Oshio Kenji

Oshio Kenji - 大潮憲司 (born January 4, 1948 - June 1, 2024) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kitakyushu, Fukuoka. He made his debut in January 1962 and wrestled for Tokitsukaze stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 1971 and has 2 special prize as well as 3 kinboshi. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in January 1988.

Early Life[]

Hatano was born Yahata, Fukuoka (currently Yahata Higashi ward in the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka prefecture). His parents divorced when he was young, so he was raised in a boarding house. By his second year of junior high school, he already stood at 1.82 m (5 ft 11.5 in) and weighed 75 kg (165 Ib). He participated mainly in basketball, but one day he unexpectedly won a sumo tournament which earned him an offer from Tokitsukaze stable.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his professional debut in January 1962 at the age of just 14, joining Tokitsukaze stable. During his first year he also attended Ryogoku Junior High school to complete his compulsory education. His first stablemaster was the former yokozuna Futabayama. He was promoted to sandanme in March 1963 and makushita in March 1965. He initially fought under his own surname, Hatano, before adopting the shikona of Oshio in 1969. In September 1969, he produced a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 1 and was promoted to juryo in the following November 1969 tournament.

Juryo Career[]

Oshio was able to establish himself as a sekitori as he finished with a 9-6 record in his first tournament in juryo. In May 1971, he won the juryo yusho with an 11-4 record after defeating Ryuo in a playoff. He was promoted to the top of juryo in the following tournament where he produced a 9-6 record to earn a promotion to makuuchi.

Makuuchi Career[]

68e7eb55e850ccf6f2d44992e9ac2e76658d7e8f — Oshio after winning a match

He made his makuuchi debut in September 1971. He reached his top rank of komusubi in January 1978, but held it for only one tournament. In the May 1978 tournament he defeated Wajima on the opening day, his first ever victory over a yokozuna. He was to earn two more kinboshi in September 1982 and January 1983, at the age of 35. He also earned two special prizes, for Technique and Fighting Spirit.

During his extraordinarily long career, Oshio was ranked in makuuchi for 51 tournaments and 55 tournaments in jūryō, for a total of 106 ranked as an elite sekitori wrestler, a record that stood until 2002 when it was broken by Terao. His total of juryo tournaments is a record he shares with Hachiya. He also holds the "elevator" record for winning promotion to makuuchi from juryo a total of 13 times, The longest he was able to stay in the top division consecutively was 18 tournaments between January 1981 and November 1983.

He fell from makuuchi for the last time in May 1984, and announced his retirement in January 1988 at the age of forty after falling into the non-salaried makushita division. He had competed in 157 tournaments, and had fought a total of 1891 career bouts, the latter of which is an all-time record. His total of 964 career wins was also a record at the time, although it was surpassed by Chiyonofuji less than two years later, in September 1989.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Sp-rikishi-a-20200317 — Shikihide Oyakata (c. 2012)

Oshio remained in the sumo world as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and set up Shikihide stable in May 1992. He did not produce a sekitori until 2012, when his top wrestler Sensho of Mongolia finally won promotion to juryo in the January tournament after eleven years in sumo. The nineteen years and nine months Shikihide stable took to produce a sekitori is the longest by a newly established stable since World War II. (Sensho also took longer to reach the sekitori ranks than any other foreign recruit since WWII.) He stood down as the head of the stable in December 2012 as he was shortly to reach the mandatory retirement age of 65, and passed over control to the former maegashira Kitazakura. Unusually, Kitazakura belongs to a different ichimon, Dewanoumi, but there was a personal connection as Oshio was a close friend of Kitazakura′s father.

His son Koichi was born in 1984 and joined Shikihide stable in 1999, fighting under the name of Tamahikari. He reached a highest rank of sandanme 87 before retiring in 2011 after 12 years in sumo.

Death[]

On 1 June 2024 the Japan Sumo Association announced that Oshio had died at the age of 76, having become ill in late May. He was 76 years old.

Fighting Style[]

Oshio's preferred grip on his opponent's mawashi was hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most commonly used kimarite at sekitori level was yorikiri, a straightforward force out, which was used in around 30 percent of his victories. He also won frequently with oshidashi (push out), yoritaoshi (force out and down) and uwatenage (overarm throw).