Kagamiiwa Zenshiro

Kagamiiwa Zenshiro - 鏡岩 善四郎 (born May 4, 1902 - August 5, 1980) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Shiwa, Aomori. He made his debut in January 1921 and wrestled for Kumegawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1928 and has one kinboshi. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in May 1939.

## **Early Life**

Zenshiro Sasaki was born in the village of Sarube in Aomori prefecture. His father died when he was young and he moved to the village of Shiwa (modern day Towada) after his mother's remarriage. He participated in amaetur sumo and was later recruited into Kumegawa stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in January 1921 and was given the shikona "Kagamiiwa" (鏡岩) which was used by four other sekitori during the Edo period. He won the jonokuchi yusho in his first tournament with a perfect 5-0 record. He was promoted to sandanme in May 1923 and makushita in January 1925. In May 1927, he won the makushita yusho with a 5-1 record at the rank of makushita 7 and was promoted to juryo for the October 1927 tournament.

In his first tournament as a sekitori Kagamiiwa finished with a strong 9-2 record and was promoted to juryo 5 in January 1928. In this tournament, he finished with a 6-5 record and was promoted to makuuchi in March 1928.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He secured his first kinboshi or gold star in January 1930 with a win over Miyagiyama, the first tournament in which the system was introduced. During the January 1931 tournament, he was runner up for the championship. He did not wrestle in 1932, but returned in 1933 and reached his highest rank of komusubi in May 1934. He was runner up for the championship a second time in January 1935 and reached the rank of sekiwake in January 1936. In January 1937, he was promoted to his final rank of ozeki, simultaneously with Futabayama.

### **Ozeki Career**

At the age of 34 he was the oldest ever to be promoted to ozeki. In January 1939 he had a bout with Banjaku that went on so long a rest break (mizu-iri) was called. Kagamiiwa chose to forfeit the re-match and so was given a loss by default (fusenpai) but his opponent sportingly refused to accept a default win, so both wrestlers were marked with a loss.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He retired in May 1939. He had become head coach of Kumegawa stable while still active. He recruited and trained yokozuna Kagamisato. In 1941 when Futabayama started his own stable, Kagamiiwa wound up his Kumegawa stable and merged it with Futabayama's (it became Tokitsukaze stable in 1945). He continued to work as a coach there until his death in 1950 at the age of 48.

## **Fighting Style**

Kagamiiwa 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 yoritaoshi (crush out) and yorikiri (force out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 239-183-4-1draw/421 (47 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 174-153-4/325 (30 basho)
* **Juryo:** 15-7/22 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 27-15/42 (7 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-4-1draw/17 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-4/10 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-0/5 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (May 1927)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (May 1922)

## **Gallery**

Kagamiiwa Zenshiro - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)
## **Sources**

* Kagamiiwa Zenshiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kagamiiwa Zenshiro Rikishi Information