Akira Shima
Shogi professional. Shima 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, Yasuaki Tsukada, Hiroshi Kamiya, Masaki Izumi, and Yūji Yoda. On February 6, 2018, Shima defeated Keita Kadokura in a Meijin Class C1 league game to become the 21st person to win 800 official games as a professional, and was awarded the "Shogi Honor Fighting-spirit Award" as a result. JSA director . Shima has served on the Japan Shogi Association's board of directors on multiple occasions. He was first elected as a director at the association's 56th General Meeting for a two-year term on May 26, 2005. In May 2011, Shima was re-elected to the board of directors once again, but this time as a non-executive director. He was re-elected as a director in June 2013 and 2015, but was selected to be a managing director each time. He announced his resignation in January 2017 to accept responsibility for the association's handling of the 29th  Ryūō challenger controversy. Promotion history. The promotion history for Shima is as follows: Titles and other championships. Shima has appeared in major title matches 6 times, but his only title victory came in 1st Ryūō title match in 1988. Shima also won the now defunct 3 times (1982, 198586) for his only other shogi championships during his career. Awards and honors. Shima has received a number awards and honors throughout his career for his accomplishments both on an off the shogi board. These include awards given out annually by the JSA for performance in official games as well as other  awards for achievement.