In October 2013, Satō was one of five shogi professionals chosen by the JSA to play in the Denō-sen 3 match (March – April 2014) against five computer shogi programs.[7] Satō played in Game 2 of the match on March 22, 2014, and his opponent was the program Yaneuraou [ja]. Satō lost the game in 95 moves.[8]
Satō received the Japan Shogi Association Annual Shogi Awards for "Best New Player" and "Best Winning Percentage" for the 2005–06 shogi year.[9][10]
Personal life
Wig performances
Satō has achieved quite a bit of notoriety for his "wig performances" during various shogi related and other TV appearances. He has stated in interviews that he began to notice he was starting to lose his hair around he was 22 years old. He tried some commercial hair restoration medications at first, but they were ineffective. He then tried getting perms to cover his hair loss but they only seemed to damage his remaining hair and make things worse. Eventually by the time he turned 25, he had lost most of the hair at the top of his head.[2]
Satō has said he decided to purchase his first wig when he was 29 years old. He said he did so because the top of his head started to feel "lonely". He then started to use the wigs as a "tool" at live events to add some humor and make shogi fans laugh a little because felt simple straight-forward game commentary was not as interesting. Removing and re-adding his wig made his game commentary funnier and helped him stand out a bit.[2] His performance during the commentary of Sōta Fujii's record-setting 29th consecutive win—a live AbemaTVwebcast on June 26, 2017, watched by an estimated 7.4 million people[11]—is where the "wig legend" is said to have been born and the first time his performance was seen by so many people.[2]
Satō has a about fifteen wigs of various colors, and that he tends to purchase less expensive ones that look cheap because nicer more expensive order-made ones would not likely last long due to all constant putting on and taking off he does during events and other appearances.[2] He also has said that although he uses the wigs as a joke to make people laugh, they also help him feel better and give him courage, and that some fans have told him that his performances do the same for them.[2] He even credits his wigs as helping get married since he met his wife at a wedding reception for a fellow shogi professional in 2014. The two were seated at the same table and struck up a conversation. Later on his wife saw some online videos of his "wig performances" and found them to be very funny, the relationship grew, and the two were married a year later.[2]
