Renju (linked beads)

Japanese: 連珠(聯珠) - れんじゅ

An indoor game in which go stones are placed alternately from the center (Tengen) of a renju board (15-way board) in the order of black (first player) and white (second player), and the first player to reach five consecutive stones in any direction, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, is the winner.
[history]
In China, it is called "Kakugo" and is said to have been played since before the Han dynasty, but its history in Japan is unclear. In the past, it was a game played by upper-class women, and later, during the Edo period, it became popular along with other performing arts, and books such as "Kakugo Shinpu" by Doi Goga, a Confucian scholar from the Tsu domain at the end of the Edo period, were published. In 1899, Kuroiwa Ruiko (who was known as Takayama Goraku in Renju and was posthumously awarded the title of first master), who presided over the "Manchoho" newspaper, unified the names of the games that were then used, such as "Kakugo," "Gomoku Narabe," "Goseki," and "Goren," into "Renju," and serialized "Renju Hisshoho" with illustrations by Takahashi Kiyotaka.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

碁石を連珠盤(15道盤)の中央(天元)から黒(先手)，白(後手)の順に交互に打って，縦，横，斜めいずれかの方向に先に五連に達した方を勝者とする室内遊戯。
［歴史］
　中国で〈格五〉と呼ばれて漢代以前から行われていたといわれるが，日本における歴史は明らかではない。古くは上流婦人の遊戯であり，下って江戸時代には他の芸能とともに大衆化し，幕末津藩の儒者土井聱牙（ごうが）の《格五新譜》などの書物も出た。1899年《万朝報》を主宰する黒岩涙香(連珠では高山互楽と号し，初世名人を追贈された)が当時の〈格五〉〈五目並べ〉〈五石〉〈五連〉などの名称を統一して〈聯珠〉とし高橋清致による図入り〈聯珠必勝法〉を連載した。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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