Kotoyutaka Naoki

Kotoyutaka Naoki - 琴禮巨樹 (born June 17, 1981) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Chikujo, Fukuoka. He made his debut in March 1997 and wrestled for Sadogatake stable. He reached the juryo division in July 2009. His highest rank was juryo 5 and he retired in May 2013.

Early Life[]

Naoki Shiiba's father was a self-defense official (自衛官) and because of that Naoki Shiiba was born in the Japan Self-Defense Forces Naha Hospital in Naha, Okinawa. He was a member of the judo club at Chikujo Choritsu Shiida Junior High School and in his third year he won second place in the Fukuoka Prefectural Tournament. The previous year, Shiiba was in Beppu, Oita Prefecture, and visited Sadogatake stable which was in the middle of their jungyo (regional tours). Sadogatake Oyakata (former 53rd yokozuna Kotozakura) was impressed by Shiiba's performance and offered to recruited him. After graduating junior high school, Shiiba accepted the offer and joined Sadogatake stable.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Shiiba made his professional debut in March 1997 under the shikona, or ring name, of "Kotoshiiba". He achieved a 5-2 record in his jonokuchi debut and was promoted to jonidan for the following tournament. Kotoshiiba made slow progress in jonidan and stayed in jonidan for three years before earning promotion to the sandanme division for the January 2000 tournament. Kotoshiiba also struggled in sandanme and wouldn't earn promotion to the makushita division two years later.

Kotoshiiba made his makushita debut in January 2002 and suffered a disastrous 1-6 record. Kotoshiiba changed his shikona to "Kotoyutaka" in the May 2005 tournament. Kotoyutaka would bounce back and forth between makushita and sandanme, and he wouldn't become a makushita mainstay until November 2005. He won all seven matches and took the makushita yusho at the rank of makushita 42 in the March 2006 tournament. This result significantly boosted Kotoyutaka's rank and he was promoted to makushita 4 for the May 2006 tournament. Even though Kotoyutaka was promoted to the top of makushita, this proved to be short-lived and he fell back down to sandanme for the July 2007 tournament. After his demotion to sandanme, Kotoyutaka produced five straight kachi-koshi, or winning records, and was promoted to makushita 3 for the May 2008 tournament. Kotyutaka suffered a 2-5 record in this tournament, but this time remained in the upper levels of makushita and after posting a 4-3 in the May 2009 tournament, he earned promotion to the juryo division for the July 2009 tournament.

Juryo Career[]

In Kotoyutaka's juryo debut he wrestled solidly for most of the days, however he lost his last match and finished with a 7-8 record. Normally a sumo wrestler wouldn't suffer a drastic fall from this record, but since Kotoyutaka was ranked at the bottom of juryo, this record resulted in a demotion back to the unsalaried division fo makushita.

Kotoyutaka only stayed in makushita for one tournament and was immediately promoted back to juryo for the November 2009 tournament. Kotoyutaka struggled much more in this tournament and finished with a 4-11 record. He was demoted back down to makushita and would remain in makushita for the following two years.

In July 2013, Kotoyutaka was ranked at the top of makushita and finished with a 5-2 record. This secured a promotion back to juryo for the September 2012 tournament. He produced a solid 9-6 record and was promoted to juryo 5 for the following tournament. On the eighth day, Kotoyutaka injured his left ankle in a match against Kyokushuho and pulled out of the tournament on the ninth day. He would return on the 14th day and finished with a 4-7-4 record. Due to his injury in the past tournament, Kotoyutaka finished with a disastrous 2-13 record in the following tournament and as a result was demoted from juryo to makushita.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Upon demotion from juryo, Kotoyutaka suffered another losing record and was demoted even further down the rankings for the May 2019 tournament. He pulled out of the tournament and on the 14th day, Kotoyutaka announced his retirement. His danpastu-shiki, or hair-cutting ceremony, was held in the Ryogoku Kokugikan on August 31st, 2019, and 220 guest took turns cutting his hair, including yokozuna Hakuho.

After his retirement, he worked at a restaurant in Osaka. As of 2020, Kotoyutaka owns two Luke's Lobster restaurants. One in Shinsaibashi (a shopping district in Osaka) and one in Kobe. His restaurant is popular with sumo wrestlers and on his social media, Kotoyutaka likes to post pictures of his ex-stablemates and friends eating a lobster roll.

Personal Life[]

Kotoyutaka served as a bow-twirler for a brief period of time in 2006.

In the November 2012 tournament, Kotoyutaka returned from absence on the 14th day and immediately received a win by default as sumo wrestler Masakaze pulled out of the tournament. This was the first time this was seen since May 2003.

Fighting Style[]

Kotoyutaka is a yotsu–sumo wrestler who prefers a hidari–yotsu, or right hand outside and left hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite are the two most popular techniques in sumo, yorikiri or force out, and oshidashi or push out.