Kasugano stable

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Kasugano stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi group of stables. As of November 2007 it had 24 wrestlers. It is currently one of the most successful stables, with five sekitori wrestlers, including the young Georgian Tochinoshin.

It was originally founded in the mid 18th century by a wrestler named Kasugano Gunpachi.^[1] It became inactive for a long time but was led in the Meiji period by a referee named Kimura Soshiro (this is no longer allowed as oyakata must now be former wrestlers).^[1] He adopted as his son the Yokozuna Tochigiyama, who led the stable for over thirty years. He in turn adopted as his son the 44th Yokozuna Tochinishiki, who became the head in 1959 whilst still an active wrestler and later served as the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association.^[1] Tochinoumi took over upon Tochinishiki's death in 1990 and led the stable until his retirement in 2003.

The prefix "Tochi" is commonly used for wrestlers in the stable. It originally referred to Tochigi Prefecture, where Tochigiyama came from, but Tochinishiki was born in Tokyo and the prefix no longer has a geographical meaning, instead being used as a stable identifier.