Twenty-year-old Sota Fujii became only the second player in the history of the shogi board game to hold six major titles after he took the Kio crown from Akira Watanabe on Sunday.
Fujii won Game 4 in the tourist city of Nikko to finish the best-of-five Kio series against his 38-year-old opponent, joining Yoshiharu Habu, who won his sixth title in 1994 at age 24 and completed a sweep of all of what were then the game's seven major titles in 1996.
The Aichi Prefecture native has been in dominant form as he looks to secure all eight of the current major titles.
"Through playing this series, I found many things to work on," Fujii told reporters. "I have to play the kind of shogi that makes people think I deserve my status."
Fujii and Watanabe will next meet in the best-of-seven prestigious Meijin series beginning April 5, with Fujii looking for his seventh title and Watanabe attempting to retain his last remaining title.
Asked to comment on the fiscal year starting next month, Fujii said, "Important games continue to come my way. I'll work hard and try to improve by even a little bit."