TAKATSUKI, Osaka Prefecture--To make the game competitive, professional 8-dan shogi player Masahiko Urano spotted Takatsuki Mayor Takeshi Hamada an advantage when they played here in December 2017.

Hamada won the “handicap game” played in a private room of a Japanese-style restaurant.

Although a loser in the contest, Urano, 58, and other Kansai shogi players and fans are the big winners due to the mayor’s fascination with the traditional game.

Urano had been asked by a former official of Takatsuki city, a student of his, to meet with the “shogi-loving” Hamada, 58.

The same year, Yuta Komori, now 27, who hails from Takatsuki, debuted as a shogi pro.

The following year in 2018, Takatsuki city signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with the Japan Shogi Association. The contract for the city’s cultural promotion based on the traditional board game was the first of its kind among municipalities nationwide.

Plans were then released to relocate Shogi Hall in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward because of the building’s age.

Wondering whether the relocation of Kansai Shogi Hall in Osaka city was envisioned likewise, Hamada quickly resorted to “a bold try” with an eye toward offering a new site for the facility.

The five-story, reinforced-concrete Kansai Shogi Hall, which had been completed in 1981, was in need of upgrading.

Takatsuki city screened several municipality-owned candidate sites.

A city-run bus depot near the west exit of JR Takatsuki Station was singled out in 2020. It was proposed to Keita Inoue, 58, executive director of the Japan Shogi Association, that Kansai Shogi Hall be relocated there.

SHOGI FANS OFFER SUPPORT

A joint fund-raising program between the city and the association was suggested at the same time, so that donations would be solicited under the “furusato nozei” hometown tax contribution system.

Inoue was astonished at the offer because he believed Kansai Shogi Hall would be rebuilt on the same grounds or be moved within Osaka city after the relocation of its Tokyo counterpart.

As the Japan Shogi Association was struggling to cover the estimated 1.3 billion yen ($9.7 million) or more for the facility’s relocation, the suggested financial assistance was “welcome news” for the shogi community, according to Inoue.

The association decided on the relocation plan at a special meeting in February 2021, given the city’s location that pro shogi players in the capital can reach the facility 20 minutes faster than at present by changing trains at JR Kyoto Station. 

The shogi headquarters in western Japan will move from Osaka’s Fukushima Ward to Takatsuki in autumn 2024.

Shogi prodigy Sota Fujii, 20, who is noted for winning the prestigious Ryuo crown among his other titles, and other players throughout the country are expected to compete in the bedroom suburb with a population of 350,000, located halfway between Osaka and Kyoto.

“Having to leave the current place full of memories brings a sense of sorrow to me, but I am looking forward to finding good eateries in Takatsuki for my improved performance,” Inoue said.

According to more than one association insider, multiple shogi players have already decided to move to Takatsuki.

Currently, the city government is staging a crowdfunding drive for donations. Donors contributing 50,000 yen will have their names inscribed at the relocated hall. With a contribution of 50,000 yen, one can receive a folding fan featuring a Fujii match as well.

More than 210 million yen poured in under the campaign in fiscal 2021, and the municipality is continuing to solicit funds to achieve the final goal of 500 million yen.

Labeling itself as a “town of shogi,” Takatsuki plans to organize a shogi competition for children.

A match in the Osho championships will be held there on Jan. 21-22, where Osho-titled Fujii will battle Yoshiharu Habu, 52, who is considered one of the all-time greatest shogi players.

LONG LINK TO SHOGI 

Takatsuki prides itself on its deep links with shogi. Many shogi pieces dating to the Edo Period (1603-1867) have been discovered in the former site of Takatsuki Castle, famed for its Christian feudal lord Takayama Ukon (1552-1615).

It is also well known for its bonds with some ex-shogi title holders, and Urano, who described the city as “my memorial place,” is among shogi pros who have fond connections with Takatsuki.

Urano first saw his 8-dan teacher Sutekichi Nakai (1892-1981) through the Takatsuki city office. That was when he was determined to become a pro after becoming enchanted with shogi in his fourth year in elementary school via matches with a friend.

The retired professional player Nakai was operating a shogi school around the time at his row house, which is a three-minute walk from the planned site of the new Shogi Hall.

Urano recalled the smiling Nakai was surrounded by elderly individuals, shop owners and company employees studying shogi in a space with five shogi boards.

Urano alike said he saw his bedridden teacher shed tears in pleasure, hearing about Urano’s rapid rise in shogi circles a year before Nakai’s death at age 88.

“If my master were alive, he would be content with the relocation plan while smiling,” said Urano, expressing his special feelings about Takatsuki. “I can vividly imagine how he would react.”