Mr. Takanori Hashimoto, part 2

Following up my original post a little while ago, I thought I’d catch up on what my favorite shogi player, Mr. Takanori Hashimoto, has been up to over the summer. The last time I saw him, he looked like this:

Here he is again on TV a few days back on NHK’s shogi instruction program. Looks like he (A) gained a little weight (B) decided an inner tube was the perfect accessory for his televised match that day. (Heavyweight boxers WWE wrestlers have elaborate ring-entry sequences; shogi has this.)

It hasn’t all been smiles, though — he had an unexpected loss in a tournament on NHK the previous week, and he was a little broken up about it:

If you want to know more about what professional shogi is like, this video will tell you absolutely nothing. Click on it anyway; it’s humorous. Hashimoto shows up in the second match, on the left.