From: Richard Sams parkcity ne jp> Date: 18 apr 2006 Subject: Re: Meijin-sen sponsorship Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Is your computer freezing up or slowing down? Repair corrupt files and harmful errors - protect your PC Take a 2-minute PC health check-up at no charge! http://click.topica.com/= caaeE3va2i6YsbnuqMaa/PC Powerscan ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Shogi Renmei's move to switch the sponsorship of the Meijin-sen to=20 Asahi Shimbun is no doubt the result of financial difficulties=20 resulting from the decline in the "shogi population." The following is=20 part of a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun (April 14): "The Shogi Renmei is suffering severe financial difficulties. According=20 to the Leisure White Paper, the number of shogi fans dropped from 12.4=20 million in 1996 to 8.4 million in 2004. In the past few years, an=20 evening newspaper and a TV station have withdrawn their sponsorship=20 from shogi events, and the number of amateurs applying for certificates=20 of playing strength (one of the Shogi Renmei=81fs most important sources= =20 of income) has declined sharply. The Renmei=81fs annual income, which was= =20 about 3.3 billion yen in 1996, had decreased to 2.8 billion yen by=20 2004, putting the Renmei 130 million yen in the red just for that year.=20 In addition to sponsoring the Meijin-sen for the next five years, Asahi=20 Shimbun has offered a total of 750 million yen to support the=20 =81gpromotion of shogi=81h during this period. In view of the Renmei=81fs= =20 financial situation, this offer must be very attractive." On 2006/04/14, at 14:36, Manabu Terao wrote: > Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > Is your computer freezing up or slowing down? > Repair corrupt files and harmful errors - protect your PC > Take a 2-minute PC health check-up at no charge! > http://click.topica.com/caaeE3va2i6YsbqdEI9a/PC Powerscan > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Dear shogi fans, > > This might be not so interesting to overseas shogi fans, but it's one=20 > of the > hottest topics in the shogi world in Japan. > > According to plural sources, the board of Nihon Shogi Renmei(NSR)=20 > notified to > Mainichi Shimbun that they would not renew the contract of Meijin-sen=20 > with > Mainichi from 2007 onwards. Their intention is to switch the=20 > sponsorship to > Asahi shimbun to improve their financial situation, since Asahi would=20 > be able > to afford better money than Mainichi reportedly. The news was at first= =20 > reported > by Sankei shimbun in the morning of April 12. And many papers covered=20 > the topic > and there has been a lot of discussion in BBS and blogs(e.g. the Blog=20 > opened by > Ryuoh Watanabe already have more than 90 comments on this topic) which= =20 > handles > shogi topics since the sponsorship of Meijinsen were moved backward=20 > and forward > between Mainichi and Asahi in the history, the decision to quit=20 > Mainichi was > made in the board without notifying other professional players in=20 > advance, and > the way of notification to Mainichi seemed too sudden and lack of=20 > courtesy. > > The decision of the board is not final in NSR. It should be voted in=20 > the > general meeting on May 26. I do not foresee how things are going=20 > exactly. But > in my opinion, Asahi Open Championship will be no longer held if the=20 > sponsorship > of Meijinsen is moved to Asahi. It means less opportunity for Ama and=20 > ladies pro > to play official games with pro players. > > Manabu Terao > > > > > --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: = shogi-l shogi net EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a2i6Ys.= bnuqMa.= c2hvZ2kt Or send an email to: shogi-unsubscribe topica com For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit: http://www.topica.com/?p=3DTEXFOOTER --^----------------------------------------------------------------