Tetsurō Itodani

is a Japanese professional shogi player, ranked 9-dan and former Ryūō title holder. He is also an executive director of the Japan Shogi Association.

Early life and apprentice professional Itodani was born in Hiroshima, Japan on October 5, 1988. He learned how to play shogi when he was five years old and he won the 1st and 2nd Elementary School Ōshō tournaments for grades 1 to 3 in 1995 and 1996 as an elementary school student. He entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school in October 1998 at the rank of 6-kyū as a protegee of shogi professional . He was promoted to 1-dan in February 2003 and to 3-dan in 2004.

From October 2004 to March 2005, he participated in the 36th 3-dan League finishing in fourth place with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses. The following season in the 37th 3-dan League (April 2005September 2005), he finished in third place with a record of 12 wins and 6 losses and earned one "promotion point" towards professional status. He obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan in April 2006 after winning the 38th 3-dan League (October 2005March 2006) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.

Shogi professional Itodani, together with Akira Inaba, Masayuki Toyoshima and Akihiro Murata, is one of four Kansai-based young shogi professionals who are collectively referred to as the "Young Kansai Big Four" (関西若手四天王 Kansai Wakate Shitennō).

Itodani won the 37th Shinjin-Ō in October 2006 for his only non-major-title tournament championship. Itodani actually started the 37th Shinjin-Ō tournament while still an apprentice professional 3-dan, but was promoted to professional 4-dan during the tournament.

Itodani defeated the reigning Ryūō Toshiyuki Moriuchi in 2014 to win the 27th Ryūō title for his first and to date only major title victory.

In AprilMay 2026, Itodani challenged the reigning Meijin Sōta Fujii for the Meijin Title but lost the 84th Meijin Title Match 4 games to none.

Promotion history The promotion history of Itodani is as follows: 6-kyū: 1998 4-dan: April 1, 2006 5-dan: May 1, 2008 6-dan: January 12, 2012 7-dan: September 8, 2014 8-dan: December 4, 2014 9-dan: April 16, 2026

Titles and other championships Itodani has appeared in major title matches five times and has won one title.

Year-end prize money and game fee ranking Itodani has finished in the "Top 10" of the JSA's three times since turning professional: second in 2015 with JPY 55,310,000 in earnings, fourth in 2016 with JPY 35,430,000 in earnings and eighth in 2021 with JPY 18,760,000 in earnings.

JSA director Itodani was elected an executive director of the at its 76th General Meeting in June 2025.

Personal life Itodani lived with his family and attended junior and senior high schools in Hiroshima while a member of the JSA's apprentice school. so, he moved from Hiroshima to Minoh, Osaka to attend university.