Kōji Tanigawa


is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-dan. He is the 17th Lifetime Meijin and also a former president of the Japan Shogi Association.

Early life

Kōji Tanigawa was born in Kobe on April 6, 1962. He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 5-kyū in 1973 under the tutelage of shogi professional, was promoted to the rank of 1-dan in 1975, and was officially awarded professional status and the rank of 4-dan in 1976 at the age of fourteen, thus becoming the second person to obtain professional status while still a junior high school student.

Shogi professional

In February 1979, Tanigawa won the for his first championship as a professional.
Tanigawa's first major title match appearance came in 1983 when he challenged Hifumi Katō for the 41st Meijin title. Tanigawa won the match 4 games to 2 to not only win his first major title, but also to become the youngest player to ever win the Meijin title at the age of 21. The following year, he successfully defended his title by defeating 4 games to 1 in the 42nd Meijin title match; he was however, unable to defend his title once again title in 1985, losing the 43rd Meijin title match to Makoto Nakahara 4 games to 2.
On March 10, 2011, Tanigawa became the 4th shogi professional to win 1200 official games when he defeated Daisuke Nakagawa.Tanigawa's age of 48 years and 11 months made him at that time the youngest player to achieve such a result.
On October 1, 2018, Tanigawa became the fifth shogi professional to win 1300 official games.

JSA executive

Tanigawa was selected to be a senior managing director of Japan Shogi Association for a two-year term at the association's 62nd General Meeting on May 26, 2011. On December 18, 2012, JSA president Kunio Yonenaga died, and Tanigawa was subsequently selected to be his replacement at a special JSA members meeting held on December 25, 2012. This made him the first JSA president from the Kansai region.
Tanigawa was re-elected as president at the 64th and 66th General Meetings; however, he announced on January 18, 2017, that he had decided to resign in order to accept responsibility for the JSA's handling of the 29th Ryūō challenger controversy. Tanigawa continued to serve as president until his successor was chosen at a special meeting of the JSA membership on February 6, 2017.

Promotion history

The promotion history of Tanigawa is as follows:
Tanigawa has appeared in major title matches a total of 57 times and has won 27 major titles. He has won the Meijin title 5 times, thus qualifying for the Lifetime Meijin title. In addition to major titles, Tanigawa has won 22 other shogi championships during his career.

Major titles

Other championships

Note: Tournaments marked with an asterisk are no longer held.

Awards and honors

Tanigawa has received a number of awards and honors throughout his career for his accomplishments both on an off the shogi board. These include the Annual Shogi Awards given out by the JSA for performance in official games as well as other JSA awards for career accomplishments, and awards received from governmental organizations, etc. for contributions made to Japanese society.

Annual Shogi Awards

Tanigawa has finished in the "Top 10" of the JSA's each year from 1993 to 2007, and then again in 2013. He also has finished in the "Top 3" eight times, and was the top money winner in 1997.
YearAmountRank
1993¥56,500,0002nd
1994¥43,590,0004th
1995¥54,020,0002nd
1996¥50,690,0002nd
1997¥117,620,0001st
1998¥95,390,0002nd
1999¥67,690,0002nd
2000¥67,390,0002nd
2001¥48,460,0004th
2002¥42,310,0005th
2003¥42,910,0004th
2004¥46,730,0003rd
2005¥28,440,0005th
2006¥32,050,0005th
2007¥23,500,0009th
2013¥18,180,0008th

In the late 1980s, Pony Canyon released a line of Shogi video games for the MSX and Famicom featuring Tanigawa. The series was titled.