Kirishima Kazuhiro
| Kirishima Kazuhiro | |
|---|---|
| 霧島 一博 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Kazumi Yoshinaga April 3, 1959 Makizono, Kagoshima, Japan |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 127 kg (280 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Izutsu |
| Record | 754-696-40 |
| Debut | March, 1975 |
| Highest rank | Ōzeki (May, 1990) |
| Retired | March, 1996 |
| Championships | 1 (Makuuchi) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (1) Technique (4) |
| Gold Stars | 2 (Ōnokuni) |
| * Up to date as of July 2007. | |
Kirishima Kazuhiro (Japanese: 霧島 一博, born April 3, 1959) is a former sumo wrestler from Makizono, Kagoshima, Japan, who held the second highest rank of ōzeki from 1990 to 1992 and won one top division tournament championship. He is now known as Michinoku-oyakata and is the head coach of Michinoku stable.
Beginning his career in March 1975, Kazumi Yoshinaga, as he then was, joined the Izutsu stable. He was given the sumo name Kirishima, which came from the national park in his native Kagoshima Prefecture. He did not become established as an elite sekitori wrestler until November 1983 when he produced a 9-6 score at the rank of jūryō 10 (he had made the jūryō division briefly in May 1982 but had lasted only one tournament there). He reached the top makuuchi division for the first time in July 1984, and won a sanshō or special prize for Fighting Spirit in his very first tournament.
Persistently struggling to gain weight, he enlisted the help of his girlfriend and future wife Naoko in the quest to bulk up and avoid frequent defeats by simple push-out. He was also a fitness fanatic who started his career by running several kilometres even before morning training started at 6am.
One of the lightest wrestlers in the division, Kirishima earned a reputation as a giant-killer, defeating heavyweights such as Ōnokuni and Konishiki several times. However, he seemed to struggle when promoted out of the maegashira ranks. After finishing tournament runner-up and winning the Technique Prize in November 1986 he was promoted to the san'yaku ranks for the first time at sekiwake in the following tournament but could only manage a 3-12 record, and when he finally managed to return to san'yaku at komusubi rank in January 1989 he recorded a dismal 1-14. However, later that year he began a new training regime. In addition to his usual practice matches at Izutsu stable, he did regular weight training at a private gymnasium, and supplemented his normal sumo diet with a specially prepared high calorie and high protein drink. His efforts paid off. He returned to komusubi in November 1989 scoring 10 wins, and then turned in an 11-4 mark and runner-up performance in January 1990. In March 1990 at sekiwake he produced a superb 13-2 record, defeating yokozuna Chiyonofuji (for the first time in twelve attempts) and Hokutoumi and all three ōzeki. He took part in a rare three way playoff with Konishiki and Hokutoumi, who had also finished on 13-2. Although Hokutoumi took the title, after the tournament Kirishima was promoted to ōzeki. It was his second straight runner-up performance, earning him his third Outstanding Performance and fourth Technique Prizes, and a three tournament record of 34 wins and 11 losses.
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