Hiroshi Kamiya (shogi)
# Hiroshi Kamiya (shogi)

Hiroshi Kamiya (神谷 広志, Kamiya Hiroshi, born April 21, 1961) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 8-dan.

## Early life

Kamiya was born in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture on April 21, 1961. He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 5-kyū in 1975 as student of shogi professional Hisao Hirotsu [ja]. He obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in March 1981.

## Shogi professional

Kamiya is a member of the so-called Shōwa 55 group (55年組), a group of eight strong players that become professional in 1980–1981 (Year 55 of the Shōwa period) and won numerous shogi tournaments. Others in the group include Yoshikazu Minami, Osamu Nakamura, Michio Takahashi, Akira Shima, Yasuaki Tsukada, Masaki Izumi, and Yūji Yoda [ja].

In 1987, Kamiya won twenty-eight consecutive games to set a new professional shogi record for consecutive victories. Kamiya's record stood until June 2017 when it was broken by Sota Fujii.

## Promotion history

The promotion history for Kamiya is as follows:

* 5-kyū: 1975
* 1-dan: 1978
* 4-dan: March 18, 1981
* 5-dan: April 1, 1984
* 6-dan: March 17, 1989
* 7-dan: December 12, 1997
* 8-dan: May 1, 2014

## Awards and honors

Kamiya received the Japan Shogi Association's Annual Shogi Award for "Most Consecutive Games Won" in 1987. He received the JSA's "25 Years Service Award" 2005 in honor of his being an active shogi professional for twenty-five years.

