The title, meaning Go Sage in Japanese, was a traditional honorary appellation given to a handful of players down the centuries.
The games are played over two days and each player is given eight hours of thinking time.
[2] If a player qualifies for the Kisei league, they are automatically promoted to 7 dan.
If that same player goes on to winning the title, they are promoted to 9 dan, the highest rank.
[3] A Go player who has held the title for five consecutive years, or won the title a total of ten times or more, has qualified themselves to become "Honorary Kisei" after retiring or after the age of 60.