Kaneshiro Kofuku

Kaneshiro Kofuku - 金城 興福 (born February 27, 1953 - December 29, 2002) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Takanabe, Miyazaki. He made his debut in September 1969 and last wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 1974 and has three special prizes as well as two kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in May 1987.

## **Early Life**

Kaneshiro was born to ethnic Koreans in the town of Takanabe in Miyazaki prefecture. He attended Miyazaki Nihon University Senior High School where he practiced judo and wrestling. He later dropped out during his second year of junior high school and joined Kasugano stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in September 1969 and fought under his family name "Kaneshiro" (金城). He rose up the ranks steadily, rising to sandanme in July 1970 and makushita in September 1971. He initially did not establish himself in makushita, but bounced back and after seven consecutive winning records, he was promoted to juryo in March 1973 at the young age of 20.

### **Juryo Career**

In juryo, Kaneshiro put up consistent numbers. In May 1974, he got his first glimpse of makuuchi, wrestling against maegashira on two occasions, but he finished with a 7-8 record. Nevertheless, he followed with an 11-4 record and was promoted to makuuchi in September 1974.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Kaneshiro was ranked in makuuchi for a total of 60 tournaments. He earned two kinboshi in the span of two tournaments in November 1975 and January 1976 where he defeated Wajima. However, he was never able to defeat yokozuna Kitanoumi, losing to him 29 straight times, which is a record for consecutive losses against the same opponent. He was promoted to komusubi in March 1976, but he could only manage 4-11 record. In March 1977, he produced a strong 11-4 record and was awarded his first Fighting Spirit prize. He was promoted to the rank of komusubi in the following March tournament where he posted an 8-7 record and was promoted to sekiwake in July 1977. He could only manage 5 wins at that rank and this proved to be his only tournament as a sekiwake.

In January 1979, Kaneshiro produced an impressive 12-3 record and was awarded his second Fighting Spirit prize. Moreover, he was runner-up to yokozuna Kitanoumi's 14-1 record. After this, he changed his shikona or fighting name to Tochihikari, in honor of ozeki Tochihikari Masayuki, who also fought for Kasugano stable. He replicated his performance in May 1980 where he produced another 12-3 record and was awarded his third Fighting Spirit prize. In addition, he was also runner-up to Kitanoumi's 14-1 performance. However, after falling back to the juryo division in 1985, he was no longer considered worthy of the Tochihikari shikona and so reverted to Kaneshiro, his birth name.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He announced his retirement after the May 1987 tournament due to an inevitable demotion to makushita. He left the sumo world upon retirement in May 1987, unable to acquire elder stock in the Japan Sumo Association and remain as a coach. This was because the Sumo Association had introduced a rule in 1976 requiring Japanese citizenship to become an elder, and Kaneshiro, because of his Korean parentage, was not eligible by birth and could not acquire citizenship until it was too late.

After leaving, Kaneshiro initially worked as a salaryman, before opening up a chanko restaurant called "Tochihikari" (栃光) in Kasugai, Aichi. He later expanded and he opened up branches in Osaka and Sendai.

### **Death**

Kaneshiro died on December 29, 2002, due to a heart attack. He was 49 years old.

## **Fighting Style**

Kaneshiro was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out. During the 12th day of the November 1974 tournament, Kaneshiro employed the extremely rare ipponzeoi (one armed shoulder throw) on Tamanofuji.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 683-725-7/1407 (107 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 412-488/900 (60 basho)
* **Juryo:** 186-183-6/368 (26 basho)
* **Makushita:** 31-18/49 (7 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 29-19-1/48 (7 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 22-13/35 (5 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 3-4/7 (1 basho)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (3)
* **Kinboshi:** (2) Wajima

## **Shikona History**

* Kaneshiro Kofuku (1969.09 - 1979.01)
* Tochihikari Kofuku (1979.03 - 1983.03)
* Tochihikari Shinko (1983.05 - 1983.07)
* Tochihikari Kofuku (1983.09 - 1985.01)
* Kaneshiro Kofuku (1985.03 - 1987.05)

## **Gallery**

Kaneshiro poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1976)Kaneshiro trains during a training sessionKaneshiro (far right) as a new hope with his fellow rikishiKaneshiro's retirement ceremony (c. 1987)Tochihikari's tegataKaneshiro's signature

## **Sources**

* Kaneshiro Kofuku Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kaneshiro Kofuku Rikishi Information