry it is also where Shibano’s 2024 comeback ended. He went into Game 5 of that series level, just as he is now, and lost it. The title was gone a week later.
Ichiriki won Game 1 as Black in 205 moves and Game 2 as White in 180. Shibano’s wins took 184 and 243 moves, and Game 4 was the longest of the series so far.
October won’t let up
Game 5 isn’t the only thing on Ichiriki’s calendar. Game 6 is on October 14 and 15 and, if needed, Game 7 on October 28 and 29. Around those dates, Ichiriki also opens two other title defenses:
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The Tengen, against Iyama Yuta, starting October 7 in Nagoya. Game 3 is scheduled for Busan, the first Tengen game ever played outside Japan.
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The Oza, against Fukuoka Kotaro, starting October 23. Fukuoka is the 20-year-old who took the Honinbo off Ichiriki in July.
If the Meijin goes to seven games, Ichiriki will play two-day and one-day title games in close succession against three different challengers.
What to watch
Shibano has come back from 0–2 to level twice now, in 2024 and again this year. What he hasn’t done is keep winning after drawing level. If he wins in Toba, he goes to Game 6 needing one win from two, and Japan’s top titles would start to look much more evenly shared. If Ichiriki wins, the series will be following the 2024 script: 2–0, then 2–2, then two more wins for Ichiriki.
