Shikishima Katsumori

Shikishima Katsumori (born 15 December 1970 as Hiromichi Yoshitane) is a former sumo wrestler from Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. He made his professional debut in January 1989, and reached the top division in November 1994. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 1. He defeated Takanohana twice in 1998 to earn his only two ''kinboshi'' for a ''yokozuna'' upset. His stablemaster, former ''sekiwake'' Aonosato retired in November 2000 and he moved from Tatsutagawa stable to Michinoku stable. He retired in May 2001 after being diagnosed with a heart ailment, and has remained in sumo as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and coach at Michinoku. He has borrowed a succession of elder names since his retirement. Since 2013 he has been known as Urakaze.

Career

He did judo while at high school, joining Tatsutagawa stable in January 1989 just before graduating. Following him into the stable two months later was the future ''maegashira'' Toyozakura. He initially fought under his own surname of Yoshitane. Progressing up through the lower divisions he stalled for a time after his ''makushita'' debut, falling back to ''sandanme'', but he won the ''makushita'' division championship or ''yūshō'' in January 1992 with a perfect 7–0 record. In May 1993 he won promotion to ''jūryō'', about four years after his professional debut. To mark his ascension to ''sekitori'' status he was given the new ''shikona'' of Shikishima. His first ''jūryō'' tournament was unsuccessful, as a 3–12 record sent him back to ''makushita'', but he returned to the second division after the September 1993 tournament and in March 1994 won the ''jūryō'' championship with a 12–3 record. In November of the same year he reached the top ''makuuchi'' division for the first time, but he moved back and forth between the two divisions before finally establishing himself as a ''makuuchi'' regular after the May 1996 tournament.

In March 1998 he reached what was to be his highest career ranking of ''maegashira'' 1, and earned his first ''kinboshi'' for a ''yokozuna'' upset on the fourth day when he defeated Takanohana. His second and final ''kinboshi'' came in the next tournament with another defeat of Takanohana. However despite appearing in ''makuuchi'' for 28 tournaments, he was never able to reach the ''sanyaku'' ranks. His overall win rate in ''makuuchi'' was around 43 percent, with 175 wins against 228 losses, compared to an overall career win rate of just under 50 percent (416 wins against 418 losses). In July 2000 he lost his top division status when he could score only 3–12 at ''maegashira'' 12.

In November 2000 his stablemaster, the former Aonosato, reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, and Tatsutagawa stable closed. Shikishima and his stablemates moved to Michinoku stable, from the same ichimon or stable grouping of Tokitsukaze. In January 2001, ranked at jūryō 5, he had to withdraw on just the second day due to a cardiac function disorder, which was so serious he risked death if he continued to compete. He was forced to miss the rest of that tournament and all of the next, falling to the lower end of the ''makushita'' division. By May 2001 his condition had recovered to the point where he could live without problems in daily life, but he decided not to risk competing again and announced his retirement.

Retirement from sumo

In his retirement press conference Shikishima said that he had been told he had an enlarged heart, and that he did not want to die young like fellow wrestlers Kenkō and Daishōhō. He said he had lost in a month and urged active ''rikishi'' to learn from his mistakes and not overeat or overdrink.''Ozumo'' magazine, September 2004. He began his career as an elder or ''toshiyori'' of the Japan Sumo Association under his old fighting name of Shikishima, but in January became the 14th Tatsutagawa, although the real owner of the name was his former stablemate Minatofuji. After the lifting on the ban of borrowing elder names, he vacated Tatsutagawa and went through a succession of others , becoming Fujigane, Nishikijima, Onogawa, Tanigawa and Ajigawa, before finally acquiring the Urakaze elder name in January 2013. He has remained working as a coach at Michinoku stable under that name since then. For a long time he was in charge of running the Kyushu tournament in November of each year, but retired from those duties in 2013. From May 2014 he has served on the judging committee, and received a promotion in the Sumo Association's hierarchy in May 2016 from ''toshyori'' class to ''iin'' class.

Fighting style

Shikishima was a ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler, who preferring grappling techniques rather than pushing or thrusting. His favoured grip on his opponent's ''mawashi'' was ''hidari-yotsu'', a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most common winning ''kimarite'' was ''yori-kiri'', a straightforward force-out.

Career record

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of sumo tournament second division champions
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of sumo elders

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shikishima, Katsumori
1970 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Chiba Prefecture