Shogi prize money
33 players have been paid £32,696,143 across 16 years from 2010 to 2025. Akira Watanabe has won the most, £5,056,682. A shogi professional is paid twice over: prize money for winning a title or a tournament, and a fee for every official game they play, so a player who loses a title match is still paid for each game of it. The two are added together for the calendar year and the top earners ranked on one list each February. Every player on it is a man: the women's professionals play tournaments of their own and are ranked separately. Sota Fujii has topped it every year since 2022 and took ¥213,610,000 in 2025, more than four times the ¥45,770,000 of Takuya Nagase in second.
The shogi money list
The top 33 of 33 players by career prize money
| # | PLAYER | NATION | YEARS TOP | PRIZE MONEY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akira Watanabe | Japan | 3 | £5,056,682£5.1m |
| 2 | Yoshiharu Habu | Japan | 7 | £4,966,618£5.0m |
| 3 | Sota Fujii | Japan | 4 | £4,204,066£4.2m |
| 4 | Masayuki Toyoshima | Japan | 2 | £2,478,823£2.5m |
| 5 | Takuya Nagase | Japan | 0 | £1,506,960£1.5m |
| 6 | Toshiyuki Moriuchi | Japan | 0 | £1,475,964£1.5m |
| 7 | Amahiko Sato | Japan | 0 | £1,365,739£1.4m |
| 8 | Akihito Hirose | Japan | 0 | £1,355,911£1.4m |
| 9 | Toshiaki Kubo | Japan | 0 | £1,246,140£1.2m |
| 10 | Tadahisa Maruyama | Japan | 0 | £926,352£926k |
| 11 | Masataka Goda | Japan | 0 | £792,338£792k |
| 12 | Koichi Fukaura | Japan | 0 | £783,670£784k |
| 13 | Yasumitsu Sato | Japan | 0 | £694,159£694k |
| 14 | Tatsuya Sugai | Japan | 0 | £595,073£595k |
| 15 | Kazuki Kimura | Japan | 0 | £578,491£578k |
| 16 | Tetsuro Itodani | Japan | 0 | £551,880£552k |
| 17 | Shintaro Saito | Japan | 0 | £549,259£549k |
| 18 | Takumi Ito | Japan | 0 | £513,022£513k |
| 19 | Takayuki Yamasaki | Japan | 0 | £440,647£441k |
| 20 | Hiroyuki Miura | Japan | 0 | £431,878£432k |
| 21 | Akira Inaba | Japan | 0 | £396,396£396k |
| 22 | Yuki Sasaki | Japan | 0 | £354,463£354k |
| 23 | Hisashi Namekata | Japan | 0 | £332,640£333k |
| 24 | Takeshi Fujii | Japan | 0 | £207,396£207k |
| 25 | Taichi Takami | Japan | 0 | £132,854£133k |
| 26 | Seiya Kondo | Japan | 0 | £120,355£120k |
| 27 | Taichi Nakamura | Japan | 0 | £108,058£108k |
| 28 | Ayumu Matsuo | Japan | 0 | £100,044£100k |
| 29 | Daichi Sasaki | Japan | 0 | £94,802£95k |
| 30 | Koji Tanigawa | Japan | 0 | £91,627£92k |
| 31 | Yasuhiro Masuda | Japan | 0 | £86,638£87k |
| 32 | Shota Chida | Japan | 0 | £85,277£85k |
| 33 | Naohiro Ishida | Japan | 0 | £71,921£72k |
The top fifteen
The Shogi Money List
16 editions, and what they have paid
| MONEY LIST | YEARS | LATEST TOP EARNER | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shogi Money List | 16 | Sota Fujii | £32,696,143£32.7m |
Year by year
What shogi paid each year, and who earned the most
| YEAR | TOP EARNER | MONEY LISTS | PAID |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sota Fujii | 1 | £2,251,066£2.3m |
| 2024 | Sota Fujii | 1 | £2,048,407£2.0m |
| 2023 | Sota Fujii | 1 | £2,114,129£2.1m |
| 2022 | Sota Fujii | 1 | £2,049,970£2.0m |
| 2021 | Akira Watanabe | 1 | £2,089,433£2.1m |
| 2020 | Masayuki Toyoshima | 1 | £2,115,389£2.1m |
| 2019 | Masayuki Toyoshima | 1 | £2,136,053£2.1m |
| 2018 | Yoshiharu Habu | 1 | £1,925,431£1.9m |
| 2017 | Akira Watanabe | 1 | £1,867,118£1.9m |
| 2016 | Yoshiharu Habu | 1 | £2,053,498£2.1m |
| 2015 | Yoshiharu Habu | 1 | £2,021,242£2.0m |
| 2014 | Yoshiharu Habu | 1 | £2,027,743£2.0m |
| 2013 | Akira Watanabe | 1 | £1,974,874£2.0m |
| 2012 | Yoshiharu Habu | 1 | £1,959,602£2.0m |
| 2011 | Yoshiharu Habu | 1 | £1,951,740£2.0m |
| 2010 | Yoshiharu Habu | 1 | £2,110,450£2.1m |
Prize money paid per year
Frequently asked questions
Who has won the most prize money in shogi?
Akira Watanabe, with £5,056,682 and 3 years at the top. Yoshiharu Habu is second on £4,966,618.
What is the most anyone has won in one shogi money list in a year?
£1,076,594, by Sota Fujii in the 2025 Shogi Money List, the most in any year we hold.
How much prize money was paid in shogi in 2025?
£2,251,066 across 1 money list. Sota Fujii earned the most that year, £1,076,594.
How much has the Shogi Money List paid?
The Shogi Money List has paid £32,696,143 across 16 years. The richest single year was the 2025 Shogi Money List, at £2,251,066.
Which country has won the most shogi prize money?
Japan, with £32,696,143 across 33 players.
Where to next
For every country's prize money across shogi and every other sport we hold, see prize money by nation. Every edition of the Shogi Money List is on the Shogi Money List prize money page, and the latest year is 2025.