Kokonoe Stable

Kokonoe stable (九重部屋, Kokonoe beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Takasago ichimon or group of stables. It was founded in 1967 by former yokozuna Chiyonoyama, who branched off from Dewanoumi stable. After Chiyonoyama died in 1977, Kitanofuji, who had already revived Izutsu stable, became the 11th Kokonoe-oyakata. In 1992, the year after Chiyonofuji retired from the ring, Kitanofuji handed over the stable to him. Chiyonofuji died in July 2016. Sanoyama-oyakata (the former Chiyotaikai) succeeded him as the Kokonoe stablemaster.

As of January 2023 it has 26 active sumo wrestlers.

History[]

Former yokozuna Chiyonoyama of Dewanoumi stable had wanted to succeed to the Dewanoumi name, but the then Dewanoumi stablemaster (former wrestler Dewanohana) had already decided to pass the name to former yokozuna Sadanoyama. Accordingly, in January 1967, he set up his own stable, taking with him, amongst others, then ōzeki Kitanofuji and attaching the new stable to the Takasago group of stables. Kitanofuji would go on to become the 52nd yokozuna.

After Chiyonoyama died in 1977, Kitanofuji, who had already revived Izutsu stable, became the 11th Kokonoe-oyakata. He raised Chiyonofuji, then a makuuchi wrestler, to the great yokozuna he became. Later he also saw Hokutoumi become a yokozuna. Takanofuji and Fujinoshin also reached the top division.

Kokonoe stable took in three Hawaiians in 1982-1983, Gosetsu, Narushio, and Junyo. All three were gone by 1984.

In 1992, the year after Chiyonofuji retired from the ring, Kitanofuji handed over the stable to him. Chiyonofuji and Kitanofuji swapped names, Chiyonofuji becoming Kokonoe-oyakata and gaining control of the stable, whilst Kitanofuji became Jinmaku-oyakata, attached to Hakkaku stable, set up by the former Hokutoumi in 1993. In the early 1990s Kokonoe stable was one of the largest in sumo but had only one sekitori, Tomoefuji. Kokonoe eventually produced Chiyotenzan, briefly a komusubi in 1999, and long serving ōzeki Chiyotaikai (1999–2009), his most successful wrestler. Following the retirements of Chiyotaikai in January 2010 and Chiyohakuhō in April 2011, the stable had no sekitori for a short time, but Chiyonokuni reached jūryō in July 2011 and the top division in January 2012. Chiyotairyū followed afterwards and reached makuuchi in May 2012. By March 2014, Kokonoe stable was one of the most successful stables in sumo, with three men (Chiyotairyū, Chiyoōtori and Chiyomaru) in the top division and two (Chiyonokuni and Chiyono-ō) in jūryō. In January 2016 the stable moved up to six sekitori with the promotion of Chiyoshōma, their first foreign sekitori. After the promotion of Chiyoshoma, the stable moved to six sekitori the most of any stable. As of September 2020 it remains at six, now level with Kise and one behind new leader Oitekaze.

Chiyonofuji died in July 2016. Sanoyama-oyakata (the former Chiyotaikai) succeeded him as the Kokonoe stablemaster.

Ring Name Conventions[]

Traditionally many wrestlers at this stable, often on reaching the sandanme division, take ring names or shikona that begin with the characters 千代 (read: chiyo), meaning "a thousand generations", in deference to the founder, Chiyonoyama and also his later successor Chiyonofuji. As of March 2018, all wrestlers at the stable, including those in the bottom two divisions, have this prefix.