Wakanosato Shinobu

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 tournaments ranked in the junior ''san'yaku'' ranks of ''sekiwake'' and ''komusubi'' (19 from 2002 until 2005). He won ten special prizes and was twice runner-up in a tournament. He earned two gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna'' at a ''maegashira'' rank. He had 1691 career bouts, sixth on the all-time list. He retired in 2015 and was a coach at Tagonoura stable, until opening his own Nishiiwa stable in February 2018.

Early life and sumo background

He first tried sumo in the third grade when he entered a competition for fourth graders and up and came in third. By middle school he was training every day at a sumo dojo. He met Takahanada (later the 64th ''yokozuna'' Takanohana) when a regional tour came to Hirozaki City, getting into the ring with him. He entered professional sumo in March 1992 after completing middle school, although he had been admitted to Hirosaki Jitsygyo High School. He had received offers from four or five different '' heya'' upon his graduation, but the small and relatively new Naruto stable appealed to him.

Career

As with many sumo wrestlers, he initially competed under his family name, Kogawa, but upon reaching the second highest ''jūryō'' division in November 1997 he was given the fighting name of Wakanosato, reminiscent of his stablemaster, former ''yokozuna'' Takanosato.

He entered the top ''makuuchi'' division for the first time in May 1998. He recorded his first ''kinboshi'' or gold star win against ''yokozuna'' Wakanohana in the November 1998 tournament, but the next day he broke his ankle in a match with Musōyama and had to miss the last day of the tournament and all of the next. He suffered a more serious injury in November 1999, rupturing anterior cruciate ligaments. He sat out two successive tournaments after having surgery and was demoted to the ''jūryō'' division . He won consecutive ''jūryō'' championships upon his comeback, in May and July 2000, and was promoted back to ''makuuchi'' in September. He quickly made the titled ''san'yaku'' ranks, making ''komusubi'' in November 2000 and recovering from 2–6 down to finish 9–6. As a result, he was promoted to ''sekiwake'' for the first time in January 2001.

In his early top division career, Wakanosato was considered a promising candidate for '' ōzeki''. From January 2002 until January 2005 he spent 19 consecutive tournaments ranked at either ''komusubi'' or ''sekiwake'', an all-time record. However, he was never able to break through the "great barrier" (the literal meaning of ''ōzeki''), just failing to attain the necessary 33 wins over three tournaments. He was runner-up in the January 2003 tournament, and again in September 2003, where his 11–4 score was probably his best chance to make ''ōzeki''. However, he could only manage seven wins in the following tournament. He was never able to consistently beat the top ranked wrestlers, being unable to beat Takanohana in nine attempts and winning only five times out of 32 meetings against ''ōzeki'' Chiyotaikai. He initially had an excellent head-to-head record against Hakuhō, defeating him the first six times they met. However, the last of these victories came in 2005 and he subsequently lost eleven in a row against him. He was awarded ten '' sanshō'' or special prizes for good performances in tournaments during his career.

In later years on the ''dohyō'' he again had injury problems, being forced to withdraw from his final ''san'yaku''-ranked tournament in September 2005 and missing all of the next. He defeated ''yokozuna'' Asashōryū on the second day of the 2006 May tournament, his first ''kinboshi'' in 45 tournaments (only Kirinji, with 47 tournaments, has had a longer wait between ''kinboshi'') but he could only manage a 6–9 record overall. He was then again forced to sit out all of the September 2006 tournament and fell to the second division once again. However, he made something of a comeback in May 2007, turning in a strong 10–5 record at ''maegashira'' 7. He won his 600th career bout in September 2007, and turned in another good performance in May 2008, again finishing on 10–5.

He withdrew from the March 2009 tournament after breaking a metatarsal bone in his right foot during his 11th day bout with Kotoshōgiku. He had surgery on 8 April which put him out of action for at least two months, meaning he had to sit out the following tournament in May. He came back very strongly in July, winning his fourth ''jūryō'' championship with a 14–1 record. He reached ''maegashira'' 1 in March 2010, his highest rank in over four years. After that he comfortably maintained a position in the mid-to-upper ''maegashira'' ranks until he was injured in the November 2011 tournament, resulting in yet another fall to ''jūryō''. However he immediately returned to ''makuuchi'' after scoring 11–4 in January 2012.

After a poor 4–11 record at ''maegashira'' 15 in September 2013, Wakanosato was once again demoted to ''jūryō'', but for the first time for a non injury-related reason. He was ranked in ''makuuchi'' only one more time after that, in the July 2014 tournament.

Retirement from sumo

Following a 4–11 result in ''jūryō'' in July 2015 which guaranteed a further relegation to the ''makushita'' division, Wakanosato announced his retirement on 3 September. He told a press conference "I entered this career out of my love for sumo, and it has been enjoyable. I'm being sincere in saying I want to continue, but my body is not up to the task of matching my desire." He had already purchased a ''toshiyori-kabu'' or elder stock in the Japan Sumo Association and is now known as Nishiiwa Oyakata. He initially worked at his old stable, now renamed Tagonoura. His official retirement ceremony or ''danpatsu-shiki'' was held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on 28 May 2016. Wakanosato's application to open his own Nishiiwa stable was approved by the Sumo Association on 30 November 2017, and the stable opened on 1 February 2018. As of March 2019 it has six wrestlers, all in the lower divisions.

Fighting style

Wakanosato specialised in ''yotsu-sumo'', or techniques that involve grabbing hold of the opponent's ''mawashi.'' He was known as being particularly difficult to beat once he had a ''migi-yotsu'', or right hand inside, left hand outside grip. About 40 percent of his wins were by ''yori kiri'', or force out, but he was also good at pushing and thrusting, winning many bouts by ''oshi-dashi'' or push out. His two most commonly used throws were ''sukuinage'' (scoop throw) and ''uwatenage'' (overarm throw).

Family

Wakanosato was married in April 2004. His stablemaster reported that his bride weighed just .http://www.banzuke.com/04-2/msg00206.html Sumo Mailing List – Wakanosato

Career record

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of sumo record holders
*List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
*List of sumo tournament second division champions
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of sumo elders
*List of sekiwake

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakanosato, Shinobu
1976 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
People from Hirosaki
Sumo people from Aomori Prefecture
Sekiwake