User:Kashi/Jumei Koike

Jumei Koike (native name: 小池重明), born Shigeaki Koike (24 December 1947 - 1 May 1992) was an amateur shogi player from Nagoya, Aichi. He was among the top amateurs of his time, his strength even appreciated by professionals such as Motoji Hanamura. As a shinkenshi (shogi gambler), his ability was considered legendary. Koike was also known by a great number of nicknames such as The Hitman of Shinjuku or Murderer of Professionals.

Life

Birth

Koike was born in 1947 in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture. According to books written in his later years, his father was unemployed and would fake being a disabled veteran to beg for money to gamble, while his mother was a prostitute who would serve clients at home and elsewhere. Once, his father told him "A man must learn how to gamble", and from then he spent his early years wildly enthusiastic about shogi. Koike soon became so strong that it is said that he was unrivaled in his hometown by the time he was 15.

Becoming a shinkenshi

Soon after, Koike decided to devote himself to making money from shogi alone and dropped out of high school. He found a stay-in job in a shogi center in Ueno, Tokyo, and spent his days polishing his skills to become a professional player. When he was around 22, from a friend's advice, he became a pupil of Shigeyuki Matsuda 8-dan. However, he was soon absorbed into Tokyo's nightlife, including cabarets and hostess bars, in turn worsening his behavior. Finally, he was caught embezzling money from the dojo where he worked, and was fired. Matsuda also expelled him, thereby destroying his hopes of becoming a professional player.

After giving up on becoming a professional player, Koike returned to Nagoya where he worked a part-time job at a funeral home. Around that time, he married with a woman he had met in Nagoya. He returned to Tokyo yet again and worked hard as a trucker for a shipping company. A few years later, he was struck with misfortune as his first child died some days after birth. The trauma from this caused Koike to quit his job and play shogi for money for days on end at a dojo.

At the dojo Koike was registered to in Shinjuku, Tokyo, he won game after game and soon became a feared shinkenshi known as The Hitman of Shinjuku. Then, in 1979, at the Tsutenkaku shogi dojo in what was then the Shinsekai district of Osaka, he played a showdown match against Keiji Kaga, considered the strongest shinkenshi in Japan at the time, to determine Japan's number one shinkenshi. After 2 days, the score was 7 wins and 7 losses for each player. Kaga said that he did not believe he could win in another game.

Although he had assumed his position as a powerful shinkenshi, his wife divorced him after a period of separation. To distract himself, Koike started on a degenerated lifestyle where he spent day after day hopping bars and drinking until dead drunk. This situation continued until one day his friends suggested he play in a normal tournament with money prizes. Koike agreed and went on to win said tournament.

Top amateur and decline

From being a shinkenshi, Koike turned to being a normal amateur and won 2 Amateur Meijin titles in a row from 1980, truly becoming the strongest amateur player in both name and substance. He has also recorded win after win against professional players, most notably when he defeated reigning Meijin Yasuharu Oyama in a bishop handicap game. This also raised talks about him potentially becoming a professional, much like Motoji Hanamura, a shinkenshi who also turned professional in 1944.

Being in the limelight, Koike's past as a petty swindler as well as his relations with women were exposed, causing the Japan Shogi Association to rule out the possibility of him becoming a professional in a meeting (before the meeting, he beat up a bar employee while drunk and was taken away by the police just before an Amateur Meijin match). The shock from this caused Koike to step away from shogi for 2 years, making a living by doing manual labor.

Parting from shogi

For nearly 10 years after that, Koike's name was never brought up in the amateur shogi world again. Although he was portrayed as an "outlaw kishi" of sorts in comics aimed at teenagers, he was still not very well known among the general public. Moreover, he was so strong a shinkenshi that nobody wanted to wager against him, leading to his eventual departure from shogi. Furthermore, there were places that banned Koike from entering because the yakuza and debt collectors would crash these places when he came in.

