On July 9, after the election of the board of directors of the Japan Chess Academy, Takemiya Sunshine 6dan, the son of "Cosmic Flow" Takemiya Masaki Kudan, was inaugurated as the 19th president. Founded in 1924, the Japan Chess Academy's eighteen directors over the past 100 years have all been well-known figures in the political and business circles, or famous chess players who have won major championships, and this time, the mediocre Takemiya Sunshine came to the fore at the age of 47 "young and strong", turning a heavy page for the Japan Chess Academy in the past 100 years.
Sunshine Takemiya was born in 1977, his father was the famous Masaki Takemiya, and his grandfather was an early disciple of Minoru Kitani, Kajiwa Kudan, who became a professional chess player in 1998 and was promoted to 6th dan in 2016.
The position of chairman of the Japan Chess Academy was established in 1946, and there are seven "chess player chairmen" such as Kensaku Segoshi (1946-1948, term of office in parentheses, the same below), Kaoru Iwamoto Kudan (1948-1949), Akira Hasegawa Honorary Kudan (1975-1978), Sakata Eio Kudan (1978-1986), Masao Kato Kudan (2004), Otake Hero Kudan (2008-2012), and Kobayashi Satoru Kudan (2019-2024) All of them are thunderous names in the chess world. In addition, after the untimely death of Masao Kato in 2004, Norio Kudo served as the chairman of the board of directors until 2006.
The other eleven are also majestic in their respective fields. Tsushima Shouichi (1949-1951) was Japan's Minister of Finance before and after World War II, Adachi Masashi (1951-1955) was a chaebol who held Japan's Prince Paper and Tokyo Broadcasting Corporation, Hideyuki Miyoshi (1955-1956) straddled politics and business, education scholar Mitsujiro Ariri (1956-1975) served for twenty years, Yoshiaki Sebe (1986-1987) headed the Japan Concord Bank, Shizuo Asada (1988-1993), Fumio Watanabe (1993-1999) and Matsuo Toshimitsu (1999-2004) were the presidents of Japan Airlines, Hiroshi Okabe (2006-2008) was at the helm of Toyota, Norio Wada (2012-2016) was at the helm of Japan Telegraph and Telephone, and Hiroaki Tuan (2016-2019) was a former postal official in Japan.
Takemiya father and son in the game (2018).
From the above, it can be seen that the chairman of the Japan Chess Academy has a considerable "façade image", whether it is the election of chess players or the recommendation of outsiders, they have a certain representativeness. In such a historical context, the election of Wugong Sunshine is particularly different. According to Japan media, the election of the chairman of the board of directors was held between chess players, and no outsiders participated. In the Japan Chess Academy's professional chess player vote in April, Takemiya Sunshine defeated former chess saint Satoru Kobayashi, who had been re-elected twice, by a large margin.
The news also introduced that due to the severe deficit of Japan's chess academy, the operating income fell from 3 billion yen (about 140 million yuan) in 2018 to 2.3 billion yen (about 100 million yuan) in 2023. The previous chairman, Satoru Kobayashi, tried to implement a major reform by selling the eight-story building of the Japan Chess Academy in a luxurious area of Tokyo, but the election results showed that the majority of chess players did not support it.
Press conference of the new Council of Directors, which received attention from the Japan media.
At the press conference on July 9, Takemiya Sunshine said: "I think I was elected because people are looking forward to the new look, and we will set up a management reform committee in the near future, inviting outsiders to participate, and focusing on expanding popularity, improving the financial situation and the aging of the chess academy venues." Through information disclosure and explanation, we will promote reform in a form that is acceptable to chess players. ”
Knowing that he is different from the previous chairman, Wu Gong Sunshine said frankly: "Although it is a little incommensurate with this position, please give me more advice and let me grow gradually." Go is one of Japan's most valuable traditional cultures, and the Japan Chess Academy is committed to inheriting and developing history and traditions. In order to live up to the expectations of all chess fans, inject a new atmosphere into the Go world, and become a more popular chess academy, I will do my best to do my part. ”
All members of the Standing Council. From the right: Kazama, Miyazaki, Aoki, Takemiya, Obuchi, Ishida, Okumura, Seki.
Obuchi Morito 9 dan, Ishida Atsushi 9 dan, Aoki Kikuyo 8 dan, Miyazaki Ryutaro 7 dan continued to serve as executive directors, Okumura Yasushi 7 dan, Seki Tatsuya 4 dan and Kazama Hayabusa 4 dan replaced the previous Yanagi Shihan 9 dan, Mizogami Tomotomi 9 dan, and Takeda Shonori 2 dan, of which Seki Da was also born in 1989 and Kazama Hayabusa was born in 1991 and was only in his early thirties. Yoshihara Yukarato 6th Dan (formerly surnamed Umezawa) succeeded Takao Shinji 9th Dan and was elected as a non-executive director. The leadership of chess players has dropped to 49.4 years compared to the average age of 50.5 years in the previous session. The current Council is elected for a two-year term until re-election in June 2026.
On July 17, the Japan Chess Academy will celebrate its centennial.
Yukari Umezawa, who is very popular, has also begun to transform into a management service role in the chess world.