Kōbō Kenichi

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光法賢一
Kōbō Kenichi
Personal information

Birth name	Kenichi Mineyama
Date of birth	August 18, 1973 (1973-08-18) (age 34)
Place of birth	Kagoshima, Japan
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+¹⁄₂ in)
Weight	136 kg (300 lb)
Career*
Heya	Miyagino
Record	582-572-14
Debut	March, 1989
Highest rank	Maegashira 9 (January 2002)
Retired	December 2007
Yusho	1 (Jonokuchi)
* Career information is correct as of December 2007.

Kōbō Kenichi (born August 18, 1973 as Kenichi Mineyama) is a former sumo wrestler from Kumage, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was maegashira 9.

1 Career
2 Retirement from sumo
3 Top division record
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Career

Kōbō made his professional debut in March 1989 at the age of 15. He worked his way quickly through the lowest three divisions, making his makushita debut shortly after his 18th birthday, less than three years into his career. However, he was unable to advance further for several years, reaching sekitori status only in January 1999 upon promotion to the second highest jūryō division, after nearly ten years of toiling in the lower divisions. He fought in the top makuuchi division on four occasions, mostly recently in May 2004, but he largely remained a veteran of the jūryō division, in which he spent 44 tournaments. For a long period he was the highest ranking wrestler in Miyagino stable, before the emergence of Hakuho, now a yokozuna. In July 2007 he fell to the unsalaried makushita division for the first time since September 2000, and he announced his retirement in December 2007.

[edit] Retirement from sumo

Kōbō has remained with the Japan Sumo Association as an elder under the name Ajigawa Oyakata, and is working as a coach at his old stable. In May 2008 he had his danpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan.

[edit] Top division record

Kōbō ^[1]
	January Hatsu basho, Tokyo	March Haru basho, Osaka	May Natsu basho, Tokyo	July Nagoya basho, Nagoya	September Aki basho, Tokyo	November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2001	x	x	x	x	x	East Maegashira #14 8–7
2002	West Maegashira #9 3–12	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)
2003	East Maegashira #14 5–10	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)
2004	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	East Maegashira #17 5–10	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)
2005	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)
2006	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)
2007	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Jūryō)	(Makushita)	(Makushita)	(Makushita)
Record given as win-loss-absent Championship Retired Demoted from makuuchi Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira