Nankairyu Tarō

南海龍太郎 Nankairyu Taro
Personal information
Born	Kiriful Saba February 22, 1965 (1965-02-22) (age 46) Apia, Samoa
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	153 kg (340 lb)
Career
Heya	Takasago
Record	139-93-16
Debut	September, 1984
Highest rank	Maegashira 2 (May, 1988)
Retired	November, 1988
* Career information is correct as of August 2007.

Nankairyu Taro (born 22 February 1965 as Kiriful Saba) is a former sumo wrestler from Samoa. His highest rank was maegashira 2.

Career

Born in Apia, Western Samoa, he joined Takasago stable in 1984. He was given the fighting name of Nankairyu, or "South Seas dragon." In November 1987 he became the third non Asian sumo wrestler, after Takamiyama and Konishiki, to reach the top makuuchi division. In May 1988 he reached his highest rank of maegashira 2 and upset ozeki Hokuten'yū. He also looked to have defeated yokozuna Onokuni but a rematch was called, which he lost.

Nankairyu was a heavy drinker, and received adverse publicity after he got into a confrontation with a hotel clerk while drunk in July 1987.^[1] His problem was made worse by the fact that he spoke neither English nor Japanese well and consequently had difficulty making himself understood to the Japanese media.^[1] During the tournament of September 1988 he had a heated argument with his stable boss, former yokozuna Asashio Tarō III and fled the stable, never to return. His stablemaster died of a stroke just a few weeks later.^[1]

After sumo

Nankairyu became a professional wrestler for New Japan in 1990.

Top division record

Nankairyu Tarō^[2]

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
1987	x	x	x	x	x	West Maegashira #12 8–7
1988	East Maegashira #12 8–7	East Maegashira #8 9–6	West Maegashira #2 6–9	East Maegashira #5 7–8	West Maegashira #5 6–8–1	East Maegashira #9 Retired 0–0–0
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) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-x. 
2. ^ "Nankairyu Taro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. http://sumodb.sumogames.com/Rikishi.aspx?shikona=nankairyu&heya=-1&shusshin=-1&b=-1&high=-1&hd=-1&entry=-1&intai=-1&sort=1. Retrieved 2007-07-23. 

External links

• Complete career record

Persondata
Name	Nankairyu Taro
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	22 February 1965
Place of birth	Apia, Samoa
Date of death
Place of death