Asahisho Kota

Asahisho Kota - 旭日松広太 (born July 21, 1989) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Noda, Chiba. He made his debut in March 2005 and last wrestled for Tomozuna stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 2012. His highest rank was maegashira 11 and he retired in July 2021.

Early Life[]

Matsushima began sumo wrestling at the age of three at Sekijuku Town Kimagase Elementary School (currently Noda City Kimagase Elementary School), and won 5 consecutive national tournaments while attending the school. After that, he attended Noda City Kimagase Junior High School. After his graduation from junior high school, Matsushima opted to turn professional. He joined Oshima stable and used his family name as his shikona. At just 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) tall he was accepted by passing the secondary exam for promising recruits who do not meet the primary height requirement.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Matsushima struggled early in his career, but gradually began to improve. Four tournaments into his debut, he changed his shikona to "Asahisho" (旭日松). He was promoted to the sandanme division in July 2007, after two years since his debut, and a year later he was promoted to the makushita division in July 2008.

However, in his makushita debut, Asahisho pulled out on the first day. Asahisho struggled to stay in makushita and was regularly demoted back to the sandanme division. However Asahisho made a pretty strong run through September 2010 to September 2011. He achieved three consecutive winning records and was promoted to a then-career best makushita 10 in July 2011. However he produced a lackluster 3-4 record, but bounced back in the following September 2011 tournament with a perfect 7-0 record and the makushita championship. Moreover, this saw him promoted to juryo for the November 2011 tournament.

Juryo Career[]

Asahisho was the first sekitori from Noda, Chiba. He produced an 8-7 record in his first juryo tournament. The next two tournaments were followed with consecutive 9-6 records. In April 2012 his heya closed upon the retirement of his stablemaster, former ozeki Asahikuni, and he moved to Tomozuna stable.

Asahisho struggled in the May 2012 tournament where he lost his first ten matches. Because of this, Asahisho began a habit of throwing unusually large amounts of purifying salt into the ring before his bouts, previously the trademark of Mitoizumi and Kitazakura. He began doing it in May 2012 to change his luck after suffering ten straight defeats from Day 1, and he promptly won his next five matches. He told reporters in the following July 2012 tournament, "I want the fans to remember my name." He throws so much salt on the start lines that he occasionally causes his opponents to slip on the surface at the tachi-ai. In July 2012 he produced a 10–5 record at juryo 4, and this earned him promotion to the top makuuchi division for the first time for the September 2012 tournament.

Makuuchi Career[]

Salt throws — Asahisho with his signature salt throw (c. 2016)

He came through with a winning record in his makuuchi debut, but two make-koshi or losing scores in his next two tournaments saw him demoted back to juryo. In July 2013 he somewhat fortuitously won promotion back to the top division despite only scoring 9–6 at juryo 7, due to a large number of vacancies with five men being demoted from makuuchi, and also many juryo wrestlers around him under-performing. However, in September he injured his elbow in a match with Shotenro on Day 9 and had to withdraw. Although he returned to the tournament on Day 13 and won two more matches he could not prevent demotion back to juryo. This was his final appearance in the top division.

Later Career[]

In 2017 Asahisho narrowly failed to get a majority of wins against losses in three straight tournaments, and his third 7–8 in May 2017 cost him his place in juryo, as only he and Takagenji had demotable records and Abi and Iwasaki were both deserving of promotion. During this tournament he was reprimanded on Day 2 by the ringside judge Minato Oyakata, the former Minatofuji, for giving Takagenji an extra shove after the match was already over. Asahisho apologized for the "educational slap" afterwards, explaining that he was annoyed at Takagenji (then just 20 and in his first juryo tournament) for disrespecting his opponents by not bowing properly. He was demoted to makushita after 34 tournaments as a sekitori, and never managed a return to the paid ranks. He was forced to sit out the January 2021 tournament after a wrestler at Tomozuna stable tested positive for COVID-19. His final tournament in May 2021 saw him ranked in the sandanme division.

Retirement from Sumo[]

After falling back down to sandanme in May 2021, Asahisho announced his retirement on June 11, 2021. He has remained in the Sumo Association as an elder under the name Kiriyama and later the name Furiwake. His danpatsu-shiki (retirement ceremony) was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on 3 December 2022. With the conclusion of the September 2024 tournament, it was also announced that he would be leaving the Association entirely, opening the Furiwake kabu, which apparently had been on loan.

After leaving the sumo world, Asahisho is now running a bar in Ginza, called Housen (宝泉).

Personal Life[]

Asahisho is known for his sense of humour and love of practical jokes, which has made him a regular on the chat show circuit despite his relative lack of success in the top division. In December 2014 he appeared in a commercial with three other wrestlers as part of a heavy metal band, promoting Docomo's Moveband activity tracker.
Asahisho married a woman from Tokyo in June 2014 and their first child, a son, was born in November 2014.
In May 2012 he saw his longtime stablemate Kyokutenho win the top division championship at 37 years of age, and was overcome with emotion (crying) while waiting to congratulate him afterwards.
Asahisho was sponsored by Kikkoman Corporation, a Japanese Food Manufacturer. The headquarters is located in Noda, Chiba which is also Asahisho's hometown. They presented him with a kesho-mawashi.
Asahisho's favorite food is yudofu (hot tofu) chanko and yakiniku. His hobbies include watching movies and comedy.

Fighting Style[]

Asahisho is an oshi-sumo specialist who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques to grabbing the opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite is oshidashi, or push out. He also regularly wins by forcing his opponent to the floor of the dohyo by hikiotoshi (pull down) or hatakikomi (slap down).