Kirinishiki Toshiro

Kirinishiki Toshiro - 起利錦 利郎 (born August 31, 1962) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kiryu, Gunma. He made his debut in March 1978 and wrestled for Kagamiyama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1986 and has three kinboshi. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he retired in November 1995.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He was recruited from middle school by former yokozuna Kashiwado, and joined his Kagamiyama stable in March 1978. Initially fighting under the name Yamadanishiki, adapted from his own surname, he was given the shikona of Kirinishiki ("winning trophy") in 1984. In November 1985 he won the makushita division championship or yusho with a perfect 7–0 record and was promoted to the juryo division, becoming a fully fledged sekitori.

### **Juryo Career**

Kirinishiki made his debut in January 1986 and produced two consecutive 9-6 records. As a result he was promoted to the top of juryo in May where he finished with an 8-7 record. He was promoted to makuuchi in the following July 1986 tournament after only three tournaments in juryo.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He defeated yokozuna Chiyonofuji in their first meeting in March 1987 to earn the first of his three kinboshi, the others coming against Futahaguro in July 1987 and Hokutoumi four years later in July 1991. However he was never able to win a special prize or reach the sanyaku ranks, his highest position on the banzuke being maegashira 2. He fought in the top division for 34 tournaments with 213 wins against 248 losses, but also had 49 injury absences. On the 14th day of the March 1992 tournament he received a win by default when his opponent Wakahanada withdrew, but he then broke his toe in training the following morning and had to withdraw from his final match, falling to a make-koshi 7–8. He thus became one of the few wrestlers to immediately follow a win by default with a loss by default. In January 1993 he was forced to withdraw from what proved to be his final top division tournament with a left knee medial collateral ligament injury, and was demoted to juryo. He fell to the unsalaried makushita division in March 1995 before finally retiring in November 1995 at the age of 33. He had fought in 107 career tournaments with a winning percentage of just over 50 percent.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Upon retirement he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Tatekawa Oyakata. His old stablemaster was in poor health and was soon succeeded by Kirinishiki's former stablemate Tagaryu. Although he was only borrowing the Tatekawa stock Kirinishiki was able to keep the name for the next 15 years, until its owner Tosanoumi retired in January 2011. He then switched to Kaio's Asakayama name, and then Ikazuchi, before in February 2012 switching to the Katsunoura name then owned by the former head of Isenoumi stable, ex-sekiwake Fujinokawa. He acquired the Katsunoura stock permanently in March 2013, securing his future in the Sumo Association. He has remained a coach at Kagamiyama stable, despite its small size (only two active wrestlers as of 2017).

Besides his coaching duties, Kirinishiki also opened up a chankonabe restaurant in Ota, Tokyo, called "Kirinishiki" (起利錦).

## **Personal Life**

In his spare time Kirinishiki had a keen interest in history, enjoying the historical novels of Ryotaro Shiba and visiting historical sites while on regional tours (jungyo). He was also a fan of hard rock music and wrote a column for the Burrn! music magazine.

## **Fighting Style**

Kirinshiki favored yori (grappling) and tsuri (lifting) 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 yorikiri (force out) followed by oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 551-547-84/1095 (107 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 213-248-49/458 (34 basho)
* **Juryo:** 152-148-15/300 (21 basho)
* **Makushita:** 80-67-14/147 (23 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 50-35-6/85 (13 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 53-45/98 (14 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 3-4/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (November 1985)

### **Achievements**

* **Kinboshi:** 3: (1) Chiyonofuji, (1) Hokutoumi, (1) Futahaguro

## **Shikona History**

* Yamada Toshiro (1978.03 - 1978.03)
* Yamadanishiki Toshiro (1978.05 - 1984.09)
* Kirinishiki Toshiro (1984.11 - 1985.11)

## **Gallery**

Kirinishiki poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1986)Kirinishiki charges toward his opponent (c. 1990)Kirinishiki announces his retirement (c. 1995)Kirinishiki's retirement ceremony pamphlet (c. 1995)Kirinishiki's tegata
## **Sources**

* Kirinishiki Toshiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kirinishiki Toshiro Rikishi Information