Konishiki Yasokichi
Encyclopedia
----
, is a Hawaii
an-born Japanese–Samoa
n former sumo
wrestler. He was the first foreign-born wrestler to reach ozeki, the second highest rank in the sport. During his career he won the top division championship on three occasions and came close to becoming the first foreign-born grand champion, or yokozuna, prompting a debate as to whether a foreigner could have the necessary cultural understanding to be acceptable in sumo's ultimate rank. At a peak weight of 287 kg (632.7 lb) he was also the heaviest rikishi ever in sumo, earning him the nickname "The Dump Truck."
. A promising student at the University High School
in Honolulu, he initially wanted to be a lawyer and was also offered a music scholarship to Syracuse University
. His father had regular work with the US Navy but had to support eight children. Atisano'e regarded Takamiyama as a local hero and found the opportunity to join sumo too hard to resist.
Due to his potential he was given the name Konishiki, after the 17th Yokozuna, Konishiki Yasokichi I
(see List of Yokozuna) who came from the same training stable at the end of the 19th Century (during the Meiji period
in Japan) and Konishiki Yasokichi II (a komusubi in the beginning of the 20th Century). Atisano'e was the sixth "Konishiki" in history, though he was the third to reach the top division. Konishiki rose to the privileged sekitori
ranks in just eight tournaments, a remarkably rapid rise.
He made his debut in the top makuuchi
division in July 1984, and in the following tournament in September he defeated two yokozuna, Chiyonofuji
and Takanosato
, and was runner-up with a 12–3 record. He was promoted to komusubi for the first time in May 1985 and sekiwake in July 1985. However, he suffered an injury to his coccyx
(caused by a stool collapsing underneath him) and had to sit out all the next tournament. In May 1986 he suffered another injury, this time in competition, during a bout with Futahaguro. Konishiki came back strongly from this setback and three consecutive double figure scores in 1987 earned him promotion to ozeki.
had predicted Konishiki would reach the top rank by his 25th birthday. However, his continuous desire to increase in weight caused a strain on his knees, due to high school football injuries, which badly affected his performances. After a string of mediocre 8–7 scores he turned in a disastrous 3–12 in September 1988. His problems continued in 1989 and a 5–10 mark in September left him in danger of demotion from ozeki once again. He made a spectacular comeback in November 1989, taking his first tournament championship with a 14–1 record. He was the first foreigner to win a top division title since Takamiyama in 1972. In March 1990 he took part in a three-way playoff for the title but he was outshone by Asahifuji, who earned promotion to yokozuna in July. In May 1991 Konishiki won 14 consecutive bouts but was beaten in a playoff on the final day by Asahifuji.
subsequently quoted Konishiki as saying, "If I were Japanese, I would be yokozuna already." The Japan Sumo Association
demanded an apology. Konishiki held a press conference in which he tearfully denied making the remarks, but the damage had been done. The media furor hampered his preparations for the forthcoming tournament which resulted in a mediocre 9–6 record. Konishiki never came close to promotion again.
Konishiki retained his ozeki ranking for 39 tournaments over more than six years, but he eventually lost it in November 1993 after two consecutive losing records. However, he continued to compete in the top division as a maegashira for another four years. His weight continued to increase and he became susceptible to belt throws and slap downs by lighter and more agile opponents. Ironically, even though he enjoyed less success, he became progressively more popular with Japanese fans due to his fighting spirit, distinctive bulk, and amiable personality. In November 1997, he faced demotion to the second jūryō division and announced his retirement after 15 years in sumo. He had spent 81 consecutive tournaments in the top division and won 649 bouts there.
such as oshi-dashi and tsuki-dashi that would win the bout as quickly as possible. Following his knee problems in 1988 and 1989, his balance suffered and as his weight continued to increase he began to change his style, preferring to bide his time by grabbing the opponent's mawashi
and rely on his huge weight advantage to wear them out. By 1992 he was winning virtually all his matches by yori-kiri (force out), and his lack of ability to change tack once he had been sidestepped was one of the concerns raised by the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee when he was up for promotion.
ese entertainer under the name "KONISHIKI" (the capitalization is an effort to reflect the association's requirement to write his name in the Roman alphabet, after prohibition of spelling it out in Japanese characters after his retirement from sumo).
In 2000 Shinichi Watanabe
, director of Excel Saga
and Puni Puni Poemy
, created an anime series called Dotto! Koni-chan
, in which Koni, the protagonist, is a fat kid who strongly resembles KONISHIKI. The series pays homage to KONISHIKI, who is well-loved by many Japanese people.
