Oki Kasuke

Oki Kasuke - 王輝 嘉助 (born June 12, 1996) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Sekikawa, Niigata. He made his debut in July 2013 and currently wrestles for Shikoroyama stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2020. His highest rank as of 2023 is juryo 13.

## **Early Life**

Kazuki Koike's father was a sumo coach and his mother was a judo coach. He began practicing sumo at the age of three and judo at his first year at Sekikawa Sonritsu Sekikawa Elementary School.

From fourth to sixth grade, Koike participated in national sumo tournaments three consecutive times and was 2nd in 4th grade, 16th in 5th grade, and 3rd in 6th grade.

After graduating from elementary school, Koike attended Sekikawa Sonritsu Sekikawa Junior High School and was a member of their judo club, because there was no sumo club there. He later quit judo and transferred to Itoigawa City Nou Junior High School so he could concentrate on sumo. In his third year he achieved 3rd place in the national tournament and was only behind of Sato Takanobu (future Takakeisho) and Fumiya Utetsu (future Onosho). After graduating junior high school, Koike attended High School, but injured his left knee. In June 2013, Koike was scouted and recruited by Shikoroyama Oyakata (ex-sekiwake Terao).

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Koike made his professional sumo debut in July 2013 under his family name. In his jonokuchi debut, Koike produced a 6-1 record and was promoted to the jonidan division. He produced a 5-2 record in his jonidan debut and was promoted to sandanme for the following tournament. Koike struggled in sandanme and produced a variety of records. He changed his shikona to "Oki" in the July 2015 tournament and three tournaments later he earned promotion to the makushita division.

Oki bounced back and forth between makushita and sandanme for around a year, and it was not until January 2017 when Oki became a makushita regular. Oki gradually rose the ranks of makushita, however after three consecutive losing records he was demoted back down to sandanme for the November 2018 tournament. Oki redeemed himself with a 6-1 record and a year later he was fighting in the upper-makushita ranks. In July 2020, Oki was ranked at makushita 3 and after a win against juryo-ranked wrestler Asabenkei, Oki finished with a 5-2 record and promotion to the salaried juryo division for the September 2020 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Oki's juryo debut was memorable, but in a bad way. He lost all 15 bouts and was the first wrestler to ever produce such a result in their first tournament ranked as a sekitori. A reason that he lost ever single bout was because he was dealing with an injured left arm which prevented him from getting his favorite grip is hidari-yotsu, or right hand outside and left hand inside grip.

### **Later Career**

Oki returned to makushita in November 2020 and produced a 1-6 record which demoted him even lower down the banzuke. Oki remained in makushita for the entirety of 2021 and 2022. In the July 2022 tournament, Oki was put up against juryo-ranked Yago, despite being ranked at makushita 13, and won the match by sotogake (outside leg trip).

Oki withdrew on the second day of the January 2023 tournament due to injury and miseed the subsequent three tournaments. He returned to the dohyo in September 2023 and was ranked at jonidan 76. Oki proceeded to win all seven of his matches, but missed out on the jonidan yusho after losing to Anosho in a playoff.

## **Personal Life**

* Oki's favorite food is sushi. When he was in elementary school, he could easily flatten out 20 sushi dishes from a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Oki dislikes pudding and coffee.
* Oki has two official wins in the juryo division even though he was not ranked in juryo. In the July 2020 tournament, Oki was ranked at makushita 2 and wrestled a bout against Asabenkei where he defeated him by tsukiotoshi (thrust down). He later defeated juryo-ranked Yago in the July 2022 tournament while ranked at makushita 13.

## **Fighting Style**

Oki is a yotsu–sumo wrestler who prefers a hidari–yotsu, or right hand outside and left hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite are the two most popular techniques in sumo, yorikiri or force out, and oshidashi or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 222-187-27/409 (62 basho)
* **Juryo:** 0-15/15 (1 basho)
* **Makushita:** 133-121-13/254 (38 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 71-48-7/119 (18 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 12-2-7/14 (3 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Koike Kazuki (2013.07 - 2015.05)
* Oki Kasuke (2015.07 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Oki Kasuke - 2020 (Retrieved from the JSA)Oki Kasuke - 2020 (Retrieved from the JSA)Oki's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Oki gets recruited into Shikoroyama stable (c. 2013)Oki gets measured upon joining professional sumo (c. 2013)Oki ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2020)Oki after promotion to Juryo (c. 2020)Oki during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2020)Oki loses all 15 bouts in one tournament (c. 2020)Oki defeats Kainoshima (c. 2021)Oki prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2022)Oki defeats Takano after falling to Jonidan (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Oki Kasuke Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Oki Kasuke Rikishi Information