Kanechika
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Kanechika Kazunori (born 12 November 1969 as Kazuyuki Kanechika, also known as Kasuyuki Yamamura) 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 and coach from Tsurumi,
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
,
Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...
,
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 ...
.


Sumo career

He was fond of basketball while at junior high school. His father remarried and Kanechika had a poor relationship with his stepmother, which was one reason why he quit high school to enter sumo. He was recruited by the recently retired ''
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, who was looking to open his own training
stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...
. Kanechika made his professional debut in September 1985, fighting under his own surname. Upon promotion to the ''
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 ...
'' level in March 1992 he changed his ''
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 ...
'' to Gassan, but soon reverted to Kanechika after a run of bad results. He never reached the top division, his highest rank being ''
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 ...
'' 2 in January 1995. He was demoted from the ''jūryō'' division in 1998 and spent the last six years of his career in the unsalaried ''
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 ...
'' and ''
sandanme 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 ...
'' divisions. In November 1999 he had a win over future ''yokozuna'' Asashōryū, when both were ranked in ''makushita''.


Fighting style

He favoured a left-hand outside, right-hand inside grip on his opponents' ''
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, and his favourite
technique Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s * Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by ...
was ''shitatenage'', or underarm throw.


Coaching career

By July 2004 Kanechika had decided to retire and he initially had no ambition to stay in sumo, intending to open a noodle shop. However, in September he unexpectedly became an elder in 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 ...
. Although he had only 24 tournaments ranked as a ''sekitori,'' below the usual requirement of 30, he was able to become head coach 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 inheriting the Miyagino ''toshiyori-kabu'', or elder stock through marrying the daughter of a previous holder, former ''
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 ...
'' Hirokawa (who had died in 1989). Wrestlers inheriting a stable in this way are permitted to have a lower threshold of 12 tournaments in ''makuuchi'' or 20 tournaments as a ''sekitori''. Kanechika was also adopted by the widow and therefore changed his legal name to Kazuyuki Yamamura. The head coach of Miyagino at the time, former ''
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 ...
''
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 ...
, was forced to step aside as he only had the Miyagino stock on loan from Hirokawa's widow (though this fact had not been widely known). Chikubayama was able to become Kumagatani-''oyakata'' and still be affiliated to the stable. Kanechika, unusually, had no previous connection to the stable, having been a member of
Kitanoumi stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ''ichimon'' or group of stables. It was set up in 1985 as Kitanoumi stable by former ''yokozuna'' Kitanoumi, who branched off from Mihogaseki stable. It absorbed in 2006, following the dea ...
which is from an entirely different ''ichimon'' or stable group when he took over the stable and the Miyagino elder name. After this controversial takeover the Sumo Association changed the rules so that former wrestlers who only have elder stock on loan, as Chikubayama did, cannot become stablemasters. Chikubayama was the mentor of Hakuhō, who had just entered the top division at the time, and he continued to be Hakuhō's primary trainer. Kanechika, though he was now head as Miyagino, was rarely seen at training sessions.


Match-fixing scandal

Miyagino was forced to resign as head coach by the Sumo Association in December 2010, after being caught on tape discussing
match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...
. The allegations had first been reported in the tabloid magazine ''
Shūkan Gendai is a general-interest weekly magazine published by Kodansha in Tokyo, Japan. History and profile ''Shūkan Gendai'' was started in 1959. The magazine has its headquarters in Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital o ...
'' in June 2007, but it was not until two years later that the tape itself surfaced, during the former chairman of the Sumo Association Kitanoumi's lawsuit against the magazine in the
Tokyo District Court is a district court located at 1-1-4 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. See also *Judicial system of Japan In the judicial system of Japan, the Constitution of Japan guarantees that "all judges shall be independent in the exercise of thei ...
. Miyagino admitted that it was his voice on the tape, but that he was just "talking nonsense." Nevertheless, he accepted the Sumo Association's "recommendation" that he swap elder names with former head coach Chikubayama, who resumed head coach duties, and became known as Kumagatani-''oyakata''.


Assault charge

In September 2015 he was arrested in connection with an assault with a metal bat on his personal assistant and driver. He was indicted by the prosecutor's office on 18 September for inflicting bodily injury, and fired by the Sumo Association on 1 October. He reportedly admitted in court in November 2015 to physical and verbal abuse of the victim on a number of occasions. In addition to the beatings, these also include forcing the victim to eat a whole tub of
wasabi Wasabi (Japanese language, Japanese: , , or , ) or Japanese horseradish (''Eutrema japonicum'' syn. ''Wasabia japonica'') is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and Mustard plant, mustard in other genus, genera. ...
paste and stuffing a towel into his mouth. In a subsequent court hearing in February 2016 the victim gave further testimony and indicated he would not accept a settlement. On 25 March 2016 Kanechika was sentenced to three years imprisonment, suspended for four years. He has also paid the victim 1.53 million
yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...
.


Career record


See also

*
Glossary of sumo terms The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...
*
List of past sumo wrestlers This is a list of prominent past wrestlers (either retired or deceased) in the sport of professional sumo. They are listed in order of the year and tournament month that they made their professional debuts. The information listed below was gleaned ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanechika, Kazunori 1969 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers Martial artists from Yokohama People from Tsurumi, Yokohama Sumo people from Kanagawa Prefecture Sumo wrestlers who use their birth name