Kinoarashi Kazutoshi

Kinoarashi Kazutoshi - 騏ノ嵐 和敏 (born July 9, 1961) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yubari, Hokkaido. He made his debut in March 1977 and wrestled for Oshiogawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1982 and has one kinboshi. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he retired in September 1991.

## **Early Life**

His father was a coal miner. By the time he was 6th grade, he stood at 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) and weighed 76 kg (168 Ib). He played baseball and table tennis at junior high school. He joined Oshiogawa stable, recruited by the former Daikirin.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in March 1977, alongside another future top division wrestler from the same stable, Enazakura. He was promoted to sandanme in November 1978 and makushita in September 1979. In November 1980, he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and was promoted to juryo in the following January 1981 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo at the age of 19, he changed his shikona to "Kinoarashi" (騏ノ嵐, later 騏乃嵐). He managed a poor 6-9 record and was demoted back down to makushita. He did not return to juryo until November 1981 after winning his second makushita yusho. In his return he posted two consecutive winning records and was promoted to makuuchi in March 1982 at the age of 20.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He reached the top division in March 1982. He was touted as a possible candidate for ozeki and was named "Rookie of the Year" by the *Tokyo Chunichi Sports newspaper* after earning a kinboshi for defeating yokozuna Kitanoumi in September 1982. However he suffered a serious injury to his left knee whilst training with Hoo at Nishonoseki stable in 1983 which led to him missing several tournaments and falling to the fourth sandanme division. He slowly rose again in the ranks and won the juryo division yusho or tournament championship in September 1986.

In March 1987 he was promoted back to the top division. At the time he held the record for lowest rank fallen before a successful return to makuuchi at Sandanme #25 (this record stood for 28 years before being surpassed by Tosayutaka in 2015). However, due to the severity of his injury he was unable to fulfill his early promise. He did not manage to earn another kinboshi or win a special prize and never managed to reach the sanyaku ranks, his highest rank of maegashira 2 being achieved back in November 1982.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

In January 1991, Kinoarashi re-injured his knee and subsequently pulled out on the 8th day. He ultimately announced his retirement after the September 1991 tournament. At the time he had already fallen down to jonidan. He left the sumo world upon retirement, and opened a chanko restaurant in Koto, Tokyo called "Chanko Kinoarashi" (まんぷく屋 騏乃嵐).

## **Fighting Style**

Kinoarashi favored yotsu-sumo, or grappling techniques, and used a left hand outside, right hand inside (migi-yotsu) grip on his opponent's mawashi. His favorite kimarite or techniques were yorikiri (force out), yoritaoshi (force out and down) uwatenage (overarm throw), and sukuinage (scoop throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 459-405-97/861 (88 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 98-112-30/210 (16 basho)
* **Juryo:** 201-204-15/403 (28 basho)
* **Makushita:** 99-48-28/147 (25 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 29-17-10/45 (8 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 27-22-14/49 (9 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (September 1986)
* 2 **Makushita** Championships
	+ 1st (November 1980)
	+ 2nd (September 1981)

## **Shikona History**

* Ishiyama Kazutoshi (1977.03 -1980.11)
* Kinoarashi Kazutoshi (1981.01 - 1991.09)

## **Gallery**

Kinoarashi poses with his kesho-mawashiKinoarashi during the Makuuchi dohyo-iri (c. 1982)Kinoarashi launches at his opponent (c. 1987)Kinoarashi's retirement ceremony (c. 1991)Kinoarashi's restaurant, which he ran after retirementKinoarashi's tegata
## **Sources**

* Kinoarashi Kazutoshi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kinoarashi Kazutoshi Rikishi Information