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The story
A thread on 5ch lit up after a woman aiming to become a professional shogi player met the eligibility requirements for the “women’s quota,” opening the door to her turning pro. The quota appears to have been created at the request of Hulic, a major sponsor of the Japan Shogi Association, and represents a separate route from the existing “transfer exam.” Discussion centered on whether her playing strength was truly “guaranteed,” sparking debate over the system’s fairness and comparisons to former apprentice-school members who tearfully gave up on the pro dream — opinion in the thread was split.
What people said
Same could be said about those bottom-tier old-timer pros — their strength isn't "guaranteed" either.
It's only ever a snapshot of your strength at the moment you turn pro, so even Fujii's famous remark misses the point.
Declining with age is just unavoidable.
Don't lump that in with letting someone in who wasn't good enough to begin with.
Habu is the greatest of all time, come on.
This is the system the Federation's biggest sponsor demanded.
Fujii Sota: "Well then… shall we go ahead and put that to the test? 🤓"
Habu's a shogi pro, not a systems-design expert.
A female pro is less Habu's doing than the longtime wish of Wakashima Tadashi, who influenced him.
Could you say that to the faces of the hundreds of former apprentice-school members who fell just short of the standard over the years and tearfully gave up on becoming pros?
She's dominating the women's field, so let's just give her credit.
She could just take the transfer exam instead.
If you meet the standard, you can sit it at any age.
They need to create buzz with a first female pro and suck up to Hulic, the big sponsor throwing around huge money — otherwise things don't stay afloat.
Reality is harsh.
Unlike chess or go, shogi's market is basically just Japan.
And on top of that, the female player population is practically nonexistent, and the main sponsor newspapers are on the decline — no wonder they can't afford to be picky anymore.
Exactly that.
If you're against this, go lobby your own employer to become a sponsor of the Shogi Association instead.
Honestly, I think even that transfer exam is too soft.
Unless someone can project at least B2-level strength (a mid-tier pro league rank), there's zero upside letting someone over 30 in — they've got nowhere left to climb.
Well, if a soft route like that already existed, then adding one or two more routes doesn't really matter, does it?
You're not asking her to win a title or anything, right?
Just getting out of C2 (the lowest pro league) would already be a miracle.
My position is that even the transfer exam is too lax — they should make it stricter.
It's just entertainment at the end of the day, why make it so strict?
No matter how strict you make it, nobody's beating AI anyway.
and she's not that different from the old guys just clinging on, so cut her some slack.
She'll be in Free Class within a few years regardless.
That's exactly why she herself is agonizing over it and avoiding a clear answer — maybe it's better not to force her way into the pros.
Compared to being at the top of the women's circuit, there's no upside to being a bottom-tier pro.
I looked up what top female pros actually earn and it blew me away.
Even a male pro with a single title to his name couldn't match that.
Still, if she plans to keep making a living in the shogi world, she probably can't just turn it down.
This quota was basically built for Nishiyama anyway — the sponsor's not going to just wait around for "the next eligible candidate, lol."
A lot of people use this to defend her, but so what? There's a near-miss runner-up like that every single year.
Isn't it because every runner-up who notched 14 wins has gone on to turn pro afterward?
There are probably plenty of pros out there who haven't won a single game against him either.
If Fujii Sota just turned into a woman, that'd solve a lot of problems, huh.
They call it a "women's quota," but really it's just the old guys crunching numbers behind the scenes.
Some people act like she's taking the easy way out, but that's really not it.
She's probably the one who wanted to become a pro the "proper" way more than anyone, and now she's being forced into a tough decision.
She has to decide within two weeks, huh.
I mean, turning it down probably isn't really an option.
The pressure on her must be insane.
If she doesn't go pro, it makes Hulic lose face.
The brutal part is that no matter how she actually feels, she has no choice but to accept.
Background and key points of this debate
The “women’s quota” is said to be a special measure introduced at the request of Hulic, the largest sponsor of the Japan Shogi Association’s tournaments — a point that’s often misunderstood is that it’s a separate framework from the existing “transfer exam” (a system open to anyone regardless of age, where meeting a set strength standard guarantees passing). Unlike chess or go, shogi’s competitive population is confined to Japan, and the shortage of female competitors along with the declining fortunes of the newspaper companies that have long served as major sponsors are cited as background behind the quota’s creation. What split opinion in the thread was a single question — should pro eligibility be judged on ability alone, or should the intent behind the system be factored in too — and comparisons to former apprentice-school members who tearfully gave up their dream of turning pro added heat to the debate. It was also repeatedly pointed out in the thread that, even after earning eligibility, she reportedly has to choose within two weeks whether to turn pro or remain a women’s-circuit player — meaning she isn’t necessarily someone who sought this spotlight by choice.
*This article was compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “First female pro gets mocked as just a “women’s-quota” pro…“
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