I'm a software engineer with a passion for food, travel, and strategy games. I first learned chess when I was four years old, later becoming the president of my high school chess club and participating in intra-school tournaments until college. While in Kyoto in 2008, I visited a local shogi club, learning the game from their members over a large language barrier. They were generous enough to gift me my first shogi set, and I adopted shogi as my strategy game of choice.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, with few activities I could participate in, I started playing a lot of shogi online. I was already a decent player, maybe around 1-dan, but I never really spent much time studying. During California's lockdowns, I spent 8 hours or more each day playing hundreds of games, and I rose up to the rank of 4-dan on 81dojo!

Though I no longer play anywhere close to that level - I can't keep up that kind of commitment these days - I still love introducing shogi to other players and meeting with our regular members when my schedule allows!

こんにちは． 日本将棋連盟・シリコンバレー支部にて副支部長として運営に携わっております，市橋と申します
記憶があやふやですが，将棋は5歳の頃に母から教わったのが最初だと思います．もっとも社会人になってからは全く指すこともなかったのですが，2013年にBay areaに来て以降，少し時間ができた際にふと「久しぶりに将棋を指してみたいな」と思いたち，その当時はMountain Viewで活動していた，こちらのクラブに参加しています．
参加前にイメージしていた以上に参加メンバーの熱量も高く，クラブに参加している皆さんとも相談しながら，また先任支部であったSan Francisco支部や在USの方のご意見などもいただき，更には日本将棋連盟・普及部の方々からのご助力も頂戴し，2023年7月7日の七夕の日をもってシリコンバレー支部を設立することができました．
少しでも将棋の面白さがBay areaやカリフォルニア，更にはUSだけにとどまらず，世界に広げられたら良いなと思っております．
機会がございましたらお手合わせいただければ幸いです．どうぞよろしくお願いいたします

Hello, I'm Motoi as one of vice presidents in this club.
If my poor memory is correct, I would have learnt the rule of Shogi from my mother at the age of 5 or so. Since then, I haven't played it much since I started to work. However, after I started to live in the SF Bay area, I have been enjoying Shogi a bit, then joined this club in Mountain View at that moment.
Because the joining members had great enthusiasm and passions, we can establish our club as an official branch abroad as "Silicon Valley branch" of JSA (Japan Shogi Association) on July 7th, 2023. For this establishment, we all would like to express our sincere gratitude to the great help and support from our senior branch in San Francisco, US Shogi lovers and the Promotion department in JSA.
I really hope we can promote the fun of Shogi not only to the Bay area and California but also all over the world.
Let's have fun playing Shogi together!

I am a proud otaku.
Video game is my soul. Anime is in my blood.
I have played over a hundred matches.
Unknown to bishop, nor known to rook.
Have withstood retreats from social media to avoid movie spoilers.
Yet have never finished watching Naruto.
So as I pray.
Please play a match.

Born in Taiwan, I started playing shogi after I watched a shogi anime and my friend invited me to play. Since 2001, I have been in the south San Francisco Bay Area. After college, I enjoyed going to cherry blossom festival and Obon festivals. Even though I’m not great at shogi, I like to play shogi for fun with friends. I love sushi, ramen, teriyaki chicken, and fried chicken.

I'm Bigsby, the Giant Osho! I'm an oversized shogi piece adopted from Shitennoji in Osaka! I sprouted a pair of eyes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since I couldn't meet all of our wonderful club members for quite a long time, I spent my lockdown days practicing new recipes and making content for the club Instagram account, though I haven't posted there in a while!