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Shōji Segawa
Shōji Segawa
Native name	瀬川晶司
Born	March 23, 1970 (age 54)
Hometown	Yokohama
Career
Achieved professional status	November 6, 2005 (aged 35)
Badge Number	259
Rank	6-dan
Teacher	Terutaka Yasue [ja] (8-dan)
Meijin class	C2
Ryūō class	5
Websites
	JSA profile page
	Official website

Shōji Segawa (瀬川晶司, Segawa Shōji, born March 23, 1970) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 6-dan.^[1] Segawa is known for becoming a professional player without being promoted by winning the 3-dan tournament within the professional apprenticeship program, which subsequently led to Japan Shogi Association establishing the Professional Admission Test as way for amateurs who are not apprentice professionals to obtain professional status. The 2018 movie The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan [ja] is based on Segawa's 2006 autobiography of the same name.

Becoming a professional shogi player

Segawa was a 3-dan ranked apprentice shogi professional, but was unable to gain promotion to 4-dan professional before turning 26 in 1996. Thus, per the association's rules, he was required to withdraw from its apprentice school.^[2] Segawa continued to play shogi as an amateur and won a number of national amateur tournaments which allowed him to qualify for entry into professional shogi tournaments. Segawa's record of 17 wins and 7 losses against professionals in these tournaments led him to request that the association grant him another opportunity to become a professional. The JSA discussed Segawa's petition at its annual general meeting in May 2005, and the membership voted 129 to 52 to grant him a special exception to attempt to become a professional.^[3]

The JSA arranged for him to play six games against a variety of professional opponents, stating that he would be granted 4-dan professional status if he won three games. Segawa's opponents were to be four professional players (Hiromitsu Kanki, Toshiaki Kubo and Makoto Nakahara and Kunio Yonenaga), one female professional player (Hiroe Nakai), and one apprentice school 3-dan (Amahiko Satō).^[4]

The games were held from July to November 2005. Segawa lost Game One against Satō, won Game Two against Kanki, lost Game Three against Kubo, and then won Game Four against Nakai. His opponent for Game Five was originally scheduled to be Nakahara, but he was replaced by Hideyuki Takano. Segawa defeated Takano to achieve the necessary third win on November 6, 2005 and was granted professional status by the JSA on the same day. He became the first person in 61 years to obtain professional status via test shogi.^[2]^[5]

As a result of Segawa's successful attempt to become professional, the matter was re-discussed by the JSA members during the association's annual general meeting in May 2006, and the membership voted 154 in favor to 34 against to create a formal way for other strong amateurs to obtain professional status called the "Professional Admission Test" (プロ編入試験 (Puro Henyū Shiken)).^[6]

Shogi professional

Promotion history

The promotion history of Segawa is as follows:^[7]

4-dan: November 6, 2005
5-dan: August 13, 2012
6-dan: November 8, 2018

The Miracle of Crybaby Shotan

In 2006, Segawa released his autobiography titled The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan [ja]. The book was later adapted into a 2018 movie of the same name directed by Toshiaki Toyoda.^[8]