Asuto Saitō

Asuto Saitō (斎藤 明日斗) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 5-dan.

Early life and apprenticeship
Saitō was born in Kawasaki, Kanagawa on July 17, 1998. He learned how to play shogi from his father as a young boy before entering elementary school.

In September 2010, Saitō was accepted into the Japan Shogi Association (JSA) apprentice school as a pupil of shogi professional Toshio Miyata at the rank of 6-kyū. He was promoted to the rank of apprentice professional 3-dan in 2015, and obtained full professional status and the corresponding rank of 4-dan in October 2017 after winning the 61st 3-dan League (April 2017 –September 2017) with a record of 14 wins and 4 losses.

Promotion history
The promotion history for Saitō is as follows.
 * 6-kyū: September 2010
 * 3-dan: October 2015
 * 4-dan: October 1, 2017
 * 5-dan: January 14, 2021