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The story
On October 28, the Japan Shogi Association posted an official notice on X flagging a wave of personal harassment directed at new 4th-dan professional Nishiyama Tomoka (31), who became the first woman to earn full professional (kishi) status after winning the top women’s title, “Joryu Yonkan” (Women’s Four-Crown holder), five times total. Nishiyama earned her professional credentials by exercising her eligibility under the newly created “Free Class entry” system, sponsored by major real-estate firm Hulic. On 5ch, reactions mixed support and criticism of the new system itself with doubts about Nishiyama’s personal skill and qualifications, and opinion split over where “criticism” ends and “harassment” begins.
On the 28th, the Japan Shogi Association updated its official X account. In connection with new 4th-dan professional Nishiyama Tomoka (31) — who became the first woman to earn professional eligibility after winning the top women’s title, “Hakurei” (White Crown), five times total — exercising her right to professional status, the Association flagged that personal harassment directed at Nishiyama had been observed.
The Association released a statement titled “Regarding Comments on the Free Class Professional Entry System.”
It stated: “In connection with Women’s Grand Champion Nishiyama Tomoka’s entry into the professional ranks via the Free Class system, alongside opinions about the system itself, we are seeing personal harassment directed at Women’s Grand Champion Nishiyama individually,” and noted that the Association welcomes feedback on the system itself.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Once the system was set up for her, Nishiyama couldn't really not use it — that's just the natural flow of things. Personally though, I think they should've made it so five title wins only gave her a 1-win handicap in the entry exam, not an outright pass.
Is this actually a good thing?
Of course it's not a good thing. It's messed up.
Is it just stress relief?
Pretty much everyone plays shogi as a kid. When something other than raw skill gets to act tough, it drags down the legitimacy of the whole competition.
Bottom line: they just want more women playing shogi. If a guy who failed to become a pro was grumbling about this, fine, but you've probably never even played shogi.
In sports, you sometimes see female pros whose level is way below male pros still earning far more than an average male pro. There are sports that deliberately run mixed-gender competition too.
But that contributes to the shogi world way more than just winning games does, so isn't that a good thing?
I don't think Nishiyama's ability is really in question — she made it to 2 wins in the entry exam too.
It's being questioned plenty. This is obviously a rule tailor-made for Nishiyama, however you look at it.
There are tons and tons of guys out there with that level of skill, lol.
Well then, she's the one who has to act first.
This isn't harassment. It's just criticism, lol.
It wasn't forced on her — she's the one who chose it. It's a shame, really — if she'd said "I don't want special treatment, I'll aim for pro status through the normal route" and turned it down, her fanbase would've exploded.
This isn't harassment. It's just criticism, lol.
Then what's the point of complaining "don't harass her"? If you genuinely think it's fine as criticism, just keep going with it.
That's exactly why everyone's criticizing the system.
It's a rule she had the option to take, so there's no way she's "dragging it through the mud."
It's a brand-new rule Hulic pushed hard for. In the real world, a lot of "choices" are really only one option in practice.
I won't bash Nishiyama herself, but I will bash the Shogi Association.
She's not a kid — the person who accepted it bears some responsibility too.
Please refrain. (echoing the Association's own wording back at them)
Background and Key Points of This Debate
Nishiyama is the first woman to earn status as a full professional (kishi) player. In the shogi world, “kishi” (the open, co-ed professional track) and “joryu kishi” (women-only professionals who compete solely in women’s tournaments) have long operated as separate systems. This new “Free Class entry” appears to be a special-case slot created based on results in women’s tournaments, and the thread’s conflict centered on whether criticism of the system itself can be separated from judgment of Nishiyama as an individual. Posters repeatedly argued both that “this is just criticism of the system, not harassment” and that remarks mocking her ability or her gender were mixed in regardless. Worth noting: while the idea that sponsor Hulic drove the creation of this system was widely repeated in the thread, the Shogi Association’s own statement quoted above makes no such claim — that’s reader speculation, not a reported fact.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “[Shogi] Japan Shogi Association Warns Against Harassment of First Female Professional Nishiyama Tomoka: “Please Refrain”“.
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