Return

With the help of Oniroku Dan, a famed writer and shogi fan, Koike made his return to the world of amateur shogi. After retiring from writing erotic novels, Dan was publishing his own shogi magazine, the Shogi Journal. Despite knowing full well of Koike's bad habits, Dan promised to support him due to his desperate pleading and talent for shogi. Afterwards, as part of Dan's project, Koike played games against amateur title holders, winning game after game. Each time, it sparked discussion that "the Hitman of Shinjuku is still alive and well". Dan has also commented that "Koike is a monster when it comes to shogi" due to his overwhelming strength.

However, Dan's real plan was to make Koike lose a crushing game before his own eyes, deterring him from ever playing shogi again, as he had recalled in his books. However, that same year, Koike crushed the reigning Amateur Meijin Takashi Tajiri, surprising Dan, as Koike has not played shogi at all for years (2 according to Dan's writings) and hence it was not likely that he could win at all.

After that, for some time, Koike worked as Dan's personal chauffeur. A friend of Koike who was a shogi fan and also knew Dan offered to let Koike run his yakiniku restaurant. He accepted readily and worked with great manners and skill. However, just 6 months later, Koike disappeared with a woman he was in an affair with and her children. Once again, he cut all contacts and went missing. Finally, Koike reportedly quit shogi again and made a living working as a trucker for a transportation company.

Final years

In his 40s, Koike's condition deteriorated as he reported vomiting of blood. He was hospitalized and diagnosed with cirrhosis. During this time, Dan received calls from Koike who was distraught and sobbing: "Sensei, the doctor says I will die soon. I don't want to die. I'm scared. Please help me". As he heard this and rushed to the hospital where Koike was, Koike had lost half of his initial 80kg weight, and the image of a hitman feared by all has all but vanished. However, Koike still spoke of playing shogi. Dan asked: "The opponent is prepared. Would you like a go?", to which Koike responded "By all means, please". He later escaped from the hospital to Dan's house. There, he faced off against Takashi Amano, then praised as the hope of the amateur world. Then, Amano was among the amateurs playing in group 6 of the Ryuo-sen, and was on a 3-win streak against professionals. In Dan's presence, Koike won two crushing games back-to-back. Koike then thanked Dan softly and smiled despite his suffering from the hospital. Dan wrote of this in his works: "Koike seemed to have realized that this would be his final game, yet his smile seemed to say that he had no regrets dying".

Finally, a few days after his games against Amano, Koike was hospitalized a second time as he started vomiting blood again. In the hospital room, he ended his own life by tearing off the tube connected to his body.

After death

Koike's grave was erected at Kiyozumi Shirakawa Public Cemetery in Tokyo. His Dharma name was Kishoin Norishige Shinji (棋勝院法重信士). However, his grave tablet was stolen by someone after his death and is still missing. Keiko Yukawa (wife of shogi writer Hiroshi Yukawa and former Ladies' Amateur Meijin) said that some months before he died, he visited the head priest of a temple.

Oniroku Dan, who helped Koike through his troubled later years, published a biography about Koike titled "Shinkenshi Koike Jumei" in 1995, his first work after 6 years. An episode on him titled "Good-for-nothing: Shinkenshi Jumei Koike" was aired on 6 February 1997 by the Asahi Broadcasting corporation, and Nippon TV Network also aired an episode titled "Legend of a shogi player called a hitman" on 26 March 1998 as part of its 111 great people series commemorating the end of the millenium. These made Koike's name known widely among the general public. Later on, Dan and Kunio Miyazaki (shogi dojo owner and sworn friend of Koike) published books, kifu compilations, and manga about Koike, causing a so-called Jumei Koike boom.

Personal life

• Koike never studied shogi in his daily life - he never had a shogi board at home to start with.
• He was also known for not preparing for any specific opponent. In tournaments, it was said that Koike would enter the playing hall drunk and sleep in the waiting room until staff shook him awake. However, getting shook awake did not really affect Koike - he would win a crushing victory anyway.
• After he established his reputation as one of Japan's strongest shinkenshi, the number of challengers dropped dramatically. Later on, when Koike told Dan that he would repay his debts with shogi, Dan shouted at him: "You would not find anyone in all of Japan who would wager against Jumei Koike!".
• The night before a game against Yasuharu Oyama, Koike was drunk and got involved in an assault case, and was detained. His friends contacted the local assemblyman to get Koike released and he made it in time for the game. Koike started crushing the game (played with a bishop handicap) from the middlegame, and he won in such little time that those around him turned pale.

