Kazuo Sugimoto (杉本 和陽, Sugimoto Kazuo, born September 1, 1991) is a Japanese professional shogi player ranked 5-dan.
Sugimoto was born in Ōta, Tokyo on September 1, 1991.
[2] As a sixth-grade student at Tamagawa Elementary School in 2003, Sugimoto won the 28th Elementary School Student Meijin Tournament [ja], defeating fellow future professional Takuya Ishida in the semi-finals.
[3][4] Later in 2003, Sugimoto entered the Japan Shogi Association's apprentice school at the rank of 6-kyū as a student of shogi professional Kunio Yonenaga.
[2] He was promoted to the rank of 3-dan in 2008 and obtained professional status and the rank of 4-dan in April 2017 after finishing second to Nishida in the 60th 3-dan League (October 2016 – March 2017) with a record of 12 wins and 6 losses.