, real name , was a Japanese professional
sumo
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...
wrestler from
Namioka, Aomori
was a town located in Minamitsugaru District in central Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
Namioka Town was located in the plains of central Aomori Prefecture, bordered by the Ōu Mountains to the east. The area was part of Hirosaki Domain during the ...
. He was the sport's 59th ''
yokozuna
, or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments.
This is the on ...
'' from 1983 to 1986 and won four top division tournament championships. After retirement he established
Naruto stable
Naruto stable (鳴戸部屋 ''Naruto-beya'') is a heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Nishonoseki ''ichimon'' or group of stables, and founded by former sumo wrestler Kotoōshū Katsunori on 1 April 2017.
History
Naruto stable ...
which he ran from 1989 until his death.
Early career
Takanosato played
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and
judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
before turning to sumo. He was from the same area of Japan as
Wakanohana Kanji II
was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ōwani, Aomori. He was the sport's 56th ''yokozuna''. He was popular with sumo fans and was well-known for his rivalry with Kitanoumi. After retirement, he became the head coach of Magaki stable ...
and the two entered professional sumo together in July 1968, joining
Futagoyama stable
was a stable of sumo wrestlers, created in 2004 when Takanohana Kōji took over the running of Futagoyama stable from his father Takanohana Kenshi. Formerly of the Nishonoseki '' ichimon'' or group of stables, it became the leader of a breaka ...
. Takanosato reached the top ''
makuuchi
, or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments.
This is the on ...
'' division in May 1975 but had some indifferent results and fell back to the ''
jūryō
Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...
'' division on several occasions. A late developer, he did not reach the ''
san'yaku
The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
...
'' ranks until 1979, by which time Wakanohana was already a ''yokozuna''. In 1980 he was runner-up in two consecutive tournaments. Nicknamed because of his brawny physique,
he was one of the few wrestlers in his day to use
weight training
Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength, size of skeletal muscles and maintenance of strength.Keogh, Justin W, and Paul W Winwood. “Report for: The Epidemiology of Injuries Across the Weight-Traini ...
, which is now commonplace in sumo. By 1981 he was a ''san'yaku'' regular, and in January 1982 he produced his third runner-up performance, this time at ''
sekiwake
, or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments.
This is the on ...
'', and earned promotion to ''
ōzeki''. Following his promotion he announced that he had been suffering from
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
for many years, and had devised a special diet to keep the illness under control.
He won his first top division championship in September 1982 with a perfect 15–0 record. He was runner-up in the March and May 1983 tournaments, and then took his second championship in July. Following this tournament, he was promoted to ''yokozuna''.
''Yokozuna''
Takanosato was almost thirty one years old when he reached sumo's highest rank, and the 91 tournaments it took him to reach ''yokozuna'' from his professional debut is the second slowest in sumo history, behind only
Mienoumi
is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Matsusaka, Mie. He was the 57th ''yokozuna'' of the sport. After retiring he founded the Musashigawa stable and was a chairman of the Japan Sumo Association. He was the first rikishi in histo ...
. Most ''yokozuna'' struggle to perform well in the tournament immediately following their promotion, but Takanosato won it with a perfect record—the first ''yokozuna'' to do so since
Futabayama
was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Oita Prefecture. Entering sumo in 1927, he was the sport's 35th ''yokozuna'' from 1937 until his retirement in 1945. He won twelve ''yūshō'' or top division championships and had a winning streak ...
in the 1930s.
Although his ''yokozuna'' career was relatively short, he had a great rivalry with fellow ''yokozuna''
Chiyonofuji. In the four tournaments from July 1983 to January 1984, the two wrestlers came into the final day with the same score. This is a unique occurrence in sumo.
It was Takanosato who won three out of the four tournament-deciding bouts,
and he was one of the few wrestlers to have a winning record against Chiyonofuji. He studied Chiyonofuji's fighting style through watching videotapes of his bouts over and over, and was often able to keep his rival from getting his favoured left hand grip on his ''
mawashi
In sumo, a is the loincloth that (sumo wrestlers) wear during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a as part of the ring entry ceremony or .
For top ranked professional , it is made of silk and comes in a var ...
''. Takanosato defeated Chiyonofuji eight times in a row from July 1981 to September 1982 and overall emerged victorious from 18 of their 31 encounters.
Takanosato's fourth tournament championship in January 1984 proved to be his last, and thereafter his ''yokozuna'' career was disappointing. He missed most of 1985 due to injury, only managing to complete one tournament, but did take part in the three day exhibition tournament held in the United States at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in June. He announced his retirement in January 1986 at the age of 33.
