Asahisato Kenji (born 9 November 1965 as Kenji Masuda) is a former

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 th ...

wrestler from Ikeda,

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

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 active career spanned 17 years and 102 tournaments from 1981 until 1998, and his highest rank was ''

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 ...

'' 14. Upon his retirement he became an elder of the

Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...

. He took charge of Nakagawa stable in January 2017, but the stable was closed in July 2020 and he was demoted two rungs in the Sumo Association's hierarchy after he was found to have mistreated wrestlers in the stable.

Career

He played baseball in elementary school and was a member of the judo club from his second year of junior high school. He joined Oshima stable upon his graduation from junior high, making his professional debut in March 1981. He began as Asahisato but from 1983 to 1987 was known as Kyokutenyu before reverting to his original ''

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 ...

.'' He became the first new ''

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 ...

'' of the

Heisei period The was the Japanese era name, period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his 2019 Japanese imperial transition, abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the ...

when he was promoted to the ''

juryo 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 in January 1989. He reached 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 in March 1990. In his debut tournament in ''makuuchi'' he had seven wins and seven losses coming into the final day but lost to Oginohana who was also on 7–7 and got demoted back to ''juryo''. He reached the top division three more times, but in each case had ''

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

,'' or a losing record and he was not able to climb higher than the rank of ''maegashira'' 14 which he had first made in his debut top division tournament. He fell back to the ''makushita'' division for three tournaments from November 1994 to March 1995 but returned to the paid ranks after winning the ''

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 championship with a perfect 7–0 record. He was demoted to ''makushita'' again for three tournaments in 1997 but again got promoted back. Overall, he fought 1095 career matches across 102 tournaments, with 553 wins, 543 losses and just three absences due to injury. He spent a total of 53 tournaments as a ''sekitori'', 49 in ''juryo'' and four in ''makuuchi''.

Retirement from sumo

He retired in January 1998 and became an elder in the

under the name Kumagatani, although this ''kabu'' was borrowed from the former ''maegashira'' Yoshinomine who had retired from the Sumo Association two years before upon reaching 65 years of age. In 2004 he switched to the Nakagawa ''kabu'' after the takeover of

Miyagino stable was a Heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Isegahama ''Glossary of sumo terms#ichimon, ichimon'' or group of stables. It was founded by the 43rd ''Yokozuna (sumo), yokozuna'' Yoshibayama as ''Yoshibayama dōjō'' while he was still ...

by the former Kanechika meant the Kumegatani ''kabu'' was needed by the former

Chikubayama Chikubayama Masakuni (born August 21, 1957, as Makoto Tazaki) is a former sumo wrestler from Ukiha, Fukuoka, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1973, breaking into the top ''makuuchi'' division thirteen years later in 1986. His highest rank ...

. Asahisato transferred to

Oitekaze stable The is a Heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ''Glossary of sumo terms#ichimon, ichimon'' or group of stables. It was established in its modern incarnation on 1 October 1998 by former ''maegashira'' Daishōyama Naoki, Da ...

where he continued to work as a coach. In January 2017 he branched out from

to become head coach of the Nakagawa stable, which is composed of wrestlers previously from the closed

Kasugayama stable was a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Isegahama ''ichimon'' or group of stables. In its modern form it dates from 1954 when it was re-established by former '' ōzeki'' Nayoroiwa who led it until his death in 1971. It went out of existence ...

which had merged with Oitekaze when its previous head coach, former ''maegashira'' Hamanishiki, was forced to step down. In July 2020 Nakagawa stable was closed down by the Sumo Association after three wrestlers complained of verbal and physical abuse. Nakagawa was allowed to stay as an elder but was demoted two rungs in the Sumo Association's hierarchy to plain ''toshiyori'' status. He was transferred to

Tokitsukaze stable The is a stable of sumo wrestlers in Japan, one of the Tokitsukaze group of stables. It was founded in 1769 and was dominant during the Taishō period. In its modern form it dates from 1941 when it was established by Futabayama, who was still a ...

with his wrestlers being dispersed among several different stables. Nakagawa apologized to the other stablemasters present at the disciplinary meeting, saying "I didn’t know that my disciples took my words and deeds as (abuse)." He escaped outright dismissal as the wrestlers were not injured and were not seeking further punishment.

Fighting style

Asahisato was a ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler who preferring grappling techniques to pushing or thrusting. When grabbing the ''

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 . ''Mawashi'' ''Sekitori'' During competition For top ranked profess ...

'' or belt he used a ''migi-yotsu'' (left hand outside, right hand inside) position. He regularly used his left hand outside grip to win by ''uwatenage'' or overarm throw.

Career record

References

External links