is a Japanese

professional shogi player A professional shogi player (将棋棋士 ''shōgi kishi'' or プロ棋士 ''puro kishi'' "professional player") is a shogi player who is usually a member of a professional guild of shogi players. There are two categories of professional player ...

ranked 5-

dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

Early life

Saitō was born in

Kawasaki, Kanagawa is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, one of the main cities of Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area. It is the second most populated city in Kanagawa Prefecture after Yokohama, and the List of cities in Japan, eight ...

on July 17, 1998. He learned how to play shogi from his father as a young boy before entering

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. In September 2010, Saitō was accepted into the

Japan Shogi Association The , or JSA, is the primary organizing body for professional shogi in Japan. The JSA sets the professional calendar, negotiates sponsorship and media promotion deals, helps organize tournaments and title matches, publishes shogi-related materia ...

(JSA) apprentice school as a pupil of shogi professional at the rank of 6-

kyū is a Japanese term used in modern martial arts as well as in tea ceremony, flower arranging, Go, shogi, academic tests and other similar activities to designate various grades, levels or degrees of proficiency or experience. In Mandarin Chin ...

. He was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 3-dan in 2015, and obtained full professional status and the corresponding rank of 4-dan in October 2017 after winning the 61st 3-dan League (April 2017September 2017) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.

Promotion history

The promotion history for Saitō is as follows. * 6-

: September 2010 * 3-dan: October 2015 * 4-dan: October 1, 2017 * 5-dan: January 14, 2021

References

External links

* * ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Saito, Asuto
Japanese shogi players Living people People from Kawasaki, Kanagawa Professional shogi players from Kanagawa Prefecture 1998 births {{shogi-stub