- Misugisato Kōji
-
三杉里 公似
Misugisato KōjiPersonal information Born Kōji Okamoto
July 1, 1962
Shiga, JapanHeight 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Weight 158 kg (350 lb) Career Heya Futagoyama Record 698-709-2 Debut January 1979 Highest rank Komusubi (January 1989) Retired July, 1998 Yūshō 1 (Jūryō) Sanshō Fighting Spirit (1) Kinboshi 6 (Hokutoumi (2),Asahifuji (1),
Akebono (3))* Career information is correct as of July 2008. Misugisato Kōji (born 1 July 1962 as Kōji Okamato) is a former sumo wrestler from Shiga Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was komusubi.
Contents
Career
Born in Shigaraki, Koka District, he joined Futagoyama stable at the beginning of 1979 at the age of 15, recruited by former yokozuna Wakanohana. He initially fought under his own surname before being given the shikona of Misugisato (meaning "village of three cedars"[1]) in 1980. In July 1984 he reached the sekitori ranks for the first time, but lasted only one tournament in the juryo division before being demoted back to makushita. It took him exactly two years to win promotion back to juryo and he promptly won the divisional yusho or tournament championship with an 11-4 record. He moved up and down the division a few times before winning promotion to the top makuuchi division after a 10-5 score at the rank of Juryo 2 in March 1988. In November 1988 he scored nine wins against six losses at the rank of maegashira 7, which was enough to see him promoted to komusubi for the January 1989 tournament. Unusually, he had been promoted to the sanyaku ranks without ever having faced any sanyaku ranked wrestlers himself.[2] (He received some banzuke good fortune as both komusubi and most of the maegashira ranked above him had finished with make-koshi or losing records in November).
Misugisato was thrown in at the deep end in his komusubi debut, facing all the three yokozuna in the first three days. Unsurprisingly, he was unable to defeat any of them and finished with a losing score of 3-12. Nevertheless he upset yokozuna Hokutoumi in the May and September 1989 tournaments, to earn the first two of his eventual six kinboshi or gold stars. On the final day of the January 1992 tournament he faced Takahanada, who needed the win to clinch his first top division tournament championship. Takahanada was the nephew of Misugisato's stablemaster Futagoyama, who was officiating in his last tournament as the head of the Japan Sumo Association and was due to present the trophy to the winner of the yusho. Misugisato had already earned a majority of wins, and lost the match to finish on 8-7. He and Takanohana would later become stablemates when Futagoyama stable merged with Takahanada's Fujishima stable. In May 1992 he earned ten wins at Maegashira 1, and was rewarded with his first sanshō or special prize, for Fighting Spirit, and promotion back to komusubi. He held the rank for the next two tournaments.
Misugisato never reached the sanyaku ranks again, but he remained in the top division until March 1997. He then fought in the juryo division until his retirement in July 1998 at the age of 36. He remained in the sumo world as a coach under the toshiyori or elder name of Hamakaze, but left his role in November 2006 when the elder stock was needed by the former maegashira Gojōrō Katsuhiro.
Misugisato comes from area famous for its pottery, known as Shigaraki ware, and became interested in ceramics as a result.[2] In his days as an active wrestler he also built up a vast record collection.[2]
Top division record
Misugisato Kōji[3]
year in sumo January
Hatsu basho, TokyoMarch
Haru basho, OsakaMay
Natsu basho, TokyoJuly
Nagoya basho, NagoyaSeptember
Aki basho, TokyoNovember
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka1988 x x West Maegashira #13
9–6
West Maegashira #7
6–9
West Maegashira #12
9–6
East Maegashira #7
9–6
1989 West Komusubi #1
3–12
East Maegashira #6
8–7
West Maegashira #2
6–9
★East Maegashira #5
8–7
East Maegashira #3
6–9
★West Maegashira #5
6–9
1990 East Maegashira #10
8–7
East Maegashira #8
6–9
West Maegashira #10
8–7
West Maegashira #7
9–6
West Maegashira #1
4–11
West Maegashira #9
10–5
1991 East Maegashira #1
6–9
East Maegashira #5
8–7
West Maegashira #2
6–9
West Maegashira #5
8–7
West Maegashira #2
8–7
★West Maegashira #2
6–9
1992 West Maegashira #5
8–7
East Maegashira #3
8–7
East Maegashira #1
10–5
FWest Komusubi #1
8–7
East Komusubi #1
5–10
East Maegashira #3
8–7
1993 West Maegashira #2
7–8
West Maegashira #3
9–6
★East Maegashira #1
7–8
East Maegashira #2
5–10
East Maegashira #6
8–7
East Maegashira #2
6–9
1994 East Maegashira #4
8–7
East Maegashira #1
6–9
East Maegashira #4
6–9
West Maegashira #6
8–7
East Maegashira #1
6–9
West Maegashira #3
5–10
★1995 East Maegashira #8
8–7
West Maegashira #1
5–10
East Maegashira #6
8–7
West Maegashira #1
5–10
West Maegashira #4
6–9
East Maegashira #6
9–6
1996 East Maegashira #3
6–9
East Maegashira #4
8–7
East Maegashira #1
4–11
★East Maegashira #6
4–11
East Maegashira #14
6–9
(Juryo) 1997 West Maegashira #15
8–7
West Maegashira #14
4–11
(Juryo) (Juryo) (Juryo) (Juryo) 1998 (Juryo) (Juryo) (Juryo) (Juryo) West Jūryō #13
Retired
3–10–0x 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)
Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira
Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — JonokuchiSee also
References
- ^ Patmore, Angela (1990). The Giants of Sumo. MacDonald & Co. ISBN 0-356-18120-0.
- ^ a b c Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-x.
- ^ "Rikishi in Makunouchi and Juryo". szumo.hu. http://www.szumo.hu/sekitori/Misugisato.html. Retrieved 2008-07-19.
External links
Categories:- 1962 births
- Living people
- Japanese sumo wrestlers
- People from Shiga Prefecture
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