Kitaoji Oto - 北欧司 音 (born November 28, 1984) is a former Estonian professional sumo wrestler from Pärnu County. He made his debut in May 2004 and last wrestled for Irumagawa stable. His highest rank was jonidan 114 and he retired in September 2004.
Early Life[]
Ott Juurikas was born in Pärnu County and participated in amateur sumo tournaments prior to his professional career. Because of this, an official from the Kagoshima Prefecture Sumo Association, Kazuo Kurazono, encouraged him to join the professional sport. Due to the restrictions on foreigners entering sumo, the only stable with a place available was Irumagawa. He came to Japan with a friend from Estonia, Kaido Höövelson, who entered Mihogaseki stable and fought under the name of Baruto. He and Baruto trained at the Nihon University sumo club for around two and a half months, prior to their sumo debuts.
Career[]
He made his debut in May 2004 and was given the shikona "Kitaoji" (北欧司). In his first professional tournament won five of his seven matches where both of his losses came from Baruto and the Brazilian Takaazuma. Nonetheless, he was promoted to the rank of jonidan 114 for the following tournament.
Retirement from Sumo[]
Even though Kitaoji was predicted to be as good as his Estonian counterpart, he could not adapt to Japanese lifestyle and felt homesick on many occasions. "He just couldn't get accustomed to this life. He is well built and all, and we were truly anticipating a great future for him. This is very regretful", said Irumagawa Oyakata. After the July 2004 tournament, Kitaoji announced his intention to retire and left Japan. His retirement was officially listed before the September 2004 tournament.
Upon retirement, he returned to Estonia where he competed in many amateur sumo tournaments. According to his Facebook, he currently resides in Godby, Åland, and works at a construction company called Arilo oü.
Fighting Style[]
Kitaoji was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. He won matches using the oshi-sumo techniques of oshidashi (push out) and tsukidashi (thrust out). He also won matches using yotsu-sumo techniques, such as yorikiri (force out), yoritaoshi (frontal crush out) and uwatenage (overarm throw).
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 5-2-7/7 (3 basho)
- Jonidan: 0-0-7/0 (1 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 5-2/7 (1 basho)
Shikona History[]
- Kitaoji Oto (2004.05 - 2004.09)
Gallery[]
