2024 Meijin and Queen Championships

Hello,

The 2024 championships for 70th men’s Meijin (名人) and 68th women’s Queen (クイーン) titles, were streamed on YouTube this weekend!

And sub-channel here:

It seems that the Meijin-Queen championships are held every year shortly after Japanese New Year (oshōgatsu, January 1st through 3rd), and are played as “best of 3” (out of 5) battle.

The battles this year, particularly for the Queen title, were especially intense. The reigning Queen, Yamazoe (山添), ultimately lost to Inoue (井上), but each of the matches was a nail-biter. Many of them came to unmeisen (運命戦, “sudden death”), where each player is down to their last card. The Meijin battle finished in three consecutive wins for Kawase (川瀬), keeping is title.

Even if you’re not an expert player karuta player, it’s pretty fun to watch. I watched the first few matches with fellow karuta players on Discord (invite here), and we had a great time.

Also, it’s neat to see the best of the best play, learn some good techniques, and see the tradition of the Hyakunin Isshu live on for another generation.