Honinbo Doteki
Japanese Go player
Ogawa Doteki (本因坊道的, 1669–1690), also known as Honinbo Doteki, was a professional Japanese Go player of the Honinbo house.
Biography
By the time Doteki was 13, he was regarded as one of the best players, and became heir to Honinbo Dosaku, his teacher. Still only 13, he had already reached 6 dan. He played in his first Castle Games in November 1684, where he beat Yasui Sanchi 3 games to 0, and was hailed as the best prodigy of the time.
A month after beating Yasui, he was promoted to 7 dan. He was very close to attaining the title of Meijin, and even once beat his teacher, Dosaku, on even. With a full life ahead of him, he was cut short when he died in 1690 at the age of 21. Many believe that if he hadn't died so young, he would have surpassed Dosaku. Because of these facts he has sometimes been referred to as 'Honinbo' Doteki.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Honinbo Doteki” as japanese Go player. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as japanese Go player. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5896170. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1669, 1690 and 1684.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Honinbo Doteki”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Honinbo Doteki primary sources, Honinbo Doteki archive and Honinbo research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Honinbo Doteki”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Honinbo Doteki” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.