Kongō Masahiro
| 金剛 正裕 Kongō Masahiro | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Masahiro Yoshizawa November 18, 1948 Hokkaidō, Japan |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 116 kg (256 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Nishonoseki |
| Record | 449-414-0 |
| Debut | May, 1964 |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (September, 1975) |
| Retired | September, 1976 |
| Championships | 1 (Makuuchi) 2 (Juryo) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Jonokuchi) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (3) |
| Gold Stars | 3 (Kitanoumi) |
| * Up to date as of July 2007. | |
Kongō Masahiro (born 18 November 1948 as Masahiro Yoshizawa) is a former sumo wrestler from Hokkaidō, Japan. His highest rank was sekiwake. He is now a sumo coach and head of the Nishonoseki stable.
Career
He was born in Fukagawa, and joined Nishonoseki stable (home of the great Taihō) in May 1964 at the age of 15. He initially wrestled under the shikona of Oyoshizawa, based on his own surname. He first appeared on the banzuke ranking sheets in July 1964 and won all seven of his bouts, taking the jonokuchi championship with a perfect 7-0 record. However his progress slowed somewhat after that. In 1966 he made the third makushita division, and gradually climbed up to Makushita 3 before dropping to Makushita 6 for the July 1969 tournament. There he took his second divisional championship, again with an unbeaten 7-0 score, and was promoted to the second juryo division, giving him elite sekitori status. He was relatively light for a sumo wrestler at just 82 kg (181 lb). To mark his promotion he was given the new name of Kongo. He remained in the juryo division for just over a year, recording a couple of make-koshi or losing scores, but in May and July 1970 he won two consecutive juryo championships to earn promotion to the top makuuchi division.
He had put on a little more weight, and was now around 100 kg (220 lb), but he remained in the maegashira ranks until May 1972, when a 9-6 score saw him reach the titled sanyaku ranks for the first time at komusubi. He was unable to maintain the rank however, scoring only 5-10. In September 1974 he defeated yokozuna Kitanoumi on the opening day, earning him his first kinboshi or gold star, and at the end of the tournament he was awarded his first sanshō or special prize for Outstanding Performance. He returned to komusubi for the following tournament.
The highlight of his career came in July 1975 when he won the top division championship from the maegashira 1 ranking. Yokozuna Wajima and ozeki Takanohana both missed the tournament through injury. Kongo defeated Kitanoumi once again on the 7th day and finished one win ahead of fellow maegashira Aobajo with a fine 13-2 record. He won his third Outstanding Performance prize and was promoted straight to sekiwake for the following tournament. This was to be his highest rank, as he could score only 6-9 in the September 1975 tournament and never managed to return to sekiwake.
Retirement from sumo
In 1975 Kongo's stablemaster, former ozeki Sagonohana, died and his widow asked Kongo to marry her second daughter and take over the running of Nishonoseki stable.[1] Kongo agreed and he retired from active competition in 1976 at the age of 27. However, before the marriage could be officially registered, the daughter ran out on Kongo and so the widow adopted him as her foster son instead.[1] Kongo has run the stable ever since. Veteran Kirinji, already in the top division when Kongo took over, remained active until 1988, and Kongo produced several other sekitori, such as Ho-o, Daitetsu and Daizen. However the stable has declined somewhat in recent years, and as of 2010 has just five active wrestlers, all in the lower divisions.
Top Division Record
| Year | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | x | x | x | x | West Maegashira #9 7–8 |
East Maegashira #11 9–6 |
| 1971 | East Maegashira #6 6–9 |
East Maegashira #9 8–7 |
East Maegashira #7 7–8 |
East Maegashira #9 8–7 |
East Maegashira #7 8–7 |
East Maegashira #4 5–10 |
| 1972 | East Maegashira #7 8–7 |
West Maegashira #5 8–7 |
East Maegashira #1 9–6 |
East Komusubi 5–10 |
West Maegashira #2 9–6 |
East Komusubi 5–10 |
| 1973 | West Maegashira #4 5–10 |
East Maegashira #9 8–7 |
West Maegashira #7 8–7 |
East Maegashira #3 5–10 |
West Maegashira #8 9–6 |
West Maegashira #4 5–10 |
| 1974 | West Maegashira #6 10–5 |
West Komusubi 4–11 |
East Maegashira #6 8–7 |
East Maegashira #2 8–7 |
East Maegashira #1 9–6 O★ |
East Komusubi 8–7 |
| 1975 | East Komusubi 4–11 |
West Maegashira #6 6–9 |
West Maegashira #9 10–5 O |
West Maegashira #1 13–2 O★ |
West Sekiwake 6–9 |
East Maegashira #2 7–8 |
| 1976 | West Maegashira #3 4–11 ★ |
West Maegashira #10 8–7 |
East Maegashira #7 9–6 |
East Maegashira #2 3–12 |
East Maegashira #11 Retired 0–0 |
x |
| Record given as wins–losses–absencies Top division champion Top division runner-up Retired Lower divisions Non-participation Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) |
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See also
- Glossary of sumo terms
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of sumo tournament winners
- List of sumo tournament second division winners
References
- ^ a b Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-x.
- ^ "Kongo Masahiro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2007-08-04.