Official News Release

8-Dan Namekata Hisashi (44 years old) won a game against 7-Dan Murayama Yasuaki in the 2nd qualify round of the 89th Kisei Tournament (sponsored by Sankei Newspaper) held on January 29th in Tokyo Shogi Kaikan, becoming the 52nd player to achieve 600 total wins in official games (shogi-eiyo-sho, or Shogi Honor Award).

8-Dan Namekata Hisashi's results at the time of achieving 600 wins

981 games,　600 wins　381 losses,　winning rate 0.612

Ladies 3-Dan Takamure Sachiko (46 years old) has been promoted to Ladies 4-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

January 21, 2018

Game

40th Kirishima Shuzo Cup, Ladies Osho Tournament, Qualify Round
(opponent: 4-Dan Yamada Kumi)

Promotion criteria met

By number of games won (120 wins after becoming Ladies 3-Dan)

9-Dan Minami Yoshikazu (54 years old) won a game against 5-Dan Ishida Naohiro in C2-class of the 76th Ranking League (jun'i-sen) held on January 19th in Tokyo Shogi Kaikan, becoming the 20th player to achieve 800 total wins in official games (shogi-eiyo-kanto-sho, or Shogi Honor Fighting-spirit Award).

9-Dan Minami Yoshikazu's career results (as of Jan. 21, 2018)

1452 games,　800 wins　652 losses, winning rate 0.551

9-Dan Kimura Kazuki (44 years old) won a game against 8-Dan Yamasaki Takayuki in B1-class of the 76th Ranking League (jun'i-sen), sponsored by Asahi Newspaper and Mainichi Newspaper, held on December 21st in Kansai Shogi Kaikan, becoming the 51st player to achieve 600 total wins in official games (shogi-eiyo-sho, or Shogi Honor Award).

9-Dan Kimura's results at the time of achieving 600 wins

943 games,　600 wins　342 losses,　winning rate 0.637

4-Dan Fujii Souta won against 7-Dan Hirafuji Shingo in the 1st Qualify Round of the 66th Oza Tournament held on November 21 in Kansai Shogi Kaikan, achieving 50 total wins in official games at the youngest age (15 years and 4 months) in history.

Fastest records of junior high school student shogi pro's achieving 50 wins

as of November 21, 2017

No.	Player	Date of promotion to 4-Dan	Date of achieving 50 wins	Game count	Months spent since 4-Dan promotion to 50 wins	Date of birth	Age at 4-Dan promotion	Age at 50 wins
1	Fujii Souta	Oct. 1 ,2016	Nov. 21, 2017	50-6	1 year 1 month	Jul. 19, 2002	14 years 2 months	15 years 4 months
2	Habu Yoshiharu	Dec. 18, 1985	Apr. 9, 1987	50-16	1 year 3 months	Sep. 27, 1970	15 years 2 months	16 years 6 months
3	Watanabe Akira	Apr. 1, 2000	Apr. 19, 2002	50-30	2 years 0 month	Apr. 23, 1984	15 years 11 months	17 years 11 months
4	Kato Hifumi	Oct. 1, 1954	Sep. 14, 1956	50-17	2 years 1 month	Jan. 1, 1940	14 years 7 months	16 years 8 months
5	Tanigawa Koji	Dec. 20, 1976	Mar. 23, 1979	50-26	2 years 3 months	Apr. 6, 1962	14 years 8 months	16 years 11 months

※(1) Five players listed above became professional player at the age of junior high school student.
　Watanabe decided his promotion on March 9, 2000 (3rd grade of junior high), but his promotion date was April 1, 2000 (after graduating junior high).
　(2) Win-loss count of games in TV broadcast tournament that are yet to be broadcast are removed from Fujii's results.
　(3) 9-Dan Kato's result is from over 60 years ago. It should be taken only as reference, because the number of players and tournaments were much fewer than now.

5-Dan Murata Akihiro (31 years old) has been promoted to 6-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

November 7, 2017

Game

89th Kisei Tournament, 1st Qualify Round
(opponent: 4-Dan Imaizumi Kenji)

Promotion criteria met

Number of games won (120 wins in official games after becoming 5-Dan)

9-Dan Fukaura Koichi (45 years old) won a game against 7-Dan Saito Shintaro in the challenger deciding league of the 67th Osho Tournament held on November 3rd in "Kansai Shogi Kaikan" in Osaka, becoming the 19th player to achieve 800 total wins in official games (shogi-eiyo-kanto-sho, or Shogi Honor Fighting-spirit Award).

