Kaoru Nishimoto

Kaoru Nishimoto (西本馨, Nishimoto Kaoru) (1924, Osaka – January 14, 2012, Maizuru, Kyoto) was a Japanese professional shogi player, 7 dan. His shogi teacher was Kinjiro Kimi (木見金治郎, Kimi Kinjirō:), 9 dan.

Nishimoto impaired visibility in his high school days at playing baseball. Having severe visible impairment, he aimed to be a shogi player. He became a student of Kimi in 1940 and was promoted to 4dan, the lowest professional rank in 1948.

His visible impairment hindered him to play shogi, even though he was accompanied by an assistant during play. He lost his visibility in 1962 completely. In 1959 he was disqualified to play at Ranking tournament C2 class and played for free at Shoreikai until his retirement. He retired as 4dan in 1972.

He died on January 14, 2012 aged 88 after a battle with pneumonia.