Kozo Masuda

☖ pieces in hand: 歩

9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
香	桂						桂	香	1
	飛								2
	王	歩	金	銀		歩	歩	歩	3
	金		歩	銀	歩				4
歩	歩	歩		歩					5
	歩	銀	歩		歩	歩			6
歩					金		歩	歩	7
		飛				銀	玉		8
香	桂			角	金		桂	香	9

☗ pieces in hand: -

Jumei Koike

• Kozo Masuda, a lifetime opponent of Yasuharu Oyama who had then recently retired played a bishop handicap game hosted by the Libertin magazine against Koike. It was his first game after retirement. Before the game, Koike had remarked: "I feel bad for bullying the elderly" and "He (Masuda) has become weaker with age and has retired recently. I wish I had played him in his prime". However, during the game, in the position shown on the right, Masuda had placed his king atop his rook, choosing to use the very rare Climbing King strategy instead of the more common Climbing Silver. In the diagram, Koike had just decided to attack on the 8th file with P*85. Koike's plan is to force Masuda to save his gold with G-94, after which Koike can play R-88 or Bx86, pinning Masuda's pieces down. However, Masuda laughed and played Gx85 in response, exchanging a gold for a pawn. If Koike takes back, P-87+ creates a tokin while attacking Koike's rook and leaving him with no pawns as well, making it very hard to respond. After a long period of thinking Koike decided to play the dubious move P-74, turning the game into a one-sided victory for Masuda. After the game, Masuda remarked: "You truly are an amateur.... It seems that you have forgotten that I am a professional". A banquet was to be held after the game, and while Koike had wanted to leave, he was held back and made to participate.
• In the 1981, Koike played the professional with the highest winning rate at the time - Torahiko Tanaka 5-dan, who achieved it using his new Static Rook Anaguma strategy. Koike won the game, with Tanaka using, of course, Static Rook Anaguma.
• Although Koike appears broadminded, he can get very nervous at times. An anecdote says that during a game, Koike was visibly nervous when a leading professional player was next to him, and his opponent asked the spectators to leave after noticing.
• During Yoshiharu Habu's time as a primary school student, he had witnessed Koike playing a game by chance. Habu was assigned as the record keeper for a qualifying game in the Western Tokyo qualifiers of the Amateur Meijin-sen. After Habu became a professional, he said of Koike: "His style of shogi is very unconventional, much like how he lived. However, it was very clear that he was very strong".
• In 1981, he played against Motoji Hanamura, a former shinkenshi who became professional. Hanamura won.
• In 1982, Koike played 3 games (bishop handicap, lance handicap, and even) and won all of them against Keiji Mori, who was just about to claim his Kisei title. There were supposed to be breaks in between games, but Mori's stubbornness made him request Koike to play immediately. Later, Mori said: "That was when I got angry. If we ever play again, I will never lose".
• In 1982, Koike also played and lost against first year junior high student Satoshi Murayama. Murayama had just been eliminated in the final 8 of the junior high Meijin-sen, and this win helped him recover his self-confidence.
• Debt collectors heard of a shogi tournament hosted by the Yomiuri Shimbun with a prize of 1 million yen for the winner. They knew that no one but Koike could win in such a high-stakes tournament, and Koike was not even left with a single yen after eventually winning.
• When Oniroku Dan offered to hire Koike as his personal chauffeur so he could repay his loans, Koike replied: "That's impossible". In fact, in running away from debt collectors, Koike's driving license had expired, and since he was broke, Dan had to pay for his license out of his own pocket.
• When Dan and Koike went on a trip, they stayed at a ryokan for one night. The morning after, Koike gave Dan some money, saying that "Sensei, this is your share". While Dan was sleeping, Koike had met some travellers who liked gambling, and defeated every single one of them in money shogi games. When Dan asked "They would not take the gamble if you can't show that you have money. Do you have that much money?", Koike replied that he did not. In fact, Koike had shown the sleeping Dan to the travellers and said "This is my employer. If I lose, he will pay". Dan was shocked and asked what he would do had he lost. Koike laughed and simply replied "There's no way I would lose to an amateur" and that "nobody here knows I am that Koike, and even if I were to play the prefectural representative, the odds would be 2:1".
• As an amateur 6-dan, Dan was among the strongest players in the literary world, and he lost around 50 betting games of rook handicap against Koike without winning once. According to Dan's account in a shogi magazine, during the game, Koike called out to him, "If you'd like, I'll sell you some pieces," and a zealous Dan bought the pieces as was told. However, he was powerless to deal with Koike's skillful moves.

