Kongō Masahiro (18 November 1948 - 12 August 2014) was a former sumo wrestler from

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. His highest rank was ''

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 o ...

'' and he won a top division tournament championship in 1975. He was a sumo coach and head of the Nishonoseki stable from 1976 until 2013.

Career

He was born in Fukagawa as Masahiro Yoshizawa, and joined the Nishonoseki stable (home of the great Taihō) in May 1964 at the age of 15. He initially wrestled under the ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Muromachi period and established itself during the Edo period, where they were used as a means to hide the identities of the . Given by the master to his di ...

'' of Oyoshizawa, based on his own surname. He first appeared on the ''

banzuke A , officially called is a document listing the rankings of professional sumo wrestlers published before each official tournament ('' honbasho''). The term can also refer to the rankings themselves. The document is normally released about two ...

'' ranking sheets in July 1964 and won all seven of his bouts, taking the '' jonokuchi'' championship with a perfect 7–0 record. However his progress slowed somewhat after that. In 1966 he made 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. Fo ...

'' division, and gradually climbed up to ''makushita'' 3 before dropping to ''makushita'' 6 for the July 1969 tournament. There he took his second divisional championship, again with an unbeaten 7–0 score, and was promoted to the second ''

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. Fo ...

'' division, giving him elite ''

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 fr ...

'' status. He was relatively light for a sumo wrestler at just . To mark his promotion he was given the new name of Kongō. He remained in the ''jūryō'' division for just over a year, recording a couple of ''

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

'' or losing scores, but in May and July 1970 he won two consecutive ''jūryō'' championships to earn promotion to the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, 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 ...

'' division. He had put on a little more weight, and was now around , but he remained in the ''

maegashira , 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 ...

'' ranks until May 1972, when a 9–6 score saw him reach the titled ''

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

'' ranks for the first time at ''

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 o ...

.'' He was unable to maintain the rank however, scoring only 5–10. In September 1974 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 o ...

'' Kitanoumi on the opening day, earning him his first ''

kinboshi is a notation used in 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 oth ...

'' or gold star, and at the end of the tournament he was awarded his first '' sanshō'' or special prize for Outstanding Performance. He returned to ''komusubi'' for the following tournament. The highlight of his career came in July 1975 when he won the top division championship from the ''maegashira'' 1 ranking. ''Yokozuna'' Wajima and ''ōzeki'' Takanohana both missed the tournament through injury. Kongō defeated Kitanoumi once again on the 7th day and finished one win ahead of fellow ''maegashira'' Aobajō with a fine 13–2 record. He won his third Outstanding Performance prize and was promoted straight to ''

'' for the following tournament. This was to be his highest rank, as he could score only 6–9 in the September 1975 tournament and never managed to return to ''sekiwake''.

Retirement from sumo

In 1975 Kongō's stablemaster, former ''ōzeki'' Saganohana, died and his widow asked Kongō to marry her second daughter and take over the running of Nishonoseki stable. Kongō agreed and he retired from active competition in 1976 at the age of 27. However, before the marriage could be officially registered, the daughter ran out on Kongō and so the widow adopted him as her foster son instead. and he changed his name to Masahiro Kitamura. Veteran Kirinji, already in the top division when Kongō took over, remained active until 1988, and Kongō produced several other ''sekitori'', such as

Hōō ''Fenghuang'' () are mythological birds featuring in traditions throughout the Sinosphere. ''Fenghuang'' are understood to reign over all other birds: males and females were originally termed ''feng'' and ''huang'' respectively, but a gender ...

, Daitetsu and Daizen. However, with the stablemaster in poor health it went into a gradual decline. Kongō was hospitalized following a stroke in October 2012. In January 2013, the stable's three remaining wrestlers retired and the stable was closed. Kongō himself retired from the Sumo Association in June 2013.

Death

He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on August 12, 2014.

Career record

References

External links