Shōgi Zatsuwa (将棋雑話 or “Shogi Chatter”) is like a fun “shogi story-time” book. It’s a set of short essays by Kōda Rohan, a famous Japanese writer. Instead of teaching you exact moves, he chats about shogi’s world: why one king piece says 王 and the other says 玉, famous players from the past, wild match stories, different kinds of shogi, and even the “official” size of the board. It feels a bit like reading old-school trivia mixed with gossip from the shogi club.
Rohan wrote most of it during the Meiji era, when Japan was changing fast and magazines were a big deal. The work first appeared in the magazine Taiyō in 1901 (Meiji 34), and later printings added a few more sections that appeared in 1922. It was also reprinted in book collections such as Rohan Sōsho (1902).
So who was Rohan? He debuted as a writer in 1889, became well known (including for The Five-Storied Pagoda / Gojūnotō), and later leaned into history and research-style writing. He even received the first Order of Culture in 1937.
Shōgi Zatsuwa is shogi history told by a real literary star, not just a rulebook. It saves a lot of old names and legends that shogi fans still talk about. It’s a historical source you can actually read today—the National Diet Library marks the 1902 collection as public domain. (国立国会図書館サーチ（NDLサーチ）)
Shogi Chatter in the collected form is split into 31 short sections Here are the section names with English title translations:
- 香車の差物と勇士と – A Lance Banner and a Brave Warrior
- 王と玉と – Ō and Gyoku (King and Jade)
- 馬子の文字 – The Letters on the Pieces
- 玉將につきての俗説 – A Folk Tale About the “Jade General”
- 將棋と徂徠と – Shogi and Sorai
- 將棋と支考と – Shogi and Shikō
- 將棋と馬琴と – Shogi and Bakin
- 將棋と巢林子と – Shogi and Sōrinshi
- 將棋と三馬 – Shogi and Sanba
- 將棋を弄ぶもの親の死期に會はず – Those Who Toy With Shogi Won’t Meet Their Parent’s Final Moment
- 將棋と本願寺上人 – Shogi and the Abbot of Hongan-ji
- 将棋と吉備真備と大江匡房と – Shogi, Kibi no Makibi, and Ōe no Masafusa
- 醉象を用ゐある小将棋の擒将図 – A Small-Shogi Mate Diagram Using the “Drunken Elephant”
- 伊藤看寿七歳にして宗看を驚かす – Itō Kanju Amazes Sōkan at Age Seven
- 大橋宗桂多川勾当を屈す – Ōhashi Sōkei Defeats Tagawa Kōtō
- 桑原君仲の異才 – Kuwabara Kiminaka’s Remarkable Talent
- 添田宗太夫 – Soeda Sōdayū
- 大橋宗英鬼と呼ばる – Ōhashi Sōei, Called “the Demon”
- 京伝の娼妓絹篩 – Kyōden’s “Shōgi Kinuburui”
- 天野宗歩一世を壓す – Amano Sōho Dominates an Era
- 宗歩腹戦 – Sōho’s “Belly Battle”
- 将棋盤の定寸法 – The Standard Shogi-Board Measurements
- 市川太郎松天野宗歩と且飲み且戦ふ – Ichikawa Tarōmatsu and Amano Sōho: Drinking and Playing
- 大橋柳雪の飄逸 – Ōhashi Ryūsetsu’s Free-Spirited Style
- 大橋家の墳墓 – The Ōhashi Family Tombs
- 将棋の種類 – Types of Shogi
- 将棋をもて遊ぶ方法 – Ways to Have Fun with Shogi
- 圍碁象戯の難易 – Go and Shogi: Which Is Harder?
- 柳雪一局に二三人を屠る – Ryūsetsu “Slaughters” Two or Three at Once (in One Game)
- 大橋宗珉天野宗歩と死戦す – Ōhashi Sōmin Fights a “Death Match” with Amano Sōho
- 明治の棋聖 – The Meiji Era’s Shogi Saint