is a deceased 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 ...

who achieved the rank of 8-

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 ...

(the highest dan at the time) and also 9-dan, which was an honorary rank, after death. Kanda's son, Shizuo Kanda (神田鎮雄), also became a professional player.

Early life

Shogi professional

Kanda was involved in a controversy over his promotion to the rank of 8-dan, which led to a western faction of shogi players (the Japan Shogi Reform Society 日本将棋革新協会 ''nihon shōgi kakushin kyōkai'') splitting away from the newly formed

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 ...

. When the shogi world united into the (an early form of the Japan Shogi Association) in 1936, Kanda became the head of the western

Kansai The or the , lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshu, Honshū. The region includes the Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Nara Prefecture, Nara, Wakayama Prefecture, Wakayama, Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto, Osaka Prefectur ...

branch.

Promotion history

Titles and other championships

Kanda was one of the 8 competitors in the very first tournament league for the first

Meijin is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word ''meijin'' (名 ''mei'' "excellent, artful", 人 ''jin'' "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (t ...

title in 1937, when the title shifted from a hereditary system to a tournament competition. Yoshio Kimura was the winner and became the first Meijin. In 1942, Kanda was the challenger for the third

title tournament against Yoshio Kimura. However, he lost all four games, and Kimura retained the title.

References

Japanese shogi players Deceased professional shogi players Professional shogi players from Hyōgo Prefecture People from Kobe 1893 births 1943 deaths {{Shogi-stub