| 光法 賢一 Kōbō Kenichi |
|
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Kenichi Mineyama August 18, 1973 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 | January 2008 |
| Yūshō | 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.
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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 reached the top makuuchi division for the first time in November 2001 but only lasted two tournaments before being demoted. He returned on two other occasions 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 of that year.
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. In February 2010 he admitted that, against the wishes of the Tatsunami ichimon, he voted for independent candidate Takanohana instead of the approved candidate Oshima in the elections to the Sumo Association's board.[1] He offered his resignation,[1] but was persuaded to stay.
Kobo's favoured kimarite or techniques were hidari-yotsu (a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi), shitatenage (underarm throw), and yorikiri (force out).
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | x | x | x | x | x | East Maegashira #14 8–7 |
| 2002 | West Maegashira #9 3–12 |
(Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) |
| 2003 | East Maegashira #14 5–10 |
(Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) |
| 2004 | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | East Maegashira #17 5–10 |
(Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) |
| 2005 | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) |
| 2006 | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) |
| 2007 | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) | (Makushita) |
| 2008 | West Makushita #20 Retired 0–0–7 |
x | x | x | x | x |
| 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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