Kumao Hiroshi

Kumao Hiroshi - 熊翁 博 (born October 2, 1965 - October 6, 1997) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kumagaya, Saitama. He made his debut in March 1981 and last wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the juryo division in March 1990. His highest rank was juryo 5 and he retired in March 1994.

## **Early Life**

In junior high school Sato belonged to the volleyball club, but he also followed sumo and was a big fan of Takasago stable's Takamiyama. Due to this, in his third year of junior high school he wrote a letter of intent to Takasago Oyakata (the 46th yokozuna Asashio). After graduating junior high school, he joined Takasago stable and made his professional debut in March 1981.

## **Career**

At the time of his debut, Sato only stood 1.72 m (5 ft 7.5 in) and weighed 168 Ib (76 kg), but with diligent training he was able to climb up the rankings. Upon promotion to sandanme in March 1982, he changed his shikona to "Takaminada" (高見洋). He was promoted to makushita in September 1985 and he changed his shikona to "Kumao" (熊翁) in March 1987. After several years of bouncing back and forth between makushita and sandanme, he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record in September 1988 and was able to establish himself in makushita. After six consecutive winning records he was promoted to juryo in March 1990.

Kumao made his sekitori debut alongside future yokozuna's Wakanohana and Akebono. Kumao was ranked in juryo for a total of 15 tournaments and he spent three separate stints as a sekitori. His first stint only lasted one tournament. He was promoted back to juryo in September 1990 and rose to a career-best juryo 5 in November 1990. He was demoted back to makushita in January 1992 after eight straight tournaments as a sekitori. He returned in May 1992 and retained his rank for six tournaments before falling back to makushita in May 1993.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Kumao announced his retirement after pulling out midway in March 1994. After retiring, he went to train at stablemate Amamifuji's chankonabe restaurant. In 1995 he opened up his chankonabe restaurant called "Sumo Teahouse Kumao" (相撲茶屋 熊翁).

### **Death**

Kumao died suddenly in a car accident on October 6, 1997, four days after his birthday. He was only 32 years old. His restaurant has since been ran by his former tsukebito, or personal servant, Hinoryu.

## **Fighting Style**

Kumao was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was (somewhat unusually) morozashi, or double hand inside. His most often used winning kimarite was yorikiri (force out), followed closely by oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 328-328-10/655 (79 basho)
* **Juryo:** 98-125-2/222 (15 basho)
* **Makushita:** 110-107-7/217 (32 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 59-46/105 (15 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 53-45/98 (14 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 8-5-1/13 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (September 1988)

## **Shikona History**

* Sato (1981.03 - 1983.01)
* Takaminada Goro (1983.03 - 1987.01)
* Kumao Hiroshi (1987.03 - 1994.03)

## **Gallery**

Kumao during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 1990)Kumao poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1992)Kumao prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1993)Kumao awaits his upcoming match (c. 1993)Kumao's retirement ceremony (c. 1994)Newspaper clipping about Kumao's sudden death (c. 1997)Kumao's tegata
## **Sources**

* Kumao Hiroshi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kumao Hiroshi Rikishi Information