Ueno Asami

    Keywords: People

https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/images/player/000470.jpg
Ueno Asami’s Nihon Ki-in photo

Ueno Asami (Kanji: 上野 愛咲美; Katakana: ウエノ アサミ; born 26 Oct 2001 in Tokyo) is a Nihon Kiin professional 6-dan. Pupil of Fujisawa Kazunari, father of Fujisawa Rina, her main rival for top female player in Japan. Her younger sister, Ueno Risa, also became a pro in 2019.

Table of contents

Name

Asami’s given name means “beautiful blossoming love”, from characters which if pronounced in isolation would be 愛 (ai) = love, 咲 (saki) = blossom, and 美 (mi) = beauty. In Mandarin, the characters would have the same meaning but be pronounced, ภixiเoměi. Her fierce attacking style has earned her the nickname “Hammer”.

Leading female player

After winning the 7th Wu Qingyuan Cup in December 2024, Ueno Asami became the #3 female in the world. On [ext] 2025-01-01, she had dropped to #5, and Ueno is also #208 overall in the world, and #1 female in Japan.

Ueno has won 15 titles, the third highest number by a Japanese woman, after Xie Yimin 27 and Fujisawa Rina 26. She has an overall professional game record of 541 games, 360 wins, and 181 losses, for a 66.5% win rate, the highest of Japanese women (as of 2025/01/28).

Two of these titles were international. Ueno was the first Japanese woman to win an internation women's tournament.

Titles & Runners-up

Ueno Asami has won 15 titles according to her Nihon Kiin profile.

2018

  • Won 21st Female Kisei aged 16 years 3 months, setting a record for the youngest winner of the tournament. Defeated Xie Yimin 2–0 in the final. For this win, she was awarded the 2018 Kido Prize: New Star, for winning a title in only her second year as a professional. In 2023, Nakamura Sumire broke her record by winning the Kisei (from Ueno) at 13 years 11 months.

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

Other successes

In late April 2024, Ueno reached the third round of the Quzhou-Lanke Cup World Go Open. She beat Park Minkyu 9p (ranked #11 in Korea, #80 in the world) then Xie Erhao 9p (#17 China, #24 world). But she lost to last year’s winner Gu Zihao (#3 China, #5 world) who beat World #1 Shin Jinseo in the final). This was one of the best results of a Japanese female in a top mixed international competition.

Victories over all-time greats

Based on [ext] Ueno Asami, Go Ratings and game list, as of 2 Feb 2025.

In official games, Ueno Asami has taken games off some of the greatest of a previous generation, e.g.:

Head-to-head scores against current female rivals (at least three games)

Ueno has won the only game she has played with the Korean girl prodigy, Kim Eunji.

Promotion history

  • 2016 1p
  • 2018 2p
  • 2019 3p
  • 2021 4p
  • 2023 5p
  • 2025 6p

Links

Videos

Pictures

ueno asami hoban cup 2022 (Image credit: 0)
Ueno Asami Hoban Cup 2022 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

ueno asami mlily 2023 (Image credit: 3)
Ueno Asami Mlily? 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

ueno asami wu yiming asian games 2023 (Image credit: 6)
Ueno Asami Wu Yiming Asian Games 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

lu yuhua ueno asami 10 2023 (Image credit: 11)
Lu Yuhua Ueno Asami Asian Games 2023 (Image credit: Foxwq.com)

Ueno Asami selfie with other female pros (Image credit: nikkansports.com)
Ueno Asami selfie with (L→R) Mukai Chiaki, Ueno Risa, Nakamura Sumire, and Fujisawa Rina, Tachioi Cup, 2023 (Image credit: nikkansports.com

The two Ueno sisters 20 and 21 amused, 2023 (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)
Ueno sisters amused: left: Ueno Asami; right: Ueno Risa, 2023 (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)

Five leading female Japanese go professionals at round table, 2023 (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)
From bottom left, clockwise: Ueno Asami, Nakamura Sumire, Fujisawa Rina, Nyu Eiko, and Ueno Risa (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)

Five leading female Japanese go professionals lining up, 2023 (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)
From back to front of the line: Nyu Eiko, Nakamura Sumire, Ueno Risa, Fujisawa Rina, and Ueno Asami (2023) (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)

Four leading female Japanese go professionals on a bus, 2023 (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)
Front, left to right: Jo Bun'en, Fujisawa Rina, Ueno Asami, and Ueno Risa (2023) (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)


Ueno Asami last edited by Jono64a on February 9, 2025 - 06:38
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