[2][3] In February 1979, Tanigawa won the 2nd Young Lions Tournament (1978) [ja] for his first championship as a professional.

[5] On March 10, 2011, Tanigawa became the 4th shogi professional to win 1200 official games when he defeated Daisuke Nakagawa.Tanigawa's age of 48 years and 11 months made him at that time the youngest player to achieve such a result.

[12][13] Tanigawa has finished in the "Top 10" of the JSA's year-end prize money and game fee rankings [ja] each year from 1993 to 2007, and then again in 2013.

[24] Tanigawa continued to serve as president until his successor was chosen at a special meeting of the JSA membership on February 6, 2017.

[25] In the late 1980s, Pony Canyon released a line of Shogi video games for the MSX and Famicom featuring Tanigawa.