is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 1-

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'Ivoi ...

Early life and amateur shogi

Nohara was born on August 4, 2003, in

Toyama, Toyama is the capital city of Toyama Prefecture, Japan, located on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the Chūbu region on central Honshū, about north of the city of Nagoya and northwest of Tokyo. , the city had an estimated population of 415,844 in 1 ...

. She learned how to play shogi from her father when she was five years old, and then started attending a shogi school in

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...

and receiving instruction from a former appentice professional 3-dan named when she was nine years old. As an elementary school fifth-grade student, Nohara won the 7th in 2014, and then won the same tournament again as a sixth-grade student in 2015. After entering

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

, Nohara won the 8th in 2016 as a junior high school first year student, and then the 43rd as a junior high school third-year student in 2018. Her victory in 2018 was the first time the tournament had been won by a female. Nohara is the first to win the three years in a row; she won the 49th Amateur Women's Meijin Tournament in 2017, the 50th Amateur Women's Meijin Tournament in 2018 and the 51st Amateur Women's Meijin Tournament in 2019.

Women's shogi professional

Nohara satisfied the criteria for the rank of women's shogi professional 2-kyū in July 2020 when she defeated

Io Murota is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 2- dan. Women's shogi professional Promotion history Murata's promotion history is as follows: * 2-kyū is a Japanese term used in modern martial arts as well as in tea ceremony, ...

to advance to the quarterfinals of the 28th . She informed 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 ...

of her desire to turn professional, and the JSA announced on August 14, 2020, that it had accepted her application and would award her professional status as of September 1, 2020. Since part of the process for becoming a professional means having an existing professional shogi player as a sponsor, Nohara asked

Toshiyuki Moriuchi is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan. He is a Lifetime Meijin who won the title eight times, and also a former Ryūō, Kiō and Ōshō title holder. He is also a former senior managing director of the Japan Shogi Association. ...

to sponsor her and he agreed.

Playing style

Nohara has stated that her favorite opening strategy is or the Kamaitachi opening. It is an unorthodox strategy developed by her first shogi teacher Suzuki that can be used regardless of the opening strategy adopted by the opponent. Nohara stated that when she first started studying under Suzuki as an elementary school student she actually preferred the

Bishop Exchange Fourth File Rook In shogi, the Bishop Exchange Fourth File Rook (角交換四間飛車 ''kaku kōkan shikenbisha'') or Open Bishop Diagonal Fourth File Rook (角道オープン四間飛車 ''kaku michi shikenbisha'') is a Fourth File Rook (Ranging Rook) op ...

strategy but found that she just could not beat any opponents who were using the Kamaitachi opening; therefore, she began to study the strategy under Suzuki himself. She stated that one of the things that appealed to her about the strategy was that she could look at a random Kamaitachi position and immediately tell it was almost certainly from one of Suzuki's games in contrast to traditional shogi opening strategies which are more commonly used.

Promotion history

Nohara's promotion history is as follows: * 2-kyū: September 1, 2020 * 1-kyū: January 18, 2021 * 1-dan: August 3, 2021 Note: All ranks are women's professional ranks.

References

External links

* ShogiHub
Nohara, Miran

Two-part interview
in the September 2020 issue of ''

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well as ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nohara, Miran 2003 births Living people People from Toyama (city) Japanese shogi players Women's professional shogi players Professional shogi players from Toyama Prefecture