Kana Fukuma has spent most of her career far from the spotlight.

Shogi, a popular Japanese strategic board game often compared to chess, rewards quiet focus rather than public confrontation, and the holder of six women¡¯s titles built her reputation on exactly that.

But last week, seated before a wall of cameras at the Osaka Bar Association, Fukuma found herself at the center of a debate she never expected to lead ¡ª one that touched the most personal part of her life.