Retirement from sumo
Takanosato took the name Naruto upon joining the
Sumo Association
The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling (called ''Ōzumō'', 大相撲) in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). '' Rikishi'' (activ ...
as an ''
oyakata
The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
...
'', or elder, and in 1989 opened his own
Naruto stable
Naruto stable (鳴戸部屋 ''Naruto-beya'') is a heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Nishonoseki ''ichimon'' or group of stables, and founded by former sumo wrestler Kotoōshū Katsunori on 1 April 2017.
History
Naruto stable ...
in
Matsudo, Chiba, which has produced several top division wrestlers. The first was
Rikio in 1996 and he was followed by
Wakanosato
Wakanosato Shinobu (born Shinobu Kogawa; July 10, 1976) is a retired sumo wrestler from Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan. He made his debut in the top division in 1998, and his highest rank was ''sekiwake''. He holds the record for the most consecutive tour ...
in 1998,
Takanowaka in 1999,
Takanotsuru
Takanotsuru Shinichi (born 18 June 1976 as Shinichi Sekiyama) is a former sumo wrestler from Izumi, Kagoshima, Japan. He made his professional debut in March 1992, and reached the top division in January 2003. His highest rank was ''maegashir ...
in 2003,
Kisenosato
is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Ibaraki. He made his professional debut in 2002, and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in 2004 at the age of just 18. After many years in the junior ''san'yaku'' ranks, he reached the seco ...
in 2004, and
Takayasu and
Takanoyama in 2011. It was a close-knit stable and Naruto Oyakata did not let his wrestlers go out and train at other stables (''degeiko''), believing that they did not need outside help. Naruto also worked as a
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
of tournament bouts and for
NHK
, also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee.
NHK operates two terrestr ...
as a sumo commentator.
Death
In October 2011 the Sumo Association launched an investigation into allegations made by the news magazine ''
Shūkan Shinchō
is a Japanese conservative weekly news magazine based in Tokyo, Japan. It is considered one of the most influential weekly magazines in the country and is the first Japanese weekly magazine founded by a publishing company which does not own a ma ...
'' that Naruto had beaten a former junior member of his stable with a block of wood and had injected Takanoyama with
insulin
Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...
so that the barely 100 kg wrestler would increase his appetite and put on weight.
Both Naruto and Takanoyama were summoned for questioning by chairman
Hanaregoma.
Just days later, on November 7, 2011, Naruto died of
respiratory failure
Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...
in
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
at the age of 59. At the end of the Kyushu tournament held later the same month, Kisenosato was promoted to ''ōzeki'', something Naruto had always dreamed of seeing.
Fighting style
Takanosato's most common winning ''
kimarite
''Kimarite'' ( ja, 決まり手) is the technique used in sumo by a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) to win a match. It is officially decided or announced by the ''gyōji'' (referee) at the end of the match, though judges can modify this decision. The rec ...
'' or technique was overwhelmingly ''yorikiri'' or force out, which accounted for about 45 percent of his victories at ''
sekitori
A ''sekitori'' (関取) is a ''rikishi'' (力士, sumo wrestler) who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: ''makuuchi'' and ''jūryō''.
The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fract ...
'' level.
He preferred a ''migi-yotsu'' grip (the same as Chiyonofuji), with his left hand outside and right hand inside his opponent's arms. He also regularly won by ''uwatenage'' (overarm throw) and ''tsuridashi'' (lift out), the latter a technique seldom seen today due to the increasing weight of wrestlers.
Career record
See also
*
*
List of sumo tournament top division champions
This is a list of wrestlers who have won the top division (''makuuchi'') championship in professional sumo since 1909, when the current championship system was established. These official tournaments are held exclusively in Japan.
1958 to prese ...
*
List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
The table below lists the runners up ('' jun-yusho'') in the top '' makuuchi'' division at official sumo
is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a '' rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring ...
*
List of sumo tournament second division champions
This is a list of wrestlers who have won the sumo second division ''jūryō'' championship since 1909, when the current championship system was established. These official tournaments are held exclusively in Japan.
The wrestler who has won the mo ...
*
List of past sumo wrestlers
This is a list of prominent past wrestlers (either retired or deceased) in the sport of professional sumo. They are listed in order of the year and tournament month that they made their professional debuts. The information listed below was gleaned ...
*
List of yokozuna
This is a list of all sumo wrestlers who have reached the sport's highest rank of '' yokozuna''. It was not recorded on the ''banzuke'' until 1890 and was not officially recognised as sumo's highest rank until 1909. Until then, ''yokozuna'' was me ...
References
External links
Japan Sumo Association profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takanosato Toshihide
1952 births
2011 deaths
Japanese sumo wrestlers
People from Aomori (city)
Sumo people from Aomori Prefecture
Yokozuna
Deaths from respiratory failure