Hane Naoki, born 14 August 1976, is the current holder of the Tengen and Kisei title. He is the son of Hane Yasumasa.
By winning an Oteai game on 25 July 2002, Hane Naoki gained promotion to 9-dan, and also set a new record for fastest promotion to 9-dan at the Nihon Ki-in: 11 years and 3 months.
PatrickB: Is there any general well-known opinion on his style of play or any other info on him? I know that he's challenging for the Kisei right now (Jan-2004). I've been looking through my recent collection of pro games trying to decide on a particular player to start studying, and he looks interesting...
John F. He's written a book on his style recently. It's thick (but in the proper sense, not the sense of "influence") and slow; he plays catch up at the end. His rivalry with Takao is worth looking at.