Kitazakura
| Kitazakura Hidetoshi | |
|---|---|
| 北桜 英敏 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Hidetoshi Mukō December 15, 1971 Hiroshima, Japan |
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Weight | 168 kg (370 lb) |
| Web presence | website |
| Career | |
| Stable | Kitanoumi |
| Record | 713-711-15 |
| Debut | March, 1987 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 9 (July, 2001) |
| Retired | March, 2010 |
| Championships | 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) |
| * Up to date as of Mar 2010. | |
Kitazakura Hidetoshi (北桜 英敏?), born December 15, 1971 as Hidetoshi Mukō (向 英俊 Mukō Hidetoshi?) is a former sumo wrestler from Asakita ward, Hiroshima City, Japan. His highest rank was maegashira 9. He is the elder brother of Toyozakura, also a top division wrestler. He was a popular figure with sumo fans. He is now a coach and elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Onogawa Oyakata.
Kitazakura made his professional debut in March 1987, joining Kitanoumi stable. His brother Toyozakura became a sumo wrestler two years later. Unusually for brothers in sumo, they joined different stables, Toyozakura being recruited by Tatsutagawa stable. This was the wish of their father, a former sumo wrestler himself who reached the fourth highest sandanme division. Kitazakura and Toyozakura never met in competition, as brothers are not matched against each other.
Initially wrestling using his real name, Kitazakura first adopted his shikona in November 1987. It took a long time to get to the salaried sekitori ranks and he spent seven years from 1991 to 1998 in the third highest makushita division. He got as high as makushita 5 in September 1995 and a good performance might have got him promotion to the second jūryō division but he fell short with a 2-5 record. Reverting to his own surname failed to change his fortunes and he fell right to the bottom of the makushita division. However, after changing back to the name Kitazakura he took the makushita championship with a perfect 7-0 record in September 1997 and three more winning records finally earned him promotion to jūryō in July 1998, after a total of eleven years in the lower divisions.
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Wikipedia