Hidenokuni Hajime
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Nathan Strange | |
| Date of birth | August 23, 1971 | |
| Place of birth | Kent, United Kingdom | |
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | |
| Weight | 102 kg (220 lb) | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Azumazeki | |
| Record | 9-5-14 | |
| Debut | September 1989 | |
| Highest rank | Jonidan 89 (March 1990) | |
| Retired | May, 1990 | |
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* Career information is correct as of May 2007. |
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Hidenokuni Hajime (born August 23, 1971 as Nathan John Strange) is a former sumo wrestler. The highest rank he reached was jonidan 89. He was the first, and so far only sumo wrestler from the United Kingdom.
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[edit] Career
A former photographic print worker from Herne Bay, Kent, he was inspired to join sumo after seeing broadcasts on Channel 4. After nine months of training in martial arts techniques with Syd Hoare of the British Sumo Association, [1] he went to Japan and joined the Azumazeki stable run by former sekiwake Takamiyama, who had already taken on a number of foreign recruits from Hawaii. The name Hidenokuni was chosen to acknowledge his pioneering status as the first ever rikishi from the United Kingdom: the first and last characters of Hidenokuni together mean England. Hajime is a common given name in Japan, and can be taken to mean start or beginning.
Hidenokuni's sumo career was short. He fought his first tournament in the bottom jonokuchi division in November 1989, and performed sufficiently well to be promoted to jonidan for the January 1990 tournament. He celebrated by going out to a disco with ōzeki Konishiki, who had just won the top division title. [1] He again achieved kachi-koshi in January. He had gained quite a lot of attention due to his status as the first ever European in sumo, and even started to receive fan mail. However, he also received very harsh treatment in training from his stablemates,[1] and this influenced his decision to return to England. He did not appear in the next two tournaments, and retired from sumo.
[edit] Record
| January | March | May | July | September | November | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Tokyo) | (Osaka) | (Tokyo) | (Nagoya) | (Tokyo) | (Kyushu) | |
| 1989 | x | x | x | x | mae-zumō | W jonokuchi 38 (5-2) |
| 1990 | W jonidan 123 (4-3) | E jonidan 89 (0-0-7) | W jonokuchi 7 (0-0-7) | x | x | x |
- The wrestler's East/West designation, rank, and win/loss record are listed for each tournament.[2]
- A third figure in win-loss records represents matches sat-out during the tournament (usually due to injury)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Patmore, Angela (1990). The Giants of Sumo. MacDonald & Co. ISBN 0-356-18120-0.
- ^ Hidenokuni Hajime Rikishi Information (English). Sumo Reference. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
