was a

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 with the Hanakago beya, an actor and a

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was born in Ōta,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. His highest rank in sumo was ''

komusubi , 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 ...

''.

Sumo

Career

Ryūko made his tournament debut in the January 1957 ''basho''. He reached the '' juryō'' division in March 1967, and ''

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 ...

'' in March 1968. The following year, he defeated ''

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 ...

'' Taihō, scoring the first of his two ''

kinboshi is a notation used in professional sumo wrestling to record a lower-ranked (''maegashira'') wrestler's victory over a ''yokozuna''. It is believed that the term stems from the usage of the terms ''shiroboshi'' (lit: white star) to designate a b ...

''. He was a runner-up in three top division tournaments, in March 1969, November 1969 and September 1970. His 1970 rise to ''

sanyaku The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'' was followed by a 1971 torn

achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

, as a result of which he missed three successive tournaments and was demoted from ''makuuchi'' all the way down to the third ''

makushita 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. He returned to sumo, and after winning championships in the ''makushita'' and ''juryo'' divisions he regained his position in ''makuuchi'' in 1973. He scored his second ''kinboshi'' (against

Kitanoumi , born , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the dominant wrestler in the sport during the 1970s. Kitanoumi was promoted to ''yokozuna'' at the age of 21, becoming the youngest ever to achieve sumo's top rank. He won 24 tournament ...

) in 1974. He even managed a return to ''sanyaku'' at ''komusubi'' in January 1975, the first time that any wrestler had done this after dropping to ''makushita''. However, on the first match of the May tournament in that year, he tore the other Achilles tendon, and retired from sumo. He once told an interviewer that he thought ''rikishi'' wrestled too much - "Ninety days a year, such a severe tension, it's too much for a human being." It was as a direct result of public sympathy for Ryūko's plummet down the rankings that the

Japan 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'' (active ...

introduced the ''

kosho seido The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'', or public injury system, whereby a wrestler injured during a tournament could sit out the next one without any effect on his rank. During his career, he earned several

awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award ...

, taking the ''Shukunshō'' twice and the ''Kantōshō'' four times.

Fighting style

His favourite

techniques Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s *Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by M ...

were ''tsuppari'' (thrusting attack), ''katasukashi'' (under-shoulder swing down), ''migi-yotsu'' (left hand outside, right hand inside ''

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 ...

'' grip), and ''sotogake'' (outer leg trip). He most commonly won by ''hataki-komi'' (slap down).

Retirement

After his retirement he worked as a coach at his old stable under the ''

toshiyori A is a sumo elder of the Japan Sumo Association (JSA). Also known as , former wrestlers who reached a sufficiently high rank are the only people eligible. The benefits are considerable, as only ''toshiyori'' are allowed to run and coach in su ...

'' or elder name of Hanaregoma, but he left the Sumo Association in February 1977 to seek a new profession.

Acting

Ryūko played the station chief in the 1977 live-actor film version of

Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo , often shortened to , and known in English as ''KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Akimoto. It takes place in the present day, in and around a neighborhood police station (kōb ...

. He joined the cast of the ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—''Portrait of Hel ...

'' ''

Abarenbo Shogun (Abarenbō Shōgun) was a Japanese television program on the TV Asahi network. Set in the eighteenth century, it showed fictitious events in the life of Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa ''shōgun''. The program started in 1978 under the title '' ...

'' during the first series (about 175 episodes), and continued through the second series (about 190 episodes). His character was a retired sumo wrestler named Ryūko. He also appeared as a guest star in an episode of the fifth series.

Death

He died on August 29, 2014 in

Kakegawa, Shizuoka is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,925 in 45,519 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kakegawa is in the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture. It is border ...

of a heart attack.

Career record

*''The Nagoya tournament was first held in 1958.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryuko Seiho 1941 births People from Ōta, Tokyo 2014 deaths Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Tokyo Komusubi