Kitakachidoki Hayato (born 1 January 1966 as Hayato Kuga) 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 Obihiro,

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 ...

. He made his professional debut in 1981, and reached the top division in 1989. His highest rank was '' maegashira 3''. After retirement he 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 ...

. He took over as head coach at Isenoumi stable, when former head coach Fujinokawa reached mandatory retirement age in September 2011.

Career

He was born in Obihiro, the son of a lorry driver. At school he was a soccer

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He made his professional debut in May 1981, recruited by Isenoumi stable. He won the '' makushita'' division championship in November 1986 with a perfect 7–0 record and was promoted to the '' sekitori'' ranks after that tournament. He had been using his family name of Kuga as his ring name, but upon his promotion he was given 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 Kitakachidoki, or "northern battle-cry," a reference to his Hokkaidō birthplace in the north of the country. He had few other wrestlers in his stable at a similar rank to him (former ''maegashira'' Hattori Yuji being forced to retire through injury around that time) and he had to go to other stables in his Tokitsukaze ''ichimon'' or stable group to find quality training partners. 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 for the first time in January 1989, but was demoted back to the second '' juryo'' division after only one tournament. He did not establish himself as a top division regular until 1991. He fought in ''makuuchi'' for 49 tournaments in total, with a 331–389 win/loss record. He never managed to reach a '' sanyaku'' rank, his highest position in the '' banzuke'' being ''maegashira'' 3 in March 1994. He was also unable to defeat a ''

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 ...

'' or win a special prize. His final appearance in the top division was in May 1998, although he continued to compete in the ''juryo'' division for two years after that. His demotion meant there were no longer any Hokkaidō natives in the top division, a remarkable decline considering that in the early 1990s there were three ''yokozuna'' ( Chiyonofuji, Hokutoumi, and Onokuni) from Hokkaidō on the ''banzuke''. It was not until May 2018, with the promotion of Kyokutaisei, that Hokkaidō Prefecture had another top division representative.

Retirement from sumo

After a poor 5–10 record in July 2000, and facing certain demotion to the unsalaried ''makushita'' division, Kitakachidoki announced his retirement at the age of thirty four. He had fought in 1438 matches across 117 tournaments. On 22 August 2000 he became an elder in the

, acquiring the vacant elder name of Katsunora Oyakata. He worked as a coach at Isenoumi stable, and in September 2011 he took over as head of the stable when his old boss, former '' sekiwake'' Fujinokawa, reached the mandatory retirement age of 65. Now known as Isenoumi Oyakata, he oversaw the promotion of Ikioi to the top division in 2012, and Nishikigi in 2016. In March 2022 he was elected to the Japan Sumo Association's board of directors.

Fighting style

His most common winning kimarite or technique was ''yori-kiri'' or force out, where he preferred a right hand inside grip (''migi-yotsu'') on his opponent's '' mawashi'' or belt. He was also fond of hip throws like ''sukui nage'' (scoop throw) and ''uwate nage'' (overarm throw). He was only of average height and weight for the top division but had a notably muscular frame as he was a keen weight-lifter.

Career record

References

External links