Futahaguro Kōji

Futahaguro Kōji
双羽黒光司
Futahaguro's handprint displayed on a monument in Ryōgoku, Tokyo
Personal information
Born	Kōji Kitao (1963-08-12) August 12, 1963 (age 53) Tsu, Mie, Japan
Height	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	160 kg (350 lb; 25 st)
Career
Stable	Tatsunami
Record	348-184-24
Debut	March, 1979
Highest rank	Yokozuna (July, 1986)
Retired	December, 1987
Championships	0 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Jonokuchi)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (5) Technique (2)
Gold Stars	3 Kitanoumi Chiyonofuji Takanosato
* Up to date as of March 2007.

Kōji Kitao (born August 12, 1963) is a former sumo wrestler and professional wrestler, born in Mie, Japan. He was sumo's 60th yokozuna, and the only yokozuna in sumo history not to win a top division tournament championship. He was forced to leave sumo at the end of 1987 after a falling-out with his stable master Tatsunami, and became a professional wrestler in 1990.

Born in Tsu, Kitao made his professional sumo debut in March 1979 at the age of 15, joining Tatsunami stable, and he reached the top, makuuchi division in September 1984 after winning the championship in the jūryō division. In his second tournament in the top division he defeated yokozuna Kitanoumi and was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize and promotion to komusubi. He made his sekiwake debut in May 1985. In July 1985 he was back in the maegashira ranks but defeated two more yokozuna and was tournament runner-up with twelve wins. After finishing runner-up once more in November 1985 he was promoted to the second highest rank of ōzeki. Kitao continued his rapid rise with his third runner-up performance in May 1986, followed by a 14-1 score in July, his only loss being to Hoshi. He defeated yokozuna Chiyonofuji on the final day to force a playoff with him, which Kitao lost.

After this result the Japan Sumo Association were faced with a difficult decision as there was only one yokozuna on the ranking lists, but five ōzeki, with a sixth wrestler - Hoshi (who would become yokozuna Hokutoumi), winner of the March 1986 tournament, already performing to ōzeki standard. The Association decided to promote Kitao to yokozuna and Hoshi to ōzeki. Kitao had won 36 bouts in the last three tournaments and been runner-up in the last two, so the defacto promotion standard of "two tournament championships or the equivalent" was interpreted rather loosely. He was just 22 years old and the first person to be promoted to yokozuna without any top division tournament titles since Terukuni in 1942. The Sumo Association insisted that Kitao could no longer compete under his family name at such an exalted rank so he adopted the shikona of Futahaguro, the name being formed from two highly successful former yokozuna from his stable, Futabayama and Haguroyama.