Kyokunankai Hiromitsu (born 14 December 1977 as Hirokazu Ken) 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 Amagi,

Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While 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 March 1993 and reached the top division in September 2010. The 17 years it took him to reach the top division is the second slowest progress ever, in the history of professional sumo wrestling. 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 ...

'' 16. He was forced to retire by 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 ...

, as a result of the 2011 match-fixing scandal.

Career

He joined Oshima stable from junior high school, having met in 1992 a wrestler at the stable, Kyokudōzan, who was from the nearby town of

Tokunoshima , also known in English as is an island in the Amami archipelago of the southern Satsunan Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of approximately 27,000. The island is divided into three administrative t ...

. He made his professional debut in March 1993, fighting under his real surname of Ken. In May 1995 he adopted a formal ''

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 Kyokunankai. Weighing less than , he rose slowly up the ranks, not reaching the third highest ''

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 until 1999. It took him another six years to win his first '' yusho'' or tournament championship in the division, which came in March 2005 with a 6–1 record. After another 6–1 record in the following tournament in May he finally became a ''

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 ...

'' and was promoted to the ''

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. In March 2006 he scored ten wins in a tournament for the first time and reached a new highest rank of ''jūryō'' 2, but reaching the top division still proved beyond him as he could score only 4–11 in the following tournament. After some mediocre results he fell back to the ''makushita'' division in January 2008 but made an immediate return to ''jūryō'' after just one tournament's absence. In July 2010 he earned 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 for the first time. His record of 10–5 at the low rank of ''jūryō'' 12 would not under normal circumstances have been enough to win promotion, but due to six ''makuuchi'' wrestlers (

Toyonoshima Toyonoshima Daiki (born June 26, 1983, as Daiki Kajiwara) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Sukumo, Kōchi, Japan. He made his professional debut in January 2002, reaching the top ''makuuchi'' division in September 2004. He was a runner ...

Miyabiyama Miyabiyama Tetsushi (born July 28, 1977 as Masato Takeuchi) is a former sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1998. With the exception of two tournaments, he was ranked in the top division ...

, Toyohibiki, Goeido,

Okinoumi is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Okinoshima, Shimane. He joined professional sumo in 2005, reaching the top division in 2010. He was runner-up in ''makuuchi'' three times in the January 2011, March 2013, and November 2017 to ...

and Wakakoyu) being suspended from the tournament because of a baseball betting scandal and being demoted, there were a large number of vacancies 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 ...

'' for the

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 sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Ed ...

to fill. It had taken Kyokunankai 105 tournaments from his professional debut to reach the top division, which is the second slowest in sumo history after fellow Kagoshima Prefecture native Hoshiiwato. Kyokunankai scored only four wins against eleven losses in his ''makuuchi'' debut from the rank of ''

'' 16, and was demoted back to ''jūryō''.

Retirement from sumo

Kyokunankai last competed on the '' dohyo'' in the January 2011 tournament. Following this tournament he was one of 22 wrestlers identified after an investigation by the Sumo Association as being guilty of

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 ...

and was ordered to retire. Kyokunankai denied involvement but nonetheless handed in his retirement papers on April 5, 2011 (ensuring that he would retain his retirement benefits and avoid being formally expelled). On April 28 he was invited by

Antonio Inoki (born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...

of the IGF

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

organization to visit the GENOME 15 event, but he decided not to participate, declaring that he would move to his wife's parents home in Fukuoka.

Fighting style

Kyokunankai was a ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler, preferring grappling techniques to pushing or thrusting. His favoured grip on his opponent's ''

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 ...

'' was ''hidari-yotsu'', a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most common winning ''

kimarite is the technique used in sumo by a (wrestler) to win a match. It is officially decided or announced by the (referee) at the end of the match, though judge (sumo), judges can modify this decision. The records of are then kept for statistical ...

'' was ''yori-kiri'', a straightforward force out.

Career record

References

External links