He was promoted to 1-dan in 1977 and obtained full professional status and the rank of 4-dan in August 1980.
[2] Izumi is a member of the so-called Shōwa 55 group [ja] (55年組), a group of eight strong players that become professional in 1980–1981 (Year 55 of the Shōwa period) and won numerous shogi tournaments.
Others in the group include Yoshikazu Minami, Osamu Nakamura, Michio Takahashi, Akira Shima, Hiroshi Kamiya, Yasuaki Tsukada, and Yūji Yoda [ja].
[4] In March 2019, Izumi voluntarily declared himself as a free class player, thus leaving the Meijin tournament league.
[5][6][7] Izumi's promotion history is as follows:[8] Izumi received the Japan Shogi Association's "25 Years Service Award" in 2005 in recognition of being an active professional for twenty-five years, and the "Shogi Honor Award" in 2017 in recognition of winning 600 official games as a professional.