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 7-

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

Satō was born on June 12, 1978, in

Matsudo 260px, Matsudo City Hall is a city in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 498,575 in 242,981 households and a population density of 8100 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Matsudo is loca ...

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

. The first shogi book he ever read was a book written by shogi professional Hifumi Katō. The book was written for beginners and explained the apprentice school system and what it took to become a shogi professional. After reading this book, Satō decided to try and become strong enough to become an apprentice professional before graduating from

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 ...

, but still considered shogi to be just a hobby. As a fourth-grade student, he started traveling to neighboring

Kashiwa is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 433,436 in 194,216 households and a population density of 3800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The name of the city is written with a si ...

to practice at the Kashiwa Shogi Center. Satō entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school as a student 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 ...

in 1990, was promoted to the rank of 1-dan in 1994 and then obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan after finishing second in the 33rd 3-dan League with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.

Promotion history

Satō's promotion history is as follows: * 6-

: 1990 * 1-dan: 1994 * 4-dan: October 1, 2003 * 5-dan: November 2, 2007 * 6-dan: March 24, 2014 * 7-dan: October 30, 2019

Awards and honors

Satō won the Japan Shogi Association's Annual Shogi Award for "Most Consecutive Wins" for the 20072008 shogi year.

References

External links

*ShogiHub
Professional Player Info · Sato, Kazutoshi
Japanese shogi players Living people Professional shogi players from Chiba Prefecture 1978 births People from Matsudo {{Shogi-stub