is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 4- dan. She is a former holder of the Women's

Meijin is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi player, professional shogi, and is the most prestigious title, along with Ryūō. The word ( "excellent, artful", "person") refers to a highly skilled master of a certain field (the ...

title.

Early life and amateur shogi

Itō was born in

Musashino, Tokyo is a city located in the western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 147,754 in 78,614 households, and a population density of 13,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Based on the 201 ...

on October 6, 1993, and learned how to play shogi from her older brother. As a fifth-grade elementary school student, Itō finished third in the 29th in April 2004. Itō defeated future shogi professional and major title holder

Takuya Nagase is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9-Dan (rank)#Modern usage in shogi, dan. He is a former holder of the Eiō and Ōza (shogi), Ōza titles. Early life and apprentice shogi professional Nagase was born in Yokohama on September 5, 199 ...

in her Round 1 game of the Championship Tournament and won two more games to advance to the semi-finals where she lost to another future shogi professional and eventual tournament winner Yūki Sasaki. Itō was the only girl to qualify for the Championship Tournament, and the field included seven boys who would eventually become professional shogi players, including three who would also become major title holders. In September 2004, Itō was accepted into 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 ...

's apprentice school at the rank of 6-

kyū is a Japanese language, Japanese term used in modern martial arts as well as in Japanese tea ceremony, tea ceremony, ikebana, flower arranging, Go (game), Go, shogi, academic tests and other similar activities to designate various grades, leve ...

under the guidance of shogi professional

Nobuyuki Yashiki is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 9- dan. He is a former Kisei title holder and also holds the professional shogi record for being the fastest to win a major title since turning professional.. Early life, amateur shogi and apprent ...

Women's professional shogi

In February 2022, Itō defeated

Kana Satomi is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 6- dan. She is the current holder of the Women's Meijin, , , , and titles. She is also the career leader in women's professional shogi major titles. Satomi is also the first female to h ...

3 games to 1 in the 48th

Women's Meijin The is a Go competitions, Go competition. The Women's Meijin is the female version of the Meijin (go), Meijin title. This title is sponsored by Fuji Evening Newspaper and Nippon Life Insurance. The winner's purse is 5,100,000 Yen ($48,000). T ...

title match (JanuaryFebruary 2022) to capture her first women's major title. In February of the following year, however, she was unable to successfully defend her Meijin title, losing the 49th Women's Meijin title match to Tomoka Nishiyama 3 games to 1. In AprilJune 2023, Ito challenged for the latter's Women's Ōi title, but lost the 34th Women's Ōi title match 3 games to 1. Itō challenged (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Satomi) for the Kurashiki Tōka title in the 32nd Kurashiki Tōka Cup (FebruaryMarch 2025) title match, but Fukuma won the match 2 games to none to defend her title. The match was originally scheduled to take place in November 2024, but was rescheduled due to Fukuma going on

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...

Promotion history

Ito's promotion history is as follows. * 1- dan: October 1, 2014 * 2-dan: September 11, 2015 * 3-dan: April 26, 2019 * 4-dan: April 18, 2023 Note: All ranks are women's professional ranks.

Major titles

Itō has appeared in a women's professional shogi major title twelve times and has won one title.

Awards and honors

Itō received the

Annual Shogi Awards The Annual Shogi Awards (将棋大賞 ''shōgi taishō'') are a number of prizes awarded yearly by the Japan Shogi Association to professional and amateur shogi players who have achieved particular success. The first Annual Shogi Awards were pre ...

for "Excellent Women's Professional" twice (2017 and 2019), "Most Games Played by a Women's Professional" four times (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022) and "Women's Professional Game of the Year" once (2022).

Notes

References

External links

* ShogiHub
Ito, Sae
Japanese shogi players Japan Shogi Association players Living people Female shogi players People from Musashino, Tokyo Shogi players from Tokyo Metropolis 1993 births Women's Meijin {{Shogi-stub