Kirinowaka Taro

Kirinowaka Taro - 霧の若 太郎 (born September 18, 1983) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Minamiaso, Kumamoto. He made his debut in March 1999 and wrestled for Michinoku stable. He reached the juryo division in January 2008. His highest rank was juryo 4 and he retired in May 2011.

## **Early Life**

Masayuki Okamoto was born in the village of Choyo (currently Minamiaso) in Kumamoto prefecture on September 18, 1983. His parents ran a yakiniku restaurant. In junior high school Okamoto did judo and participated in prefectural competitions in the third grade. Amongst his opponents was the future top division sumo wrestler Chiyohakuho. Although he had no experience in sumo, he was spotted by scouts from the Michinoku stable and recommended to its stablemaster, ex ozeki Kirishima. Okamoto was not aware of Kirishima's sumo career but was convinced by his passion for sumo to join Michinoku stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in March 1999. He scored six wins against just one loss in his first official tournament. After this, he spent around two years in jonidan before earning promotion to sandanme in March 2001. Three tournaments later he changed his shikona from his family name to "Kirinowaka" (霧の若). He reached makushita in September 2002 and remained in the division for around four years. He came close to promotion to the sekitori level in May 2006 with a 4-3 record at makushita 3 but missed out and had to wait until November 2007 when a 5-2 at makushita 4 earned him promotion to the juryo division.

### **Juryo Career**

He was the first member of Michinoku stable to do so since ex-Kirishima took over the stable in 1997. In his juryo debut in January 2008 he lost eight bouts in the first ten days but then recovered to win his last five matches in a row. He was demoted back down to makushita in November 2008, but returned to juryo in March 2009. He reached a career-best juryo 4 in September 2009. However, after losing scores in three tournaments from January to May 2010 he was demoted back to makushita.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He was forced to retire by the Japan Sumo Association in April 2011, after an investigation showed his name had appeared in text messages along with several other wrestlers who were prepared to throw bouts.

### **Professional Wrestling Career**

In January 2012 he became a professional wrestler with a ring name of Shogun Okamoto and joined the Inoki Genome Federation. In February 2012 he won his first match, defeating Bob Sapp. In October 2013 he formed a  tag team with another former sumo wrestler, Wakakirin. He left IGF in March 2016 and went freelance. In July he joined Akebono and Ryota Hama's tag team "SMOP", as part of which he won his first title, the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship, in February 2017.

## **Personal Life**

His parents' home was destroyed in the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes, although no one was injured.

## **Fighting Style**

Kirinowaka's favorite techniques were tsuppari (a series of rapid thrusts to the opponent's chest) and yori (force out). When fighting on the mawashi or belt he preferred a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) grip.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 310-291/601 (72 basho)
* **Juryo:** 85-110/195 (13 basho)
* **Makushita:** 124-107/231 (33 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 57-41/98 (14 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 38-32/70 (10 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Okamoto Masayuki (1999.03 - 2001.07)
* Kirinowaka Taro (2001.09 - 2011.05)

## **Gallery**

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

Kirinowaka Taro - 2008 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kirinowaka's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Kirinowaka attends Hokutoarashi's retirement ceremony (c. 2008)Kirinowaka during the juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2008)Kirinowaka battles Yamamotoyama (c. 2008)Kirinowaka after being found guilty of match-fixing (c. 2011)Kirinowaka trains to become a professional wrestler (c. 2011)Kirinowaka's new career as a professional wrestler (c. 2012)
## **Sources**

* Kirinowaka Taro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kirinowaka Taro Rikishi Information