Kasuganishiki Takahiro

Kasuganishiki Takahiro - 春日錦 孝嘉 (born August 22, 1975 - April 24, 2020) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Isumi, Chiba. He made his debut in March 1991 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 2002. His highest rank was maegashira 5 and he retired in January 2011.

## **Early Life**

Takahiro Suzuki was born the second son to a family that operated a restaurant in the town of Misaki (now Isumi City) in Chiba prefecture. During his 5th year of elementary school he visited Kasugano stable (which he later joined) and became interested in sumo. After entering junior high school, he entered the judo club, but was more interested in different art clubs. Upon graduation from junior high school he entered Kasugano stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in March 1991 and was immediately given the shikona or fighting name of Kasuganishiki, based on the name of his stable, Kasugano. He used the same shikona throughout his career. He was promoted to sandanme in May 1993 and makushita in September 1995. He bounced between the sandanme and makushita divisions before establishing himself in makushita in September 1997. After a 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 3 in May 1999 he was promoted to juryo in the following July 1999 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

He could only manage two wins in his juryo debut and was demoted back to makushita. He re-established himself as a sekitori in 2001. He had a stroke of good fortune in the May 2002 tournament, when no fewer than three of his scheduled opponents had to withdraw due to injuries, an extremely rare occurrence. Thus only six of his nine wins in that tournament came through actual fights, the rest being fusensho, or default wins. He followed up with a strong 11–4 record in the next tournament, which earned him promotion to the top makuuchi division for the first time in September 2002.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Kasuganishiki could only score a 5-10 record, but he was able to establish himself in July 2003. However, he suffered a number of injuries after that, having to sit out the May 2004 tournament completely due to cartilage damage in his right knee, which cost him his place in the top division. On his return in March 2005, he had to withdraw after only four days. He spent 20 tournaments in makuuchi in total, but did not have a kachi-koshi or winning score there after January 2007. He returned to the top division for November 2008, after a year's absence, following a 9–6 score at juryo 3 and a high number of vacancies. He had to withdraw due to an injury during the Kyushu tournament and fell to the second division once again.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

* *see controversy section*

Due to his involvement in an illegal gambling scandal, Kasuganishiki was suspended in the July 2010 tournament and as a result fell back down to makushita for the following tournament. He remained in the makushita division for three tournaments before retiring after the January 2011 tournament. He stayed in the sumo world as Takenawa Oyakata and worked as a coach for Kasugano stable. However, in February 2011 allegations of match-fixing came out and Kasuganishiki was in the center of it (see controversy: match-fixing scandal for more information). As a result he left the Japan Sumo Association and his danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, which was scheduled on May 1, 2011, was cancelled.

### **Death**

Not much was known about Kasuganishiki after he left the sumo world. A conspiracy theory formulated at former sekiwake Takatoriki's YouTube channel indicated that he had passed away due to suicide. It was not until the third volume of "Heisei Shinnyumaku Rikishi Monogatari <Heisei 14-18>" by Baseball Magazine Co., Ltd. that it became clear he had passed away on April 24, 2020.

## **Controversy**

### **Gambling Scandal**

He was suspended along with over a dozen other wrestlers from the July 2010 tournament after admitting involvement in illegal betting on baseball. As a result, he fell to the makushita division in September, where he remained until announcing his retirement in January 2011.

### **Match-fixing Scandal**

In February 2011 just a few days after his retirement announcement, news broke that police had discovered text messages on his mobile phone dating from the previous year, that indicated he had arranged the result of several matches with fellow juryo wrestlers in exchange for money. Of the 46 messages under suspicion, 22 were sent by the then-Kasuganishiki and 14 were received by him, and many describe what moves the wrestlers should make and how to make the bouts look convincing. He reportedly admitted his involvement after being questioned by the Sumo Association. Takenawa still received the severance pay awarded to retired sekitori (believed to be in the region of 15 million yen) as the match-fixing scandal did not surface until after he had retired from the ring. In March the Mainichi Daily News reported that Takenawa claimed about 40 other wrestlers were involved in the match-fixing scam, and that he first became exposed to yaocho in January 2006 when a sanyaku wrestler asked him to throw a bout. He refused on that occasion, but later became involved when injuries sent him down to juryo. His stablemaster Kasugano denied the story, while Takenawa himself refused to comment.

In April, 23 wrestlers and coaches were found guilty of match-fixing. Although most were ordered to retire, Takenawa because of his admission of wrongdoing was given the lighter penalty of a two-year suspension. However, he indicated his intention to resign.

## **Personal Life**

* He was known for sociable and good-natured personality, and enjoys fishing and water color painting as a hobby.
* Kasuganishiki was married and his father-in-law is former soccer player Shusaku Hirasawa.

## **Fighting Style**

Kasuganishiki's favorite techniques are listed on his profile at the Sumo Association as pushing and thrusting, or tsuki/oshi, but his most common winning move in his career was actually yorikiri, or force out, using the opponent's mawashi or belt. He also regularly used oshidashi, the push out, and hatakikomi, the slap down.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 611-581-89/1184 (120 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 107-156-37/260 (20 basho)
* **Juryo:** 268-254-18/520 (36 basho)
* **Makushita:** 121-99-18/218 (34 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 68-43-8/111 (17 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 36-26-8/61 (10 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 11-3/14 (2 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Kasuganishiki Takahiro (1991.03 - 2011.01)

## **Gallery**

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

Kasuganishiki Takahiro - 2002 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kasuganishiki's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Kasuganishiki after promotion to Juryo (c. 1999)Kasuganishiki in Juryo (c. 1999)Kasuganishiki's tachi-aiKasuganishiki during the dohyo-iriKasuganishiki plays around with Yokozuna Asashoryu (c. 2009)Kasuganishiki announces his retirement (c. 2011)Kasuganishiki after being found guilty of match-fixing (c. 2011)
## **Sources**

* Kasuganishiki Takahiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kasuganishiki Takahiro Rikishi Information