| 琴風 豪規 Kotokaze Kōki |
|
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Koichi Nakayama April 26, 1957 Mie, Japan |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 173 kg (380 lb) |
| Career | |
| Heya | Sadogatake |
| Record | 561-352-102 |
| Debut | July, 1971 |
| Highest rank | Ozeki (November, 1981) |
| Retired | November, 1985 |
| Yūshō | 2 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) |
| Sanshō | Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (2) Technique(1) |
| Kinboshi | 6 |
| * Career information is correct as of August 2007. | |
Kotokaze Kōki (born 26 April 1957 as Koichi Nakayama) is a former sumo wrestler from Tsu, Mie, Japan. His highest rank was ozeki.
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Scouted by the 53rd Yokozuna Kotozakura, he joined Sadogatake stable in July 1971. He reached the sekitori level in November 1975 upon promotion to the second highest jūryō division and in January 1977 he made his debut in the top makuuchi division. He got as far as sekiwake before suffering a severe injury to his left knee joint which forced him to miss several tournaments and plunge all the way down to the unsalaried makushita division. He made his way back to the top division in just one year. By March 1981 he had returned to sekiwake and in September 1981 he captured his first tournament championship with a 12-3 record, finisihng one win ahead of yokozuna Wakanohana II. He was immediately promoted to sumo's second highest rank of ozeki. He took his second championship in January 1983 with a 14-1 score, beating Asashio in a playoff. In September 1984 he defeated a newcomer to the division who was in contention for the tournament title, the gigantic Konishiki, in a mammoth two minute struggle on the final day. Kotokaze later recalled this bout as his most memorable ever. In May 1985 he suffered another serious injury, this time to his right knee, and he decided to retire in November 1985 at the age of twenty eight.
Kotokaze became an elder of the Sumo Association under the name Oguruma Oyakata. In 1987 he left Sadogatake to set up his own Oguruma stable. He gives all of his new recruits shikona with the suffix "kaze" (wind), taken from his own fighting name. The first wrestler from the stable to achieve sekitori status was Tomikaze in July 2000. Oguruma stable currently has two wrestlers with top division experience, Takekaze and Yoshikaze. A third, Wakakirin, (who originally came from a different stable) was dismissed from the Sumo Association because of cannabis use in February 2009. Oguruma was demoted from his post in the Association as a result. In September 2010, two men were arresting for attempting to blackmail Kotokaze, sending him a letter threatening to reveal his connections to a "violent criminal gang" (usually a euphemism for yakuza) in his younger years.[1]
Kotokaze is also a regular commentator on NHK's sumo tournament broadcasts.
Kotokaze's most common winning kimarite or technique was overwhelmingly a straightforward yori-kiri or force out, which accounted for over half his wins at sekitori level. He favoured hidari-yotsu, or a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi. He very rarely employed throwing moves.
| year in sumo | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | West Maegashira #11 8–7 |
East Maegashira #6 9–6 |
East Maegashira #1 5–10 |
West Maegashira #7 8–7 |
West Maegashira #5 8–7 |
East Maegashira #1 10–5 O★ |
| 1978 | West Sekiwake 5–10 |
East Maegashira #3 6–9 ★ |
West Maegashira #6 12–3 O★ |
West Sekiwake 7–8 |
West Komusubi 7–8 |
West Maegashira #1 0–3–12 |
| 1979 | East Maegashira #13 3–2–10 |
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
(Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Juryo) |
| 1980 | West Maegashira #14 12–3 F |
East Maegashira #1 10–5 F |
West Sekiwake 10–5 O |
East Sekiwake 6–4–5 |
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
West Maegashira #2 7–8 ★ |
| 1981 | West Maegashira #3 10–5 ★★ |
West Sekiwake 9–6 |
West Komusubi 9–6 |
East Sekiwake 10–5 |
East Sekiwake 12–3 T |
East Ōzeki 11–4 |
| 1982 | East Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
| 1983 | West Ōzeki 14–1–P |
East Ōzeki 11–4 |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
West Ōzeki 12–3 |
East Ōzeki 11–4 |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
| 1984 | West Ōzeki 11–4 |
West Ōzeki 9–6 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 8–7 |
West Ōzeki 10–5 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
| 1985 | East Ōzeki 8–7 |
West Ōzeki 5–10 |
West Ōzeki 3–4–8 |
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
East Maegashira #10 Retired 0–4–0 |
| Record given as win-loss-absent Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s) P=Playoff(s) |
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