Higonojo Masakazu

Higonojo Masakazu - 肥後ノ城 政和 (born November 5, 1984) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture. He made his debut in November 2007 and wrestled for Kise stable. He reached the juryo division in November 2013. His highest rank was juryo 9 and he retired in November 2021.

## **Early Life**

After attending Kumamoto City Shimomashiro Jonan Junior High School and Kumamoto Prefectural Agricultural High School, Ogata enrolled in the Department of Martial Arts at Nippon Sport Science University. He was a member of their sumo club and was a regular on the team since his first year. After graduating university, he originally intended to become a teacher in Kumamoto, however there were no available slots. He also worked at Aqua Dome Kumamoto as a sports instructor. However, he was unsatisfied with his role, and with advice from his father, Ogata decided to try professional sumo. He joined Kise stable, because the stablemaster, former maegashira Higonoumi, was also from Kumamoto. He made his debut 4 days before his 23rd birthday (the age limit for new recruits is 23).

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his debut in November 2007 and took the jonokuchi championship in his second professional tournament. The following tournament he achieved a 5-2 and was promoted from jonidan to sandanme. In his sandanme debut, he won all seven matches and a playoff against Hakiai for the sandanme yusho. This result earned him a promotion to makushita just four tournaments after his debut.

In his makushita debut, Ogata produced a 5-2 record and was promoted to makushita 27 for the November 2008 tournament. He produced more winning records until the January 2009 tournament, Ogata suffered his first losing record, or make-koshi. After this, he changed his shikona from his family name into "Higonojo". After this name change, Higonojo produced three consecutive winning records and was promoted to makushita 11 for the September 2009 tournament. After that tournament, Higonojo went on a little drought for around two years, where he produced mixed results. In the November 2011 tournament, Higonojo produced a 6-1 record and was placed into a makushita yusho playoff, however, he lost the first round match to Sensho. After this result, Higonojo was boosted to upper-level makushita and faced off against a lot of former sekitori ranked wrestlers. In July 2012 Higonojo defeated his first juryo ranked wrestler, Masuraumi, and finished with a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 4. This result boosted him up to makushita 2 for the September 2012 tournament. Even though he defeated juryo ranked, Oniarashi, he still finished with a 2-5. He would stay in the top ranks of makushita for another 6 tournament, and a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 4 in the September, 2013, tournament earned him a promotion to juryo.

### **Juryo Career**

Higonojo made his juryo debut in November 2013 and was 7-6 by the 13th day. However, he lost his two final bouts and finished with a losing record of 7-8. He was ranked at juryo 14 east, and a 7-8 record would usually lead to demotion back to makushita. Higonojo got extremely lucky and his rank didn't even change; the following tournament, he was still ranked at juryo 14 east. He produced an 8-7 record and was promoted to a career high of juryo 9 for the March 2014 tournament. However, he posted a 6-9 record and the following tournament, he posted another losing record of 5-10. This sent him down to makushita and he would never return back to juryo.

### **Later Career**

Higonojo would remain in makushita for majority of his later career. He was fighting predominantly in the mid levels of makushita. In January 2018, he produced a 2-5 record and was demoted to makushita 53, which is towards the lower side of makushita. Higonojo won all seven of his matches and took his first career makushita yusho. This propelled him back up to makushita 6, however, he posted a 3-4 record. Higonojo fell down to sandanme for the first time in 12 years in July 202, however he posted a strong 6-1 performance and was promoted back to makushita for the September 2020 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After finishing with a 2-5 record in sandanme, he announced his retirement after the November 2021 tournament. Upon retirement, he intends to return to his hometown of Kumamoto and obtain a teaching license.

## **Personal Life**

* Higonojo married a woman in April 16th, 2016, and they share a son together.
* Higonojo shares the exact same birthday as Baruto and when Baruto belonged in Mihogaseki stable which was part of the same ichimon as Higonojo's Kise stable, they had a birthday party together.
* Higonojo's hobbies include watching TV and throwing darts.

## **Fighting Style**

Higonojo is an oshi-sumo specialist who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques to grabbing the opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite is oshi-dashi, or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 307-295-4/601 (83 basho)
* **Juryo:** 26-34/60 (4 basho)
* **Makushita:** 241-238-4/478 (69 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 28-21/49 (7 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (March 2018)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (May 2008)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (January 2008)

## **Shikona History**

* Ogata Masakazu (2007.11 - 2009.01)
* Higonojo Masakazu (2009.03 - 2021.11)

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Higonojo Masakazu - 2014 (Retrieved from the JSA)Higonojo Masakazu - 2014 (Retrieved from the JSA)Higonojo Masakazu - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Higonojo's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Higonojo gets measured upon joining professional sumo (c. 2007)Higonojo ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2013)Higonojo after promotion to Juryo (c. 2013)Higonojo presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2013)Higonojo defeats Asasekiryu (c. 2013)Higonojo defeats Kotoyuki (c. 2014)Higonojo's wedding (c. 2016)Higonojo defeats Hakuyozan to win the Makushita Yusho (c. 2018)Higonojo wins his first Makushita Yusho (c. 2018)Higonojo battles future Yokozuna Terunofuji (c. 2019)Higonojo falls to the unsalaried ranks (c. 2020)Higonojo's retirement ceremony (c. 2022)
## **Sources**

* Higonojo Masakazu Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Higonojo Masakazu Rikishi Information