Iwatora Kanichi

Iwatora Kanichi - 巌虎 寛一 (born January 27, 1948) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Sencho, Kumamoto. He made his debut in May 1962 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 1972. His highest rank was maegashira 7 and he retired in November 1979.

## **Early Life**

Kazutomo Matsuoka was born into a poor family in the town of Sencho in Kumamoto Prefecture and had to support his family by delivering newspapers and working at ports since he was in elementary school. In his third year of junior high school, he was scouted by makushita wrestler Tochinoiwa who came from the neighboring city Yatsushiro.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He joined Kasugano stable and made his professional debut in May 1962 at the age of 14. He initially wrestled under the shikona "Matsuokayama" (松岡山) which was derived from his surname. He was promoted to sandanme in January 1963 and makushita in March 1964.

However, as he was beginning to establish himself in makushita, his mother ran away from home because of living difficulties, so Matsuoka decided to quit sumo and work at a market. He officially retired in September 1966. Not wanting to return to his hometown, he worked at a fruit and vegetable shop in Nara Prefecture for around 10 months, until he was informed that his father had passed away. He was informed of his father's passing by former senior wrestler Tochioyama after they met in Yao, Osaka, and Tochioyama advised that Matsuoka return to professional sumo. Upon returning, he motivated himself under the sense that he would find his mother if he succeeded in sumo.

Since the Japan Sumo Association were more lenient with reinstatement policies in the 1960s, Matsuoka was allowed to re-join Kasugano stable and make his debut back at the maezumo division (pre-sumo) in July 1967. In his first official tournament back, he won the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. In March 1968, he changed his shikona to "Iwatora" (巌虎). In May 1971, he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record at the rank of makushita 12 and was directly promoted to juryo in the following July 1971 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Iwatora was able to establish himself as a sekitori. In September 1972, Iwatora produced a strong 10-5 record, but missed out on the yusho after losing to Owashi in the playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makuuchi in the following November 1972 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Iwatora could only manage 5 wins in his top division debut and he was demoted back down to juryo. He immediately returned to makuuchi in March 1973 where he posted a solid 9-6 record. He was then promoted to maegashira 7, the highest rank he held. In the July 1973, Iwatora injured his left thigh and subsequently withdrew from the tournament. He was demoted back down to juryo as a result and this proved to be his last tournament ranked in the top division.

### **Later Career**

Still suffering the effects of his injured left thigh, Iwatora could only manage to stay in juryo for two tournaments before falling back down to makushita in January 1974. He remained in the unsalaried ranks for nearly two years before winning his second makushita yusho in September 1975 which earned a re-promotion to juryo in November 1975.

Iwatora's sekitori return only lasted three tournaments and he was demoted back down to makushita in March 1976. He would return to juryo in 1978, but could only maintain his rank for another three tournaments. He announced his retirement after the November 1979 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Upon retiring from sumo, Iwatora and his wife (Lynn Sturm Levy, an American artist who painted sumo-themed painting in the 1970s) moved to Hawaii, before settling down in New York. While in New York, he trained to be a sushi chef. In 1994, he opened up the Japanese restaurant Sen in Sag Harbor, New York.

## **Fighting Style**

Iwatora was a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite was oshidashi, or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 439-391-38/829 (102 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 23-32-5/54 (4 basho)
* **Juryo:** 119-134-2/253 (17 basho)
* **Makushita:** 206-176-17/382 (57 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 52-32-14/84 (14 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 27-15/42 (6 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Makushita** Championships
	+ 1st (May 1971)
	+ 2nd (September 1975)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (September 1967)

## **Shikona History**

* Matsuokayama Kazutomo (1962.05 - 1967.05)
* Matsuoka Kazutomo (1967.07 - 1968.01)
* Iwatora Kanichi (1968.03 - 1979.11)

## **Gallery**

Iwatora celebrates Juryo promotion with Tochioyama (c. 1971)Iwatora (right) prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1972)Iwatora poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1976)
## **Sources**

* Iwatora Kanichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Iwatora Kanichi Rikishi Information