Masakaze Mototsugu

Masakaze Mototsugu - 政風 基嗣 (born April 28, 1983) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nagasaki City, Nagasaki. He made his debut in March 2006 and wrestled for Oguruma stable. He reached the juryo division in May 2012. His highest rank was juryo 12 and he retired in May 2018.

## **Early Life**

Kitazono was born on April 28, 1983, in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture. He began sumo wrestling during his fourth year at Nagasaki Shiritsu Kogakura Elementary School and was active in the national tournaments for elementary school kids. He continued to wrestle at Nagasaki Shiritsu Kogakura Junior High School and Isahaya Agricultural Senior High School where he also partook in national competitions.

After graduating from high school, Kitazono enrolled in the Department of Corporate Law at Toyo University. He was also a member of the university's sumo club and in his first year he won the national championship with his college teammates. In his third year, he participated in the Best 8 All Japan Sumo Championship tournament.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Kitazono joined Oguruma stable after graduation, however he was not eligible for makushita tsukedashi status, because he did not meet the qualifications. He made his professional debut in March 2006 under his family name of Kitazono. Like most university graduates, Kitazono had a fast start where he posted three consecutive 6-1 records. After a year in jonidan and sandanme, Kitazono earned promotion to the makushita division for the September 2007 tournament.

Kitazono gradually rose the makushita ranks, however a disastrous 0-7 in July 2008 followed by a 3-4 in September sent Kitazono back to sandanme for the November 2011 tournament. Now determined more than ever, Kitazono produced four straight 5-2 records and was promoted to makushita 9 for the July 2009 tournament. Now Kitazono established himself as an upper-level makushita mainstay. In November 2011, Kitazono was ranked at the top of makushita, however he produced a 3-4 record and missed out on a juryo promotion. Two tournaments later, Kitazono was ranked at the top of makushita again, and this time he produced a 4-3 record and secured promotion to the salaried juryo division for the May 2012 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to Juryo, Kitazono changed his shikona to "Masakaze". In Masakaze's juryo debut he lost his first five matches but redeemed himself towards the later half of the tournament and his record was 7-7 on the end of the fourteenth day. Sadly he lost his final match against Tokushoryu and finished with a losing record go 6-9. However, since he was ranked at juryo 12 he wasn't demoted out of the division and instead was ranked at juryo 13 for the July 2012 tournament. He continued to struggle in juryo and finished with a 6-9 record. This time Masakaze was demoted back dow to makushita.

After one tournament in makushita, Masakaze earned promotion back to the juryo division for the November 2012 tournament. In this tournament, Masakaze won his first two matches, but lost the next eleven bouts. He pulled out on the 14th day due to a knee injury and finished with a 2-12-1 record. This result demoed Masakaze back down to makushita, and he never returned to juryo.

### **Later Career**

Masakaze was never the same after his juryo demotion and fought in the lower half of makushita for the next two years. He fell back down to sandanme in September 2015 and was ranked mainly in sandanme for his later career. In November 2017, Masakaze pulled out on the first day of the tournament and continued to sit out for the following three tournaments.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After sitting out for three straight tournaments, Masakaze was demoted down to jonokuchi 12 for the May 2018 tournament. He continued to sit out this tournament and announced his retirement on May 25th, 2018. It was announced that he was dealing with an unspecified illness and that was the main reason that he sat out of the past few tournaments. His danpatsu-shiki, or hair-cutting ceremony, was held on May 30th, 2018, at his own stable.

According to his FaceBook account, Kitazono now resides in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture and he was employed at Vita Push Co. Ltd.

## **Personal Life**

* Masakaze's favorite food is meat and he dislikes seafood. His hobby is listening to Western music.
* Masakaze was high school classmates with former sumo wrestler Wakakeisho. Wakakeisho also participated in collegiate-level sumo at Nihon University and he made his professional debut one tournament later than Masakaze at the rank of makushita 15 (he qualified for makushita tsukedashi status).
* There was another sumo wrestler who also competed under the shikona Masakaze (将風) from 1987 to 1997 and his highest rank was makushita 12. However, the kanji in their names are different. The "masa" (将) in the first Masakaze means "general", while the "masa" (政) in the juryo-level Masakaze means "politics/government".

## **Fighting Style**

Masakaze's favored techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi), yori (forcing) and oshi (pushing). His most common winning kimarite are straightforward: yorikiri (force out) and oshidashi (push out).

## **Division Results**

* **Total:** 256-239-32/492 (73 basho)
* **Juryo:** 15-29-1/43 (3 basho)
* **Makushita:** 158-152-5/309 (45 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 65-55-6/119 (18 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 12-2-14/14 (4 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1-6/7 (2 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Kitazono Mototsugu (2006.03 - 2012.03)
* Masakaze Mototsugu (2012.05 - 2018.05)

## **Gallery**

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

Masakaze Mototsugu - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Masakaze Mototsugu - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Masakaze Mototsugu - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Masakaze's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Masakaze joins Oguruma stable (c. 2006)Masakaze prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2010)Masakaze after promotion to Juryo (c. 2012)Masakaze presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2012)Masakaze's Juryo promotion party (c. 2012)Masakaze battles Takanoiwa (c. 2012)Masakaze's retirement ceremony (c. 2018)
## **Sources**

* Masakaze Mototsugu Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Masakaze Mototsugu Rikishi Information