Masahiko Urano


is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 8-dan.

Early life

Urano was born in Osaka Prefecture on March 14, 1964. In October 1977, he was accepted into entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under the tutelage of shogi professional. He was promoted to 1-dan in 1990 and obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in October 1983.

Shogi professional

Urano won his 400th game as a professional in February 2005.
In March 2017, Urano voluntarily declared himself as a free class player, thus leaving the Meijin tournament league. During the 75th Meijin Class C2 League season, Urano lost all ten of his games and received a demotion point as a result. This was a continuation of a series of poor results in Meijin Class League play73rd Meijin Class C1 and 74th Meijin Class C1 and rather than risk automatic demotion to free class play, Urano decided to do so of his own accord.

Promotion history

The promotion history for Urano is as follows:
In 2008, Urano received the Japan Shogi Association's "25 Years Service Award" for being an active professional for twenty-five years.