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Koyo Toya
Koyo
Kanji 塔矢行洋
Rōmaji Tōya Kōyō
Also known as Tōya Meijin
Description
Gender Male
Birthday August 12 LEO ♌
Blood Group B
Sign Lion ♌
Status
Occupation Go player
Affiliation Japan
China (after retirement)
Go Level 9 Dan
Relationships
Family Akiko Toya (wife)
Akira Toya (son)
Rivals/Friends Fujiwara-no-Sai
Media
Manga Debut Game 2
Anime Debut Episode 1
Japanese Voice Actor Eizo Tsuda
English Voice Actor Paul Dobson


Kōyō Tōya (塔矢 行洋, Tōya Kōyō), also known as Tōya Meijin, is a Professional Go Player and the Meijin, the husband of Akiko Toya and the father of Akira Toya who is a holder of multiple titles until retirement from Professional after facing against Fujiwara no Sai on the Internet.

Appearance[]

Touya Meijin
In the anime

He is usually depicted in traditional Japanese dress and is older, his hair being gray throughout the entire series.

Personality[]

Koyo Toya's personality is depicted as very serious, both in his professional and private life though he is shown to have his moments of sweetness, especially with his son, Akira, whom he has great pride and affection for.

His feeling for go is very similar to Sai as he stated that he will not stop playing go even after he retire as a Professional Go Player.

History[]

Much of Koyo Toya's History is unknown but he became a Professional the same time as Shigeo Morishita where Morishita develop a strong rivalry with Koyo He later teaches Seiji Ogata how to play go and became one of his students he later taught his son Akira how to play go and is a natural prodigy and Koyo forbid Akira from participate amateur tournament fearing that he will crush the spirit inspiring young go players

Plot[]

Beginning Arc[]

At the beginning of the story, Toya Meijin is considered by many in the Go world to be the greatest Go player of the present day. He is the simultaneous holder of 4 titles: Meijin, Judan, Tengen, and Gosei. He is in disbelief that Akira could lose to Hikaru, an amateur his age. He challenges Hikaru to a match with a 3 stone handicap, the amount Akira usually takes. This allows Hikaru to finally understand the intensity of Go.

Pro Exam Arc[]

Toya challenges Zama for the Oza title and wins, now holding an unprecedented 5 titles.

Sai vs Meijin Arc[]

In the Shinshodan series, Toya specifically requests a match against Hikaru. Hikaru decides to let Sai play, but only if he plays as though he had a 15 point handicap in order to prevent Sai from winning too easily. Sai plays overly aggressively, attacking too early and stretching himself too thin. However, Sai is secretly playing a complicated game with many traps, leaving his group wide open and waiting for the Meijin to go for the kill. Toya sees right through Sai's strategy and avoids his traps, finally winning by resignation. After Hikaru resigns, Toya requests to play him again in the future without any handicap, showing that he knows that Hikaru was playing as though he had a handicap against him instead of for him.

Later, Toya Meijin collapses from a heart attack, and Hikaru visits Toya in the hospital. While there, Hikaru learns that Toya is now playing Internet Go. Hikaru arranges a match for Sai to battle against Toya. They agree to high stakes: if Sai loses, then he will reveal his identity, while Toya agrees to retire from Go if he loses. Ichiryu Kisei observes that Toya is playing online and thinks he is an impostor. He challenges him to a game, but is defeated easily, and realizes it has to be the real thing because of his great strength.

Sai and Toya face each other in what can only be described as the game of the century. Huge numbers of go players are watching this, amazed by the superb play on both sides. Toya gains the advantage, but Sai finds a great move to erase the enemy territory with a stone that cannot be captured. Eventually they reach the endgame, where most onlookers thought it was neck-and-neck, while a select few such as Ogata recognize that Toya is losing. Toya works out that even with best play, he would lose by half a point, and had no doubt that Sai would play the best moves. So Toya resigns, and Sai acknowledges what a great game it was.

Hikaru visits Toya at the hospital again, hoping that he will not retire as a professional Go player. Toya clarifies that he would retire but not stop playing go altogether as he find retiring a great opportunity as he will be free from obligation as Pro. Both Akira and Ogata suspect that Hikaru has a connection to Sai. Toya manages to keep his arrangement a secret from both Akira and Ogata. However, afterwards he loses the Judan title to Ogata.

Toya keeps his promise to Sai and announces his retirement, causing an uproar from fans. Kurata plays a game with Toya, who says that retirement would be advantageous in his personal life.

Return Arc[]

Hokuto Cup Arc[]

Toya witnesses the Hokuto Cup along with most other major characters in the series.

Go[]

He is one of the world's top players and was stated by many to be able to match Hon'ninbo Shusaku. Koyo manage to earn five titles before his retirement.

Relationships[]

Fujiwara-no-Sai[]

Koyo is Sai's rival, whom he recognizes and respects, despite not knowing his full identity.

Akira Toya[]

Akira is Koyo's son and they are depicted as having a very close and affectionate (for them) relationship. They played go every morning when Akira was a child and Kouyou encouraged Akira to grow as a go player.

Hikaru Shindo[]

Koyo met Hikaru when he was 11 years old and he piqued his interest both in the children go tournament and by supposedly beating Akira (though it was actually Sai). This interest continued when Hikaru became an Insei and later a pro and Kouyou even requested to play him for his shodan game.



Trivia[]

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