Record against professionals

• Total record: 15 wins - 11 losses (win rate 57.7%)
• Equal game record: 10 wins - 8 losses (win rate 55.6%)
• Handicap game record: 5 wins - 3 losses (win rate 62.5%)

Date	Opponent	Handicap	Move count	Side	Result	Location
8 November 1978	Kenji Iino 4-dan	Even	159 moves	Gote	Won	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
20 October 1979	Seiichiro Taki 4-dan	Even	130 moves	Sente	Lost	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
24 May 1980	Teruhiko Suzuki 4-dan	Even	108 moves	Gote	Won	Yotsuya Shufu Hall
24 May 1980	Nobuo Mori 4-dan	Even	167 moves	Sente	Won	Yotsuya Shufu Hall
24 May 1980	Kenji Waki 4-dan	Even	181 moves	Gote	Lost	Yotsuya Shufu Hall
25 May 1980	Seiichiro Taki 5-dan	Even	128 moves	Gote	Won	Yotsuya Shufu Hall
25 May 1980	Tsuneo Kikuchi 5-dan	Even	105 moves	Sente	Won	Yotsuya Shufu Hall
29 September 1980	Makoto Nakahara Meijin	Bishop H	173 moves	Shitate	Lost	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
12 December 1980	Eishun Suzuki 3-dan	Even	173 moves	Gote	Won	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
12 January 1981	Michio Takahashi 4-dan	Even	131 moves	Gote	Lost	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
October 1981	Motoji Hanamura 9-dan	Even	132 moves	Sente	Lost	Yamanashi Izumigo
31 May 1981	Yasuharu Oyama 15th Lifetime Meijin	Bishop H	86 moves	Shitate	Won	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
1981	Torahiko Tanaka 5-dan	Even	141 moves	Sente	Won	Akihabara Shogi Hall
4 November 1981	Makoto Nakahara Meijin	Bishop H	158 moves	Shitate	Won	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
15 November 1981	Osamu Nakamura 4-dan	Even	129 moves	Sente	Won	West Hadano Public Hall
27 February 1982	Kozo Masuda 9-dan	Bishop H	101 moves	Shitate	Lost	The Hanezawa Garden
3 March 1982	Hifumi Kato 10-dan	Bishop H	171 moves	Shitate	Lost	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
11 June 1982	Keiji Mori 8-dan	Bishop H	178 moves	Shitate	Won	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
11 June 1982	Keiji Mori 8-dan	Lance H	96 moves	Shitate	Won	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
11 June 1982	Keiji Mori 8-dan	Even	165 moves	Sente	Won	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
1982	Kunio Yonenaga 9-dan	Bishop H	100 moves	Shitate	Won	Akihabara Radio Hall
1 April 1983	Saburo Takeichi 4-dan	Even	157 moves	Gote	Lost	Sendagaya Shogi Hall
30 April 1990	Yoichi Kushida 4-dan (NHK Cup)	Even	180 moves	Gote	Won
6 May 1990	Yoichi Kushida 4-dan (NHK Cup)	Even	134 moves	Sente	Lost
6 May 1990	Yoichi Kushida 4-dan (NHK Cup)	Even	159 moves	Gote	Lost
1990	Yoichi Kushida 4-dan (NHK Cup)	Even	178 moves	Sente	Lost

Koike's rank was amateur 5-dan until 1979 and amateur 6-dan from 1980. He was also Amateur Meijin from September 1980 until the game with Yonenaga in 1982.

Titles

• 1980: 34th Amateur Meijin
• 1981: 35th Amateur Meijin
• 1982: Winner of the 6th Yomiuri Amateur Real Strength Contest