is one of the eight titles in Japanese professional shogi.

The word literally means "king's seat", i.e., "throne". The tournament started in 1953 as a knockout tournament with three games in the final match and was a non-title tournament up until 1982. The challenger for the title is determined through three preliminary rounds. The player that wins three games out of five in the championship match becomes the new Ōza title holder.

The tournament is sponsored by Nikkei, Inc. (日本経済新聞社 nihon keizai shinbunsha), a newspaper conglomerate that publishes The Nikkei and the Nikkei 225 stock market index. The current Ōza title holder is Takumi Itō.

Lifetime Ōza is the title given to a player who won the championship five times in a row or ten times in total. Active players may qualify for this title, but it is only officially awarded upon their reaching the age of 60 years, retirement or death.

Lifetime Ōza title holders Makoto Nakahara (won championship ten times when it was a non-title tournament) Yoshiharu Habu

Winners From 1953 until 1982, the tournament was just regular tournament and not a major title match. From 1953 to 1969, two finalists would play a 3-game match to determine the overall winner; the 1st Oza match (1953), however, was only a single game. From 1970 to 1982, the winner of the previous year's tournament would play the winner of a qualifying tournament in a 3-game match.

No.YearWinnerScoreOpponent1 1953Yasuharu Ōyama 10Yūzō Maruta21954Yasuharu Ōyama 21 Kōzō Masuda31955Yasuharu Ōyama 21Renshō Nada41956 Seiichi Kobori21 Kazukiyo Takashima51957 Shigeyuki Matsuda 21Seiichi Kobori 61958 Masao Tsukada 21 Tatsuya Futakami71959Yasuharu Ōyama20Michiyoshi Yamada81960 Yūzō Maruta21Yasuharu Ōyama9 1961 Sōetsu Honma20Hifumi Katō101962 Hifumi Katō 20 Michihito Kumagai111963 Renshō Nada21 Hirobumi Sekizawa121964Yasuharu Ōyama20Hifumi Katō131965Yūzō Maruta20Kunio Naitō141966Yasuharu Ōyama 20Yūzō Maruta151967 Michiyoshi Yamada20Kunio Naitō161968Yasuharu Ōyama20Hifumi Katō171969 Makoto Nakahara 21 Michio Ariyoshi181970Makoto Nakahara20Tatsuya Futakami191971Makoto Nakahara 20Hifumi Katō201972Makoto Nakahara20Kunio Naitō211973Makoto Nakahara 20 Genichi Ōno221974Makoto Nakahara 21Yasuharu Ōyama231975 Kiyozumi Kiriyama20Makoto Nakahara241976Makoto Nakahara20Kiyozumi Kiriyama251977Makoto Nakahara20 Nobuyuki Ōuchi261978Makoto Nakahara20Nobuyuki Ōuchi271979Makoto Nakahara20Nobuyuki Ōuchi281980Yasuharu Ōyama20Makoto Nakahara291981Yasuharu Ōyama21 Osamu Katsuura301982 Kunio Naitō 20Yasuharu Ōyama

For the 31st Oza Match (1983), the tournament was officially elevated to major title match status and starting with the 32nd Oza Match, the format switched to a best-of-five.

No.YearWinnerScoreOpponent311983Makoto Nakahara21Kunio Naitō321984Makoto Nakahara (2)32 Hidemitsu Moriyasu331985Makoto Nakahara (3)31 Kōji Tanigawa341986Makoto Nakahara (4)30Kiyozumi Kiriyama351987 Yasuaki Tsukada32Makoto Nakahara 361988Makoto Nakahara (5)30Yasuaki Tsukada371989Makoto Nakahara (6)32 Teruichi Aono381990 Kōji Tanigawa31Makoto Nakahara391991 Bungo Fukusaki32 Kōji Tanigawa401992Yoshiharu Habu30 Bungo Fukusaki411993Yoshiharu Habu (2)31Koji Tanigawa421994Yoshiharu Habu (3)30 Kōji Tanigawa431995Yoshiharu Habu (4)30 Keiji Mori441996Yoshiharu Habu (5)30 Akira Shima451997Yoshiharu Habu (6)30Akira Shima461998Yoshiharu Habu (7)32 Kōji Tanigawa471999Yoshiharu Habu (8)31 Tadahisa Maruyama482000Yoshiharu Habu (9)32 Takeshi Fujii492001Yoshiharu Habu (10)31 Toshiaki Kubo502002Yoshiharu Habu (11)30Yasumitsu Satō512003Yoshiharu Habu (12)32 Akira Watanabe522004Yoshiharu Habu (13)31Toshiyuki Moriuchi532005Yoshiharu Habu (14)30Yasumitsu Satō542006Yoshiharu Habu (15)30Yasumitsu Satō552007Yoshiharu Habu (16)30Toshiaki Kubo562008Yoshiharu Habu (17)30 Kazuki Kimura572009Yoshiharu Habu (18)30 Takayuki Yamasaki582010Yoshiharu Habu (19)30Takeshi Fujii592011 Akira Watanabe30Yoshiharu Habu602012Yoshiharu Habu (20)31 Akira Watanabe612013Yoshiharu Habu (21)32Taichi Nakamura622014Yoshiharu Habu (22)32 Masayuki Toyoshima632015Yoshiharu Habu (23)32 Amahiko Satō642016Yoshiharu Habu (24)30 Tetsuro Itodani652017Taichi Nakamura31Yoshiharu Habu662018Shintarō Saitō32Taichi Nakamura672019Takuya Nagase30Shintarō Saitō682020Takuya Nagase (2)32Toshiaki Kubo692021Takuya Nagase (3)31Kazuki Kimura702022Takuya Nagase (4)31Masayuki Toyoshima712023Sōta Fujii31Takuya Nagase722024Sōta Fujii (2)30Takuya Nagase732025Takumi Itō32Sōta Fujii

Records Most titles overall: Yoshiharu Habu, 24 Most consecutive titles: Yoshiharu Habu, 19 in a row (1992–2010)

See also Oza (Go)

References

External links 61st Oza Match Official Site by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and the Japanese Shogi Association Shogi Kingdom by Nihon Keizai Shimbun