Sadogatake stable
Kotobeppu Yōhei (born 17 October 1965 as Yōhei Miura) is a former sumo wrestler from Beppu, Ōita, Japan. He made his professional debut in March 1981, and reached the "jūryō" division in July 1989, but had to withdraw in his "jūryō" debut because of nephritis and a long absence from competition due to uremia saw him fall greatly in rank. During this time he was close to requiring dialysis but eventually made a full recovery. He reached the top division in November 1992, becoming the first former "sekitori" to fall to the lowest "jonokuchi" division and subsequently manage to reach the top division. The only other wrestler to achieve this feat as of January 2018 is Ryūden. A previous member of Sadogatake stable, former "ōzeki" Kotokaze, had fallen from "sekiwake" to "makushita" and had been referred to as "the man who saw hell" and after Kotobeppu's even bigger fall he was called, "the man who saw the new hell." Kotobeppu received the Fighting Spirit Prize for winning ten bouts in his top division debut. His highest rank was "maegashira" 1. He retired in November 1997. He trained as a ramen maker and opened a ramen restaurant in Chiba Prefecture and later in his hometown of Beppu, Ōita where he also served chankonabe.