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The ranking system is used by many Japanese organizations to indicate the level of one's ability (expertise) within a certain subject matter. As a ranking system, it was originally used at a go school during the Edo period. It is now also used in modern fine arts and martial arts. The system was applied to martial arts by Kanō Jigorō (1860–1938), the founder of judo, in 1883, and later introduced to other East Asian countries. In the modern Japanese martial arts, holders of dan ranks often wear a black belt; those of higher rank may also wear red-and-white and red belts. Dan ranks are still given for strategic board games such as go, Japanese chess (''shogi''), and renju as well as for cultural arts such as flower arrangement (''ikebana''), Japanese calligraphy (''shodō'') and tea ceremony (''sadō''). The Chinese character for the word dan (段) literally means ''step'' or ''stage'' in Japanese, but is also used to refer to one's ''rank'' or ''grade'', i.e., one's degree or level of expertise. In Chinese pinyin, however, the same character is spelled ''duàn'', and was originally used to mean ''phase''. Dan is often used together with the word in certain ranking systems, with dan being used for the higher ranks and kyū being used for lower ranks. ==History== The dan ranking system in go was devised by Honinbo Dosaku (1645–1702), a professional go player in the Edo period.〔〔 Prior to the invention, top-to-bottom ranking was evaluated by comparison of handicap and tended to be vague. Dosaku valued the then highest title holder, Meijin at 9 Dan. He was likely inspired by an ancient Chinese go ranking system (9 Pin Zhi) and an earlier court ranking system (nine-rank system), although lower numbers are more senior in those systems. Dan ranks were transferred to martial arts by Kanō Jigorō (1860–1938), the founder of judo. Kanō started the modern rank system in 1883 when he awarded ''shodan'' (the lowest dan rank) to two of his senior students (Shiro Saigo and Tomita Tsunejirō). Prior to this, martial arts schools awarded progress with less frequent menkyo licenses or secret scrolls. There was still no external differentiation between ''yūdansha'' (black belt ranks) and ''mudansha'' (those who had not yet attained a dan grade). Different athletic departments within the Japanese school system were already using markers of rank, most notably in swimming where advanced swimmers wore a black ribbon around their waists. Kano adopted the custom of having his ''yūdansha'' wear black obi (belts) in 1886. At that time, these ''obi'' were not the belts ''karateka'' and ''jūdōka'' wear today; the students were still practicing in kimono. They wore the wide ''obi'' still worn with formal kimono. In 1907, Kanō invented the modern keikogi (white practice uniforms), and belts in white for mudansha and black for yūdansha. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dan (rank)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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