Kitanofuji Katsuaki - 北の富士 勝昭 (March 28, 1942 - November 12, 2024) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Asahikawa, Hokkaido. He made his debut in January 1957 and wrestled for Kokonoe stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1964 and has 6 special prizes, 1 kinboshi and 10 top division championships. He was the 52nd yokozuna and he retired in July 1974.
Early Life[]
Kitanofuji played baseball in junior high school
Katsuaki Takezawa was born in the town of Bihoro in Hokkaido Prefecture. He moved the city of Rumoi in Hokkaido and attended Rumoi Shiritsu Rumoi Elementary School and was a member of the baseball team where he played the position of pitcher. He continued his baseball career at Rumoi Shiritsu Konan Junior High School before transferring to Asahikawa Shiritsu Koyo Junior High School in Asahikawa, Hokkaido (he would list this as his official birthplace when joining professional sumo). In 1954 when returning to his hometown of Rumoi, he met yokozuna Chiyonoyama who was on tour in Hokkaido and was recruited for professional sumo. He subsequently turned down many offers from high schools as he was a gifted baseball player and instead joined Dewanoumi stable.
Career[]
Early Career[]
He made his professional debut in January 1957 at the age of 14 and initially wrestled under his surname of Takezawa. He was promoted to sandanme in May 1959 and makushita in July 1961. Upon changing his shikona to "Kitanofuji" (北の富士) in 1960 he suffered from appendicitis and peritonitis and had to miss the tournament. Nevertheless, he bounced back and was promoted to juryo in March 1963.
Juryo Career[]
Kitanofuji awaits his following match in juryo (c. 1963)
Kitanofuji produced a 9-6 record in his juryo debut and was able to establish himself as a sekitori. In November 1963 he achieved a perfect 15–0 score in the second highest juryo division (a feat not equalled until 43 years later by Baruto) and was promoted to the top makuuchi division.
Makuuchi Career[]
In his debut top division tournament in January 1964 he scored 13 wins, although he faced only his fellow maegashira. He won the Fighting Spirit award and was promoted straight to komusubi. By 1966 he was firmly established in the san'yaku ranks at sekiwake. He reached ozeki rank in July 1966. Although he had won only 28 bouts in the previous three tournaments (at least 33 are normally needed), Yutakayama was the only ōzeki at the time, and he was promoted largely because of his potential.
Ozeki Career[]
In January 1967 he followed the coach who had scouted him, former yokozuna Chiyonoyama, to a new stable, Kokonoe. His first tournament championship came in March of that year. Kitanofuji was competing in an era dominated by Taiho, but he emerged from the great yokozuna's shadow by winning consecutive championships in November 1969 and January 1970 to secure his own promotion to yokozuna. Promoted alongside him was his friend and rival Tamanoumi.
Yokozuna Career[]
His first title as a yokozuna came in May 1970. After a run of relatively mediocre 11–4 marks he won in May 1971 with a perfect record and he took two other championships that year.
However, Tamanoumi's sudden death in October 1971 shook Kitanofuji badly and affected his performance in the ring. Now the sole yokozuna in sumo, he went into a slump. After poor performances in the first two tournaments of 1972, he pulled out of the May 1972 tourney because of insomnia. He took a leave of absence from the next tournament in July, but went on a trip to Hawaii and was caught surfboarding. He was cautioned by the Japan Sumo Association and immediately apologised.
He returned to win the next championship with a perfect record in September 1972. His final title came in March 1973, and his last challenge for a championship was in July of that year when he lost a playoff to veteran Kotozakura. After several more absences Kitanofuji announced his retirement at the age of 32 three days into the July 1974 tournament, acknowledging that there was now a new era being led by Wajima and Kitanoumi, both several years younger than himself. Kotozakura retired in the same week, and Kitanoumi was promoted to yokozuna after the tournament ended. Kitanofuji's total of ten tournament championships was, at the time, behind only Futabayama's 12 and Taiho's 32.
Retirement from Sumo[]
Kitanofuji after retirement
Kitanofuji remained in the Japan Sumo Association after his retirement, initially under the name of Izutsu. Shortly after retiring he branched out and set up his own Izutsu stable. In 1977, however, he became head of the Kokonoe stable of wrestlers following Chiyonoyama's death, and merged his stable back into Kokonoe. He gave the Izutsu name to former sekiwake Tsurugamine and adopted the Kokonoe name. During his tenure as head of Kokonoe stable both Chiyonofuji and Hokutoumi reached the rank of yokozuna, and he produced a number of other top division wrestlers such as Takanofuji and Tomoefuji. He handed over control of the stable to Chiyonofuji in April 1992, but he remained an oyakata under the name Jinmaku. In September 1993 he left Kokonoe stable and joined his former wrestler Hokutoumi’s newly established Hakkaku stable. In February 1998 he failed to be re-elected to the Sumo Association's Board of Directors, and citing the lack of support from his fellow oyakata in the Takasago ichimon or group of stables, he decided to leave the organisation several years before the mandatory retirement age. However, he still often appears on television as a sumo analyst for NHK. In 2002, he performed his kanreki dohyo-iri or '60th year ring entrance ceremony' to commemorate his years as yokozuna. In January 2017 he took a break from sumo commentary in order to recuperate from heart surgery.
Fighting Style[]
Kitanofuji defeats Yutakayama by uwatenage (overarm throw)
Kitanofuji's favored grip were hidari-yotsu (a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi), and his favoured techniques were yori. His most common kimarite (winning techniques) were yorikiri (force out), sotogake (outer leg trip), uwatenage (overarm throw), and hatakikomi (slap down).
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 786-427-69/1208 (105 basho)
- Makuuchi: 592-294-62/881 (64 basho)
- Juryo: 49-26/75 (5 basho)
- Makushita: 46-24/70 (10 basho)
- Sandanme: 51-40-7/91 (13 basho)
- Jonidan: 46-42/88 (11 basho)
- Shinjo: 2-1/3 (1 basho)
Championships[]
- 10 Makuuchi Championships
- 1st (March 1967)
- 2nd (November 1969)
- 3rd (January 1970)
- 4th (May 1970)
- 5th (July 1970)
- 6th (May 1971)
- 7th (September 1971)
- 8th (November 1971)
- 9th (September 1972)
- 10th (March 1973)
- 1 Juryo Championship (November 1963)
Achievements[]
- Special Prizes: Technique Prize (3), Outstanding Performance Prize (2), Fighting Spirit Prize (1)
- Kinboshi: (1) Taiho
Shikona History[]
- Takezawa Katsuaki (1957.01 - 1959.03)
- Takemiyama Katsuaki (1959.05 - 1960.07)
- Kitanofuji Katsuaki (1960.09 - 1968.01)
- Kitanofuji Hiroyuki (1968.03 - 1968.03)
- Kitanofuji Katsuaki (1968.05 - 1974.07)
Gallery[]
