| 鏡里 喜代治 Kagamisato Kiyoji |
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Kagamisato's handprint displayed on a monument in Ryōgoku, Tokyo |
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| Personal information | |
| Born | Kiyoji Okuyama April 30, 1923 Tonai, Aomori, Japan |
| Died | February 29, 2004 (aged 80) |
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 161 kg (350 lb) |
| Career | |
| Heya | Tokitsukaze |
| Record | 415-189-28 |
| Debut | January, 1941 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (January, 1953) |
| Retired | January, 1958 |
| Yūshō | 4 (Makuuchi) 1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonidan) |
| Sanshō | Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (1) |
| Kinboshi | 2 (Maedayama, Azumafuji) |
| * Career information is correct as of September 2007. | |
Kagamisato Kiyoji (鏡里 喜代治, April 30, 1923 - February 29, 2004) was a sumo wrestler from Aomori Prefecture, Japan. He was the sport's 42nd Yokozuna.
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He was born Kiyoji Okuyama in a small fishing village in Sannohe District. He came from a poor family as his father had died when he was very young, and he had to support his mother when his older siblings left the house.[1] He was already large as a teenager and soon spotted by a wrestler named Kagamiiwa and invited to join sumo.[1] More interested in basketball, and with his mother also reluctant, the young Okuyama initially refused, but after his family was provided with financial assistance he eventually travelled to Tokyo to repay Kagamiiwa's kindness.[1] In the summer of 1940, he joined the now retired Kagamiiwa's Kumegawa stable. He made his professional debut in January 1941 and was given the shikona or sumo name of Kagamisato. When the great yokozuna Futabayama Sadaji established his own stable, Kagamisato followed his stablemaster there, and it was later renamed Tokitsukaze stable).
He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in June 1947. In October 1949 he defeated two yokozuna and produced a fine 12-3 score, also becoming the first wrestler to win two special prizes in the same tournament. He was promoted from the maegashira ranks to sekiwake, third from the top. He reached the second highest ozeki rank just four tournaments after that. Having been a runner-up on four previous occasions, he reached the top yokozuna rank after finally winning his first top division championship in January 1953. There had been four yokozuna competing in that tournament, but all had performed badly, with Terukuni announcing his retirement. Keen to have a strong yokozuna, the Japan Sumo Association overrode the initial objections of the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee and promoted him.[1]
During his yokozuna career he won three more tournament titles, all with 14-1 scores, but also had some less impressive results. A somewhat reserved figure, he was perhaps less popular with the public than some of his higher profile yokozuna rivals such as Tochinishiki and Wakanohana I.[1] He also had a difficult relationship with the press.[1]
In the January 1958 tournament, his rival Yoshibayama Junnosuke retired from being an active sumo wrestler. Kagamisato announced that if he failed to win at least ten bouts, he too would retire.[1] He finished 9-6 and kept his word by announcing his retirement on the final day. He had had a chronic knee problem for many years and felt he had reached his physical limit.[1]
After his retirement he remained with the Sumo Association as an elder. He briefly became head of Tokitsukaze stable after the death of Futabayama but was forced out as Futabayama's widow wanted Yutakayama to take over. As a result he switched to the Tatsutagawa elder name and opened up his own Tatsutagawa stable in 1971.[1] He reached the mandatory retirement age in April 1988 and stood down, passing the stable over to former sekiwake Aonosato. He had not managed to produce any top division wrestlers in that time. He remained a heavy man, weighing around 110 kg in his later years, but he still lived until the age of 80, making him one of the longest lived yokozuna of all time.[1]
*The different tables represent a change in the tournament system over the years
| New Year | Summer | Autumn | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | no tournament held | East Maegashira #14 (7-3) | East Maegashira #8 (5-6) |
| 1948 | no tournament held | East Maegashira #10 (6-5) | East Maegashira #9 (6-5) |
| 1949 | West Maegashira #7 (8-5) | East Maegashira #4 (8-7) | East Maegashira #1 (12-3)OF☆☆ |
| 1950 | East Sekiwake (11-4) | East Sekiwake (9-6) | East Sekiwake (8-7) |
| 1951 | West Sekiwake (11-4) | West Ōzeki (10-5) | West Ōzeki (12-3) |
| 1952 | East Ōzeki (11-4) | West Ōzeki (11-4) | East Ōzeki (12-3) |
| New Year | March | May | September | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | East Ōzeki (14-1) | West Yokozuna (10-5) | West Yokozuna (12-3) | East Yokozuna (9-6) |
| 1954 | East Yokozuna (13-2) | East Yokozuna (10-5) | East Yokozuna (11-4) | West Yokozuna (9-6) |
| 1955 | East Yokozuna (10-5) | West Yokozuna (4-5-6) | East Yokozuna (11-4) | West Yokozuna (14-1) |
| 1956 | East Yokozuna (14-1-P) | East Yokozuna (8-7) | East Yokozuna (9-6) | West Yokozuna (14-1) |
| New Year | March | May | July | September | November | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | East Yokozuna (3-5-7) | West Yokozuna (11-4) | West Yokozuna (10-5) | no tournament held | West Yokozuna (8-7) | Sat out due to injury |
| 1958 | East Yokozuna (9-6) | x | x | x | x | x |
| Green Box=Tournament Championship | F= Fighting Spirit Prize | O= Outstanding Performance Prize | T= Technique Prize | ☆= Number of Kinboshi. |
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| Yokozuna is not a successive rank, and more than one wrestler can share the title | ||