Kaiketsu Masateru

Kaiketsu Masateru - 魁傑 將晃 (born February 16, 1948 - May 18, 2014) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Iwakuni, Yamaguchi. He made his debut in September 1966 and wrestled for Hanakago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 1971 and has 10 special prizes, 3 kinboshi and 2 top division championships. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in January 1979.

## **Early Life**

Nishimori was born in Iwakuni, Yamanishi, but he moved to Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, after his third year of elementary school. He played baseball in elementary school before switching to judo at Shimonoseki Shiritsu Nisshin Junior High School. He went on to attend Yamaguchi Kenritsu Shimonosekichuokogyo High School where he became captain of the school's judo club. After high school, he enrolled at the College of Arts and Sciences at Nihon University and he also practiced judo with the school. However, he was recruited for professional sumo after his first year in college by a member of the Hanakago stable koenkai (support group).

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional sumo debut in September 1966 at the age of 18, fighting out of Hanakago stable. Initially fighting under his own surname of Nishimori, he won the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 7-0 record in his first professional tournament. He later won the sandanme yusho in January 1968 and was promoted to makushita in the following March 1968 tournament. In November 1969, he posted a 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 7 and was promoted to juryo in the following January 1970 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon reaching the elite sekitori ranks, he changed his shikona to "Hananishiki" (花錦). He could only manage a 4-11 record in his juryo debut and was demoted back down to makushita. He returned to juryo in July 1970 and changed his shikona to "Kaiketsu" (魁傑) in November 1970. In July 1971, he posted a 11-4 record at the rank of juryo 1 and was promoted to makuuchi in the following September 1971 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He reached the top makuuchi division in September 1971. In March 1972 from the maegashira 7 ranking he was the tournament runner-up to Hasegawa, who defeated him in a playoff, and he was given special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. At the following tournament in May 1972 he made his san'yaku debut at komusubi rank. After scoring 11 wins there and finishing as runner-up to his stablemate Wajima he was promoted to sekiwake. He was also a runner-up in January 1973.

In September 1974 Kaiketsu turned in a make-koshi or losing score of 7–8 at sekiwake rank but then took his first top division yusho or championship in November as a komusubi. He scored twelve wins against three losses, and defeated yokozuna Kitanoumi in a playoff; he was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize as a result. He followed this up with an 11–4 score in January 1975. His combined total of wins over the last three tournaments was 30, below the normal standard for ozeki promotion of 33, but there was only one ozeki at the time, Takanohana, so the Sumo Association decided to promote Kaiketsu.

### **Ozeki Career**

After suffering from hepatitis and lower back pain, Kaiketsu was demoted from ozeki less than a year after reaching the rank following two consecutive losing scores. However, in September 1976 ranked at maegashira 4, he took his second tournament championship with a 14–1 record, followed by consecutive 11–4 scores at sekiwake in November 1976 and January 1977. He was promoted to ozeki once again, alongside Wakamisugi, to whom he had a superior three tournament record. However, he held the rank for only four more tournaments, and soon fell back to the maegashira ranks. He retired in January 1979, having not missed a single bout in his 12-year career. He once said, "Being absent from a tournament means deliberately abandoning a bout." In addition to his two yusho he had accumulated ten special prizes (including seven for Fighting Spirit) and three kinboshi.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Kaiketsu set up his own training stable, Hanaregoma stable, in 1981 after breaking away from Hanakago. Joining him was future yokozuna Onokuni. In 1985, when Hanakago stable was wound up, all its wrestlers transferred to Hanaregoma. Other top division wrestlers he trained included Hananokuni, Hananoumi and Shunketsu. He also became a Director of the Japan Sumo Association, responsible for managing the judges, and supervising the examination of new recruits. In August 2010 he took over as head of the Association after the resignation of Musashigawa. Following a match-fixing scandal which broke in February 2011 he announced an independent investigation and the cancellation of the March 2011 Osaka honbasho. He insisted that there was no match-fixing in the past, a claim that drew criticism from sumo commentator and former wrestler Mainoumi. He stood down from the post at the February 2012 Sumo Association board elections as the terms are for two years and he was close to the mandatory retirement age of 65. He left the Sumo Association in February 2013 and Hanaregoma stable was absorbed into Shibatayama stable, run by ex–Onokuni.

### **Death**

On May 18, 2014, while practicing golf, Kaiketsu suddenly collapsed and was immediately transferred to a hospital where he was already declared dead. The cause of death was ischemic heart disease. He was 66 years old at the time of his death.

## **Fighting Style**

Kaiketsu's favorite kimarite or techniques were tsuppari (a series of rapid thrusts to the chest), hidari-yotsu (a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on the mawashi), yorikiri (force out) and uwatenage (overarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 528-410/937 (75 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 367-304/670 (45 basho)
* **Juryo:** 66-54/120 (8 basho)
* **Makushita:** 55-36/91 (13 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 27-15/42 (6 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (November 1974)
	+ 2nd (September 1976)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (January 1968)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (November 1966)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (7), Outstanding Performance Prize (2), Technique Prize (1)
* **Kinboshi:** 3: (1) Kitanoumi, (1) Kitanofuji, (1) Kotozakura

## **Shikona History**

* Nishimori Teruyuki (1966.09 - 1969.11)
* Hananishiki Teruyuki (1970.01 - 1970.09)
* Kaiketsu Teruyuki (1970.11 - 1973.03)
* Kaiketsu Masateru (1973.05 - 1979.01)

## **Gallery**

Kaiketsu Masateru - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Kaiketsu's tegataKaiketsu with one of his many sansho prizes (c. 1972)Kaiketsu after promotion to Komusubi (c. 1972)Kaiketsu and fellow stablemate Wajima (c. 1972)Kaiketsu battles Ozeki Takanohana (c. 1973)Kaiketsu serves as Wajima's flag bearer (c. 1973)Kaiketsu defeats Fukunohana to ensure a Yusho playoff (c. 1974)Kaiketsu defeats Kitanoumi to win his first Yusho (c. 1974)Kaiketsu wins his first Yusho (c. 1974)Kaiketsu's first Yusho parade (c. 1974)Kaiketsu gets promoted to Ozeki (c. 1975)Kaiketsu celebrates promotion to Ozeki (c. 1975)Kaiketsu poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1976)Kaiketsu defeats Takamiyama to win his second Yusho (c. 1976)Kaiketsu wins his second Yusho (c. 1976)Kaiketsu's second Yusho parade (c. 1976)Kaiketsu gets re-promoted to Ozeki (c. 1977)Kaiketsu prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1977)Kaiketsu announces his retirement (c. 1979)Kaiketsu's retirement ceremony (c. 1979)Kaiketsu after retirement as Hanaregoma Oyakata (c. 1981)Kaiketsu with his star rikishi, Yokozuna OnokuniKaiketsu as the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association (c. 2011)Kaiketsu's funeral (c. 2014)One of Kaiketsu's Yusho portraits on display
## **Sources**

* Kaiketsu Masateru Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kaiketsu Masateru Rikishi Information