Kotokaze Kōki
| Kotokaze Kōki | |
|---|---|
| 琴風 豪規 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born |
Koichi Nakayama April 26, 1957 Mie, Japan |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 173 kg (381 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Sadogatake |
| Record | 561-352-102 |
| Debut | July, 1971 |
| Highest rank | Ōzeki (November, 1981) |
| Retired | November, 1985 |
| Championships |
2 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) |
| Special Prizes |
Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (2) Technique(1) |
| Gold Stars |
6 Kitanoumi (3) Mienoumi Wajima Wakanohana II |
| * Up to date as of August 2012. | |
Kotokaze Kōki (born 26 April 1957 as Koichi Nakayama) is a former sumo wrestler from Tsu, Mie, Japan. His highest rank was ōzeki.
Career
Scouted by the 53rd Yokozuna Kotozakura, he joined Sadogatake stable in July 1971. He reached the sekitori level in November 1975 upon promotion to the second highest jūryō division and in January 1977 he made his debut in the top makuuchi division. He got as far as sekiwake before suffering a severe injury to his left knee joint which forced him to miss several tournaments and plunge all the way down to the unsalaried makushita division. He made his way back to the top division in just one year. By March 1981 he had returned to sekiwake and in September 1981 he captured his first tournament championship with a 12-3 record, finishing one win ahead of yokozuna Wakanohana II. He was immediately promoted to sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki. He took his second championship in January 1983 with a 14-1 score, beating Asashio in a playoff. In September 1984 he defeated a newcomer to the division who was in contention for the tournament title, the gigantic Konishiki, in a mammoth two-minute struggle on the final day. Kotokaze later recalled this bout as his most memorable ever. In May 1985 he suffered another serious injury, this time to his right knee, and he decided to retire in November 1985 at the age of twenty eight.
After retirement
Kotokaze became an elder of the Sumo Association under the name Oguruma Oyakata. In 1987 he left Sadogatake to set up his own Oguruma stable. He gives all of his new recruits shikona with the suffix "kaze" (wind), taken from his own fighting name. The first wrestler from the stable to achieve sekitori status was Tomikaze in July 2000. Oguruma stable currently has two wrestlers with top division experience, Takekaze and Yoshikaze. A third, Wakakirin, (who originally came from a different stable) was dismissed from the Sumo Association because of cannabis use in February 2009. Oguruma was demoted from his post in the Association as a result. In September 2010, two men were arresting for attempting to blackmail Kotokaze, sending him a letter threatening to reveal his connections to a "violent criminal gang" (usually a euphemism for yakuza) in his younger years.[1] In April 2011 he was hit with another demotion after a jūryō division wrestler from his stable, Hoshikaze, was forced to retire after a match-fixing scandal.[2] However, in February 2012 he was elected to the Sumo Association board of directors.
Kotokaze is also a regular commentator on NHK's sumo tournament broadcasts.
Fighting style
Kotokaze's most common winning kimarite or technique was overwhelmingly a straightforward yori-kiri or force out, which accounted for over half his wins at sekitori level. He favoured hidari-yotsu, or a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi. He very rarely employed throwing moves.
Top division record
| Year in sumo | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | x | x | x | (Maezumo) | West Jonokuchi #9
3–4 |
East Jonidan #97
3–1 |
| 1972 | West Jonidan #59
1–2 |
West Jonidan #77
– |
West Jonidan #77
2–1 |
East Jonidan #47
– |
East Jonidan #46
1–2 |
East Jonidan #54
– |
| 1973 | East Jonidan #54
3–0 |
West Jonidan #19
3–4 |
East Jonidan #32
6–1 |
East Sandanme #69
4–3 |
West Sandanme #52
5–2 |
East Sandanme #24
5–2 |
| 1974 | East Sandanme #1
3–4 |
East Sandanme #10
4–3 |
East Makushita #57
3–4 |
West Sandanme #8
3–4 |
East Sandanme #18
5–2 |
East Makushita #54
5–2 |
| 1975 | West Makushita #31
4–3 |
East Makushita #25
6–1 |
West Makushita #8
5–2 |
West Makushita #2
4–3 |
West Makushita #1
5–2 |
West Jūryō #12
8–7 |
| 1976 | East Jūryō #9
8–7 |
West Jūryō #7
9–6 |
West Jūryō #2
5–10 |
West Jūryō #7
8–7 |
East Jūryō #7
9–6 |
East Jūryō #1
9–6 |
| 1977 | West Maegashira #11
8–7 |
East Maegashira #6
9–6 |
East Maegashira #1
5–10 |
West Maegashira #7
8–7 |
West Maegashira #5
8–7 |
East Maegashira #1
10–5 O★ |
| 1978 | West Sekiwake #1
5–10 |
East Maegashira #3
6–9 ★ |
West Maegashira #6
12–3 O★ |
West Sekiwake #1
7–8 |
West Komusubi #1
7–8 |
West Maegashira #1
0–3–12 |
| 1979 | East Maegashira #13
3–2–10 |
West Jūryō #7
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
West Makushita #5
Sat out due to injury 0–0–7 |
West Makushita #30
6–1 |
West Makushita #8
7–0–P Champion |
West Jūryō #11
14–1 Champion |
| 1980 | West Maegashira #14
12–3 F |
East Maegashira #1
10–5 F |
West Sekiwake #1
10–5 O |
East Sekiwake #1
6–4–5 |
West Maegashira #2
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
West Maegashira #2
7–8 ★ |
| 1981 | West Maegashira #3
10–5 ★★ |
West Sekiwake #1
9–6 |
West Komusubi #1
9–6 |
East Sekiwake #1
10–5 |
East Sekiwake #1
12–3 T |
East Ōzeki
11–4 |
| 1982 | East Ōzeki #1
10–5 |
East Ōzeki #1
9–6 |
West Ōzeki #1
9–6 |
West Ōzeki #1
11–4 |
East Ōzeki #1
9–6 |
West Ōzeki #1
10–5 |
| 1983 | West Ōzeki #1
14–1–P |
East Ōzeki #1
11–4 |
West Ōzeki #1
11–4 |
West Ōzeki #2
12–3 |
East Ōzeki #1
11–4 |
West Ōzeki #1
11–4 |
| 1984 | West Ōzeki #1
11–4 |
West Ōzeki #1
9–6 |
East Ōzeki #2
9–6 |
West Ōzeki #2
8–7 |
West Ōzeki #2
10–5 |
East Ōzeki #2
10–5 |
| 1985 | East Ōzeki #2
8–7 |
West Ōzeki #2
5–10 |
West Ōzeki #2
3–4–8 |
West Sekiwake #2
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
East Sekiwake #2
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
East Maegashira #10
Retired 0–4 |
| Record given as win-loss-absent Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s); P=Playoff(s) | ||||||
See also
- Glossary of sumo terms
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of sumo tournament top division champions
- List of sumo tournament second division champions
- List of ōzeki
References
- ↑ "尾車親方に「あの時の金返せ」脅迫容疑で男ら逮捕". テレ朝News. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- ↑ "Two more wrestlers forced to quit sumo". Japan Times. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
- ↑ "Kotokaze Koki Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 3 March 2016.