Kōichi Kinoshita

Kōichi Kinoshita is a Japanese retired professional shogi player who achieved the rank of rank 7-dan.

Early life, amateur shogi and apprenticeship

Kinoshita was born in Nagano Prefecture on August 29, 1967. As a junior high school student, he won the 3rd in 1982, and later that same year entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū under the guidance of shogi professional. He was promoted to apprentice professional 1-dan in 1984, and obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in 1988.

In March 2009, Kinoshita declared his intention to the Japan Shogi Association to become a Free Class player as of April 2009.
On April 1, 2025, the announced Kinoshita had met the conditions for mandatory retirement for "Free Class" players and his retirement would become official upon completion of his final scheduled game of the 20252026 shogi season. Kinoshita's retirement became official upon losing to Hiroshi Okazaki on April 23, 2025, in a 38th Ryūō Group 6 game. He finished his career with a record of 369 wins and 530 losses for a winning percentage of 0.410.

The promotion history for Kinoshita is as follows:

Kinoshita received the Japan Shogi Association's "25 Years Service Award" in 2012 for being an active professional for 25 years.