Ueno Asami
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.
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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, Àixiàoměi. Her fierce attacking style has earned her the nickname “Hammer”.
Promotion history
She was a very strong amateur from an early age. As an 10-year-old amateur 6 dan, she was one of the few female Japanese representatives in the (29th) World Youth Goe Championship, U-12 She scored ![[ext]](images/extlink.gif)
3 wins and 2 losses. The same year, UO Yujin?, then 2p, was the first female representative of Korea in the U-16 section, where she also scored +3–2.
Shodan in 2016 aged 14y 6m, 2nd dan in 2018. 3rd dan in 2019, 4th dan in 2019, 5th dan in 2020, and 6th dan in 2025 aged 23.
Leading female player
After winning the 7th Wu Qingyuan Cup in December 2024, Ueno Asami became the #3 female in the world. On 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 17 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 571 games, 383 wins, and 188 losses, for a 67.1% win rate, the highest of Japanese women (as of 2025/06/20).
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 17 titles:
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
- Retained her Female Kisei title, defeating Fujisawa Rina 2–0.
- Runner-up in Ryusei Tournament (l. Ichiriki Ryo). This was the first time a female player in Japan became a finalist in mixed (male and female) all-pro participating tournament.
- Won 38th Female Honinbo title, defeating Fujisawa Rina 3–1.
2020
- Lost Female Kisei to Suzuki Ayumi 1–2.
- Female Honinbo, Runner-up (lost to Fujisawa Rina 2–3)
- Won 5th Saikyo (defeated Xie Yimin 1–0)
2021
- Runner-up in Shinjin O
- Won 24th Female Kisei, winning her title back from Suzuki Ayumi 2–1
- Won 2021 and 2022 Wakagoi youth tournament (third female winner after Xie Yimin and Fujisawa Rina)
2022
- Won 25th Female Kisei, beating Suzuki Ayumi 2–1
- Winner of 2022 9th Aidu Chuo Hospital Cup, winning 2–1 against Fujisawa Rina.
- Winner of 4th (international) Senko Cup, the first Japanese female to win an international women’s tournament
- Won Shusai Prize (first and so far only female awardee)
2023
- Winner of 48th Shinjin O, winning 2–0 against Yao Zhiteng 6p. First ever female to win this title.
- Winner of 10th Aidu Chuo Hospital Cup. Because her sister Risa won the 2024 Female Kisei, they became the first sisters in 37 years to hold two female titles at the same time. In April 2025, they held two titles each, so four between them.
- Winner of 34th Female Meijin, winning 2–0 against Fujisawa Rina, who had held the title for five years.
2024
- Runner up in Female Meijin, defending champion losing 0–2 against previous champion Fujisawa Rina.
- Winner of 11th Aidu Chuo Hospital Cup, beating challenger Mukai Chiaki 2–0.
- Runner up in 10th Huang Longshi Shuang Deng Cup, behind Zhou Hongyu whom she beat in their individual game, but ahead of Choi Jung, Fujisawa Rina, and other leading female players.
- Runner up in 9th Female Strongest, losing to Fujisawa Rina in the final.
- Winner of 7th Wu Qingyuan Cup, defeating Tang Jiawen 6p 2–1; first Japanese winner.
- Scored most professional wins in Japan (56 wins, 24 losses, for 70% win rate).
2025
- 36th Women's Meijin: won all six games in the challengers’ tournament, then beat defending champion Fujisawa Rina 2–0 to regain title.
- 12th Aidu Chuo Hospital Cup, beat challenger Fujisawa Rina 2–1.
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 Ueno Asami, Go Ratings and game list, as of 30 Jun 2025.
In official games, Ueno Asami has taken games off some of the greatest of a previous generation, e.g.:
- Cho Chikun: 2–0
- Takemiya Masaki: 1–0
- O Meien: 1–2
- Takao Shinji: 1–2
- Yoda Norimoto: 1–0
- Kono Rin: 1–2
Head-to-head scores against current female rivals (at least three games)
- Choi Jeong, 9p, current World #1 female: 3–3.
- Yu Zhiying, 6p, current China #2 and World #4 female: 2–2
- Zhou Hongyu, 7p, current World #4 female, #1 Chinese female: 2–4
- Tang Jiawen, 6p, #4 female in world, and #1 female in China: 2–2
- Lu Minquan, 6p, #6 female in world, #3 female in China: 2–2
- O Yujin, 9p, #7 female in world, #3 female in South Korea, 2× Women's Kuksu: 0–3
- Kim Chaeyeong, 9p, #8 female in world, #4 female in South Korea, 2× Women's Kuksu: 0–3
- Fujisawa Rina, 7p, #9 female in world, #2 female in Japan: 23–25
- Li He, 6p, #10 female in world, #4 female in China: 3–2
- Nakamura Sumire, 4p, #15 female and #3 female teenager in the world, #3 ranked female in Japan, #5 female in Korea: 8–3
- Ueno Risa, 3p, Asami’s younger sister, #22 female and #4 female teenager in world, #4 female in Japan, 2× Female Kisei: 5–1
- Nyu Eiko, 4p, #33= ranked female player and #443= overall, and #6= ranked female player in Japan, 2× Female Strongest: 10–6
- Suzuki Ayumi, 7p, #33= ranked female player and #443= overall, and #6= ranked female player in Japan, twice Female Strongest, once Female Kisei: 15–4
- Xie Yimin, 7p, #30 ranked female in the world, #5 ranked female in Japan (many years #1): 11–3
- Mukai Chiaki, 6p, #46 ranked female and #500 overall in the world, #8 female in Japan, once Female Honinbo: 9–2
- Kobayashi Izumi, 7p, 3× Female Honinbo], 3× Female Meijin, 2× Female Kisei, once Teikei Cup Female Legends: 3–0
- Hoshiai Shiho, 4p, once Female Honinbo challenger: 5–0
- Gao Xing, 5p, #18 in world, #9 in China: 1–0
- O Jeonga, 5p, 1st IBK Cup runner up: 0–1
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
- Nihon Kiin profile
- English Wikipedia
- Japanese Wikipedia
- Go Ratings and Games
- Go4Go
- Her Instagram page
Videos
- Post-game press conference after winning the Shinjin O in 2023. YouTube link
Pictures
Ueno Asami selfie with (L→R) Mukai Chiaki, Ueno Risa, Nakamura Sumire, and Fujisawa Rina, Tachioi Cup, 2023 (Image credit: nikkansports.com
From bottom left, clockwise: Ueno Asami, Nakamura Sumire, Fujisawa Rina, Nyu Eiko, and Ueno Risa (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)
Front, left to right: Jo Bun'en, Fujisawa Rina, Ueno Asami, and Ueno Risa (2023) (Image credit: Fujisawa Rina Twitter)
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