# Aya Imai
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{{short description|Japanese shogi player}}
{{Infobox shogi professional
| name = Aya Imai
| native_name = 今井 絢
| maiden_name =
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| born = {{birth date and age|2001|10|25|mf=yes}}
| hometown = [Nagoya](/source/Nagoya), Japan
| nationality =
| pro_date = {{event date and age|2023|02|01|2001|10|25}}
| badge_no = W-83
| teacher = [Masataka Sugimoto](/source/Masataka_Sugimoto)
| teacher_rank = 8-dan
| lifetime_titles =
| title =
| rank = Women's 1-[dan](/source/dan_(rank))
| no_titles =
| tournaments =
| notable_students =
| jsa = 83
| female = yes
| website =
}}
{{nihongo |'''Aya Imai'''|今井 絢|Imai Aya|born October 25, 2001}} is a Japanese [women's professional shogi player](/source/Professional_shogi_player) ranked 1-[dan](/source/Dan_(rank)). She is the first women's professional shogi player to come from [Nagoya](/source/Nagoya).
==Early life and becoming a women's professional shogi player==
Imai was born in [Nagoya](/source/Nagoya) on October 25, 2001.[{{cite web|url=https://www.shogi.or.jp/player/lady/83.html|script-title=ja:女流棋士データベース: 今井絢|title=Joryū Kishi Dētabēsu: Imai Aya|language=ja|trans-title=Women's Professional Shogi Player Database: Aya Imai|publisher=[Japan Shogi Association](/source/Japan_Shogi_Association)|access-date=February 14, 2023}}] She learned how to play shogi from her father when she was five years old.[{{cite web|url=https://www.shogi.or.jp/news/2023/01/21_39.html|script-title=ja:今井絢さんが2月から女流棋士1級に|title=Imai Aya-san ga Nigatsu kara Joryūkishi Ikkyū ni|language=ja|trans-title=Aya Imai Kimura will be a women's professional 1-kyū from February|date=January 31, 2023|publisher=Japan Shogi Association|access-date=February 14, 2023}}][{{cite news|author=|url=https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/627933|script-title=ja:将棋の今井絢さん, 名古屋初の女流棋士に 藤井聡太五冠と同門|title=Shōgi no Imai Aya-san, Nagoya Hatsu no Joryū Kishi ni Fujii Sōta Gokan to Dōmon|language=ja|trans-title=Aya Imai becomes Nagoya's first women's professional shogi player; she has the same teacher as Sōta Fujii 5-crown|date=February 1, 2023|newspaper=[Chunichi Shimbun](/source/Chunichi_Shimbun)|access-date=February 14, 2023}}] At first, she mainly played against her older brother and continued to improve to the point where she start attending a local shogi school.[{{cite news|last=Seko|first=Hiroko|url=https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/630256|url-access=subscription|script-title=ja:奨励会の6年半 ｢意識改革｣|title=Shoreikai no Rokunenhan ｢Ishiki Kaikaku｣|language=ja|trans-title=Six-and-a-half years as an apprentice professional changed Aya Imai's way of thinking|date=February 4, 2023|newspaper=[Chunichi Shimbun](/source/Chunichi_Shimbun)|access-date=February 14, 2023}}] As a
[second-grade elementary school student](/source/Elementary_schools_in_Japan), she entered the [Tokai](/source/Tokai_region) branch of the [Japan Shogi Association](/source/Japan_Shogi_Association)'s [training group system](/source/Professional_shogi_player) under the tutelage of [shogi professional](/source/Professional_shogi_player) [Masataka Sugimoto](/source/Masataka_Sugimoto).[{{cite news|last=Kitano|first=Arata|url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASR214DWJR10UCVL03L.html|url-access=subscription|script-title=ja:藤井聡太竜王の妹弟子が女流棋士に 今井絢さんが語る ｢藤井先生｣|title=Fujii Sōta Ryūō no Imōto Deshi ga Joryu Kishi ni Imai Aya-san ga Kataru ｢Fujii Sensei｣|language=ja|trans-title=Aya Imai, who has the same shogi teacher as Sōta Fujii Ryūō, obtains women's professional status; she talks about "Fujii Sensei"|date=February 1, 2023|newspaper=[Asahi Shimbun](/source/Asahi_Shimbun)|access-date=February 14, 2023}}] At the end of November 2022, she decided to formally leave the apprentice school at the rank of 1-kyū because she did not feel she would be able to achieve promotion to the next rank of 1-dan in accordance with JSA apprentice school's rules which require that apprentice professionals achieve said rank within one year of turning 21 years old.[{{cite web|url=https://www.shogi.or.jp/player/lady/83.html#jsTabE04_02|script-title=ja:女流棋士データベース: 今井絢 昇段履歴|title=Joryū Kishi Dētabēsu: Imai Aya Shōdan Rireki|language=ja|trans-title=Women's Professional Shogi Player Database: Aya Imai Promotion History|publisher=Japan Shogi Association|access-date=August 22, 2023}}]
* 1-kyū: February 1, 2023
* 1-dan: August 20, 2023
Note: All ranks are [women's professional ranks](/source/Professional_shogi_player).
==Personal life==
Imai is the first women's professional from Nagoya.