14-year-old shogi star Fujii drawing a new generation to the game

I watched him on TV. Yes, he's been getting a lot of TV coverage these days. He looked like very calm when playing shogi with unpredictable avenues of thought. He's a real genius. His further steps are expected.

"Never has to go to school..."

My apologies if I am missing something but where does it say he does not go to school?

Well done...a nice story at last...

That's great! But I know at least one kid who thinks he now doesn't need school to be successful. I hope people know they can do both. :)

While the accomplishment is something to watch, I too ask the question why he can get out of school to play shogi?

Folks in Japan pitched a major fit when the younger child actors and actresses on TV were seen on live shows after 8 PM and the kids had to leave before then, some in the middle of programs.

But no one asks about this kid. Hypocritical butts thats one word that comes to mind.

Powderb: sorry, I did not mean literally "never". I mean he's. Ring exempted a lot when others, who may be equally extraordinary but in areas besides Academia, do not.

How come he never has to go to school? I thought they had compulsory education in Japan

I'm surprised that after the increase, only 500 elementary kids go to shogi school in the entire Tokyo Metropolitan Area. That will be out of hundreds of thousands of children and is a fair gauge of underlying interest in this activity.

While I appreciate shogi is a traditional Japanese game, I think this story is getting far too much attention and is simply a distraction/smokescreen for the more important stories big media outlets like NHK should be covering. Give him a minute or two at the end of the news, not big billing at the start.