Ōza (shogi)


Ōza is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi.
The word literally means "king's seat", i.e., "throne". The tournament started in 1953 as a knockout tournament with three games in the final match and was a non-title tournament up until 1982. The challenger for the title is determined through three preliminary rounds. The player that wins three games out of five in the championship match becomes the new Ōza title holder.
The tournament is sponsored by Nikkei, Inc., a newspaper conglomerate that publishes The Nikkei and the Nikkei 225 stock market index.

Lifetime Ōza

"Lifetime Ōza" is the title given to a player who won the championship five times in a row or ten times in total. Active players may qualify for this title, but it is only officially awarded upon their retirement or death.
;Lifetime Ōza title holders
From 1953 until 1982, the tournament was just regular tournament and not a major title match. From 1953 to 1969, two finalists would play a 3-game match to determine the overall winner; the 1st Oza match, however, was only a single game. From 1970 to 1982, the winner of the previous year's tournament would play the winner of a qualifying tournament in a 3-game match.
No.YearWinnerScoreOpponent
11953Yasuharu Ōyama10Yūzō Maruta
21954Yasuharu Ōyama21Kōzō Masuda
31955Yasuharu Ōyama21Renshō Nada
41956Seiichi Kobori21Kazukiyo Takashima
51957Shigeyuki Matsuda21Seiichi Kobori
61958Masao Tsukada21Tatsuya Futakami
71959Yasuharu Ōyama20Michiyoshi Yamada
81960Yūzō Maruta21Yasuharu Ōyama
91961Sōetsu Honma20Hifumi Katō
101962Hifumi Katō20Michihito Kumagai
111963Renshō Nada21Hirobumi Sekizawa
121964Yasuharu Ōyama20Hifumi Katō
131965Yūzō Maruta20Kunio Naitō
141966Yasuharu Ōyama20Yūzō Maruta
151967Michiyoshi Yamada20Kunio Naitō
161968Yasuharu Ōyama20Hifumi Katō
171969Makoto Nakahara21Michio Ariyoshi
181970Makoto Nakahara20Tatsuya Futakami
191971Makoto Nakahara20Hifumi Katō
201972Makoto Nakahara20Kunio Naitō
211973Makoto Nakahara20Genichi Ōno
221974Makoto Nakahara21Yasuharu Ōyama
231975Kiyozumi Kiriyama20Makoto Nakahara
241976Makoto Nakahara20Kiyozumi Kiriyama
251977Makoto Nakahara20Nobuyuki Ōuchi
261978Makoto Nakahara20Nobuyuki Ōuchi
271979Makoto Nakahara20Nobuyuki Ōuchi
281980Yasuharu Ōyama20Makoto Nakahara
291981Yasuharu Ōyama21Osamu Katsuura
301982Kunio Naitō20Yasuharu Ōyama

For the 31st Oza Match, the tournament was officially elevated to major title match status and starting with the 32nd Oza Match, the format switched to a best-of-five.

No.YearWinnerScoreOpponent
311983Makoto Nakahara21Kunio Naitō
321984Makoto Nakahara 32Hidemitsu Moriyasu
331985Makoto Nakahara 31Kōji Tanigawa
341986Makoto Nakahara 30Kiyozumi Kiriyama
351987Yasuaki Tsukada32Makoto Nakahara
361988Makoto Nakahara 30Yasuaki Tsukada
371989Makoto Nakahara 32Teruichi Aono
381990Kōji Tanigawa31Makoto Nakahara
391991Bungo Fukusaki32Kōji Tanigawa
401992Yoshiharu Habu30Bungo Fukusaki
411993Yoshiharu Habu 31Koji Tanigawa
421994Yoshiharu Habu 30Kōji Tanigawa
431995Yoshiharu Habu 30Keiji Mori
441996Yoshiharu Habu 30Akira Shima
451997Yoshiharu Habu 30Akira Shima
461998Yoshiharu Habu 32Kōji Tanigawa
471999Yoshiharu Habu 31Tadahisa Maruyama
482000Yoshiharu Habu 32Takeshi Fujii
492001Yoshiharu Habu 31Toshiaki Kubo
502002Yoshiharu Habu 30Yasumitsu Satō
512003Yoshiharu Habu 32Akira Watanabe
522004Yoshiharu Habu 31Toshiyuki Moriuchi
532005Yoshiharu Habu 30Yasumitsu Satō
542006Yoshiharu Habu 30Yasumitsu Satō
552007Yoshiharu Habu 30Toshiaki Kubo
562008Yoshiharu Habu 30Kazuki Kimura
572009Yoshiharu Habu 30Takayuki Yamasaki
582010Yoshiharu Habu 30Takeshi Fujii
592011Akira Watanabe30Yoshiharu Habu
602012Yoshiharu Habu 31Akira Watanabe
612013Yoshiharu Habu 32Taichi Nakamura
622014Yoshiharu Habu 32Masayuki Toyoshima
632015Yoshiharu Habu 32Amahiko Satō
642016Yoshiharu Habu 30Tetsuro Itodani
652017Taichi Nakamura31Yoshiharu Habu
662018Shintarō Saitō32Taichi Nakamura
672019Takuya Nagase30Shintarō Saitō

Records