Hanahikari Setsuo

Hanahikari Setsuo - 花光節夫 (born June 21, 1940) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Matsuo, Iwate. He made his debut in May 1958 and wrestled for Hanakago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 1965 and has one kinboshi. His highest rank was maegashira 3 and he retired in September 1970.

Early Life[]

Both his father and brothers worked as miners in the Matsuo mines. In junior high school and high school, Endo was a member of the sumo club and he participated in many local competitions. He was scouted for professional sumo wrestling after winning the Iwate Prefectural sumo tournament and he subsequently dropped out during his third year of high school and joined Hanakago stable.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his debut in May 1958 and he won the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 8-0 record in his first professional tournament. In November 1958 he changed his shikona to "Hanahikari" (at the time he was wrestling under his surname Endo) and he won the sandanme yusho in November 1959 to earn promotion to makushita for the January 1960 tournament. After two years in makushita he achieved promotion to juryo in September 1962.

Juryo Career[]

Hanahikari posted four consecutive winning records from his juryo debut, however, due to unlucky banzuke luck he was not promoted to makuuchi after posting an 8-7 record at the rank of juryo 1 east in March 1963. After three years in juryo, he won the juryo yusho in September 1965 with a 12-3 record and was promoted to makuuchi for the following November 1965 tournament.

Makuuchi Career[]

He was ranked in makuuchi for a total of 25 tournaments, however, he never managed to reach the san'yaku level with his highest rank being maegashira 3 which he achieved in January 1968. In May 1968 he defeated Yokozuna Kashiwado to earn his first kinboshi, however, he finished the tournament with a 7-8 record and missed out on the Outstanding Performance prize. He fell back down to juryo in March 1970 and makushita in September 1970 where he ultimately announced his retirement.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Upon retirement from active competition he became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association under the names Otake and Hanaregoma, however he left the Sumo Association in May 1975 as he was only borrowing the names and had not acquired them. After leaving the sumo world, he opened up a restaurant called "Chanko Dojo" (ちゃんこ道場) in Aomori City.

Fighting Style[]

Hanahikari was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out.