It's similar to the way Shogi and Go works.
You have four Prelim Tournaments. Based on the club you registered under you are either in the East or West and then divided into men and women.
The winner of those 4 tournaments meet each other in a winner-takes-all match (man vs.man, woman vs. woman) to receive the once-a-year right to challenge the Meijin and Queen title match.
Meijin match is best-of-7, while Queen match is best-of-5.