{{Infobox shogi professional | name = Mio Watanabe | native_name = 渡辺弥生 | maiden_name = <!--Only applicable to female professionals who married after turning pro--> | image = | image_size = | caption = | born = {{birth date and age|1979|09|02|mf=yes}} | hometown = Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture | nationality = | pro_date = {{event date and age|2009|04|01|1979|09|02}} | badge_no = W-41 | teacher = Kazuharu Shoshi | teacher_rank = 7-dan | lifetime_titles = | title = | rank = Women's 2-dan | no_titles = | tournaments = | notable_students = | jsa = 41 | female = yes | website = }} {{nihongo |'''Mio Watanabe'''|渡辺 弥生|Watanabe Mio|born September 2, 1979}} is a Japanese women's professional shogi player ranked 2-dan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shogi.or.jp/player/lady/41.html|script-title=ja:女流棋士データベース: 渡辺弥生|title=Joryū Kishi Dētabēsu: Watanabe Mio|language=ja|trans-title=Women's Professional Shogi Player Database: Mio Watanabe|publisher=Japan Shogi Association|access-date=April 10, 2020}}</ref>
==Early life== Watanabe was born in Minneapolis in the United States on September 2, 1979.<ref name="SH">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line-->|url=https://hochi.news/articles/20181029-OHT1T50124.html?page=1|script-title=ja:学び続けた東大卒女流棋士が受験生に送る, 渡辺弥生流 ｢受験定跡｣|title=Manabitsuzuketa Todaisotsu Joryūkishi ga Jukensei ni Okuru, Watanabe Mio-ryū ｢Juken Jōseki｣|language=ja|trans-title=Women's shogi professional and Tokyo University graduate Mio Watanabe offers students advice on taking university entrance exams with "Mio-style testing taking strategy"|date=November 3, 2018|newspaper=Sports Hochi|access-date=March 24, 2023}}</ref> Her father was an economist and in the United States for work purposes.<ref name="SH" /> She returned to Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture with her family when she was eight years old.<ref name="SH" /> She attended elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school in Niigata Prefecture before enrolling in Tokyo University.
After graduating from Tokyo University in 2002, Watanabe decided to continue her education and was accepted into the university's College of Arts and Sciences.<ref name="SH" /> Although her initial goal was to become a mathematician or mathematical economist, she found that there were many others more gifted than herself in those fields and eventually stopped attending class.<ref name="SH" /> Although Watanabe knew the rules of shogi, she did not start becoming very interested in the game until she had re-enrolled in Tokyo University. She spent lots of time solving tsume shogi problems online and joined the university's shogi club.<ref name="SH" /> Uncertain about her future after deciding to leave college after completing her second year in 2005,<ref name="SH" /> her parents suggested focusing on shogi and she entered the Japan Shogi Association's Women's Professional Apprentice League in 2006 under the guidance of shogi professional Kazuharu Shoshi.<ref name="SH" /> She obtained women's professional status in April 2009.<ref name="SH" />
==Women's shogi professional== ===Promotion history=== Watanabe's promotion history is as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shogi.or.jp/player/lady/41.html#jsTabE04_02|script-title=ja:女流棋士データベース: 渡辺弥生 昇段履歴|title=Joryū Kishi Dētabēsu: Watanabe Mio Shōdan Rireki|language=ja|trans-title=Women's Professional Shogi Player Database: Mio Watanabe Promotion History|publisher=Japan Shogi Association|access-date=March 23, 2023}}</ref>
* 2-kyū: April 1, 2009 * 1-kyū: March 3, 2011 * 1-dan: August 2, 2013 * 2-dan: March 20, 2023
Note: All ranks are women's professional ranks.
==Personal life== Watanabe graduated from the Tokyo University's {{ill|lt=Faculty of Economics|Tokyo University Faculty of Economics|ja|東京大学大学院経済学研究科・経済学部}} in 2002. She is the first graduate of the university to become a women's professional shogi player.<ref name="SH" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * ShogiHub: [http://shogihub.com/players/189 Watanabe, Mio] *{{cite interview|last=Watanabe|first=Mio|interviewer=Hiroshi Obara|url=https://www.todaishimbun.org/watanabe20190717/|script-title=ja:何をやっても間違いではない 東大卒女流棋士･渡辺弥生さんインタビュー|title=Nani wo Yattemo Machigai dewa Nai Tōdaisotsu Joryūkishi･Watanabe Mio Intabyū|language=ja|trans-title=Interview with Tokyo University alumnus and women's professional shogi player Mio Watanabe: Regardless of what you try, it's not a mistake|date=July 17, 2019|website=Tōdai Shimbun Online|others=Interview originally published in April 2018 in Tokyo University's new student memorial album "Freshbook 2018"; photos by Ayako Hori.}}
{{Women's Professional Shogi Players}}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Mio}} Category:1979 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese shogi players Category:Female shogi players Category:Shogi players from Niigata Prefecture Category:University of Tokyo alumni
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