9-Dan Fukaura Koichi's career results (as of November 3, 2017)

1257 games,　800 wins　457 losses,　winning rate 0.636

6-Dan Oishi Tadashi (28 years old) has been promoted to 7-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

November 1, 2017

Game

30th Ryuou Tournament, Class 3, Upgrade deciding match
(opponent: 8-Dan Kitahama Kensuke)

Promotion criteria met

2-time consecutive upgrade in Ryuou Tournament class

In the 2017 Autumn's Conferment of Medals of Honor, 9-Dan Moriuchi Toshiyuki (Managing Director of the Japan Shogi Association, 47 years old) receives the Medal with Purple Ribbon.
The Medal of Purple Ribbon is given to those who have been making significant achievements for many years in invention, improvement, or creation in the fields of science and art. Moriuchi is the fourteenth recipient from the shogi world to win the Medal of Honor.

9-Dan Moriuchi's comment
"Since former recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon from the shogi world are all distinguished senior players, I was surprised when I heard about my receiving the prize, but I feel very honored. I have a feeling of strong relation ship with Chairman Sato Yasumitsu, because we have been improving ourselves through rivalry on the shogi board since junior high, making many kinds of memories of winning and losing. I am very happy to receive the Medal with Purple Ribbon in the same year as Chairman Sato, and I also think it is an honorable thing in the shogi world.
Before becoming managing director, I was thinking mostly about my games. After becoming managing director, however, I have been thinking about how to develop the shogi world. In future I want to make the shogi world an encouraging and attractive world for younger generations. I strongly recognize that the shogi world is supported by many fans and partners even now, but I would like to further develop this world by communicating the attractiveness of shogi to more people."

List of JSA recipients of Medal of Honor

chronological order of receiving / ranks are at the time of receiving

Name (at the time)	Date of birth	Age at the time	Received date and kind of honor
14th Lifetime Meijin Kimura Yoshio	Feb. 21, 1905	55	Nov. 3, 1960	Medal with Purple Ribbon	*First in shogi world
9-Da Masuda Kozo	Mar. 21, 1918	55	Nov. 3, 1973	Medal with Purple Ribbon
9-Dan Tsukada Masao	Aug. 2, 1914	61	Nov. 3, 1975	Medal with Purple Ribbon
15th Lifetime Meijin Oyama Yasuharu	Mar. 13th, 1923	56	Apr. 29, 1979	Medal with Purple Ribbon
9-Dan Maruta Yuzo	Mar. 30, 1919	62	Nov. 3, 1981	Medal with Blue Ribbon
8-Dan Harada Yasuo	Mar. 1, 1923	59	Nov. 3, 1982	Medal with Blue Ribbon
9-Dan Hirotsu Hisao	Feb. 26, 1923	63	Apr. 29, 1986	Medal with Blue Ribbon
9-Dan Futakami Tatsuya	Jan. 2, 1932	60	Apr. 29, 1992	Medal with Purple Ribbon
9-Dan Kato Hifumi	Jan. 1, 1940	60	Apr. 29, 2000	Medal with Purple Ribbon
Lifetime Kisei Yonenaga Kunio	Jun. 10, 1943	60	Nov. 3, 2003	Medal with Purple Ribbon
Lifetime 10-Dan Nakahara Makoto	Sep. 2, 1947	60	Apr. 29, 2008	Medal with Purple Ribbon
9-Dan Tanigawa Koji	Apr. 6, 1962	52	Nov. 3, 2014	Medal with Purple Ribbon
9-Dan Sato Yasumitsu	Oct. 1, 1969	47	Apr. 29, 2017	Medal with Purple Ribbon
9-Dan Moriuchi Toshiyuki	Oct. 10, 1970	47	Nov. 3, 2017	Medal with Purple Ribbon

4-Dan Ishii Kentaro (25 years old) has been promoted to 5-Dan, winning the game described below.

Date of promotion

October 30, 2017

Game

59th Oui Tournament, Qualify Round
(opponent: 6-Dan Yokoyama Hiroaki)

Promotion criteria met

Number of games won (100 wins in official games after becoming 4-Dan)