In January 2004 he married his girlfriend of two years, former medical worker Chie Iijima. He had previously married former model Sumika Shioda in 1992, but they divorced amicably in December 2000.
In 2006, he played in the film "Check It Out, Yo" Chekeraccho!! and also made a short cameo appearance in the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
.
In 2006, his image was erroneously used as Akebono
's in that year's Guinness Book of World Records in which his Hawaiian compatriot was recognized for being the heaviest Yokozuna in history.
Until March 2007, he was the host of an NHK
children's program called Nihongo de Asobo (にほんごであそぼ) which teaches children traditional and colloquial Japanese
. He was replaced by Sanyō Kanda and for the next year had a minor role on the show; mostly clips from older episodes or filmed from Hawaii
. He returned from his hiatus in April 2008.
Although he continued to DJ for his FM Yokohama
show Kony Island, he took a hiatus from Japanese celebrity
life for a year, returning to Hawaii to prepare for gastric bypass surgery. Although he did not have high blood pressure or any heart problems, he had not lost much weight since his retirement, and underwent the operation in February 2008. He announced on his website that the operation went smoothly and that he has since lost some 70 kg (154.3 lb). He returned to Japan in May 2008.
After sumo, he began to turn his talents to music, most notably with his collaboration with Rimi Natsukawa as well as L-Burna on the song 'Livin Like Kings'. He often sings and raps in a mixture of English
and Japanese
. Konishiki can also play the ukulele
.
In 2011 when the tragedy of Japan occurred, Konishiki put it on himself to go and feed many of the torn Japanese at numerous shelters. After visiting Hawaii several times this year, he is back in his homeland of Japan, refueled and re-amped to go and comfort more.
, is a Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
an-born Japanese–Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
n former sumo
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestler. He was the first foreign-born wrestler to reach ozeki, the second highest rank in the sport. During his career he won the top division championship on three occasions and came close to becoming the first foreign-born grand champion, or yokozuna, prompting a debate as to whether a foreigner could have the necessary cultural understanding to be acceptable in sumo's ultimate rank. At a peak weight of 287 kg (632.7 lb) he was also the heaviest rikishi ever in sumo, earning him the nickname "The Dump Truck."
Early career
Atisano'e entered sumo in July 1982 at the age of 18, recruited by another Hawaiian born wrestler, Takamiyama of the Takasago stableTakasago stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables.It is correctly written in Japanese as "髙砂部屋", but the first of these kanji is rare, and is more commonly written as "高砂部屋"....
. A promising student at the University High School
Education Laboratory School
Education Laboratory School is a charter school in Honolulu, Hawai‘i serving grades K-12. Prior to 2002, the school was known as the University Laboratory School or University High School when it was a part of the College of Education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa...
in Honolulu, he initially wanted to be a lawyer and was also offered a music scholarship to Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
. His father had regular work with the US Navy but had to support eight children. Atisano'e regarded Takamiyama as a local hero and found the opportunity to join sumo too hard to resist.
Due to his potential he was given the name Konishiki, after the 17th Yokozuna, Konishiki Yasokichi I
Konishiki Yasokichi I
Konishiki Yasokichi I was a sumo wrestler from Sanbu District, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He was the sport's 17th Yokozuna.-Career:...
(see List of Yokozuna) who came from the same training stable at the end of the 19th Century (during the Meiji period
Meiji period
The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...
in Japan) and Konishiki Yasokichi II (a komusubi in the beginning of the 20th Century). Atisano'e was the sixth "Konishiki" in history, though he was the third to reach the top division. Konishiki rose to the privileged sekitori
Sekitori
A sekitori is a sumo wrestler who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: makuuchi and juryo.Currently there are 70 rikishi in these divisions...
ranks in just eight tournaments, a remarkably rapid rise.
He made his debut in the top makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
division in July 1984, and in the following tournament in September he defeated two yokozuna, Chiyonofuji
Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
, born June 1, 1955, as in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a former champion sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport. He is now the head coach of Kokonoe stable....
and Takanosato
Takanosato Toshihide
Takanosato Toshihide was a sumo wrestler from Namioka, Aomori, Japan. He was the sport's 59th Yokozuna from 1983 to 1986 and won four top division tournament championships...
, and was runner-up with a 12–3 record. He was promoted to komusubi for the first time in May 1985 and sekiwake in July 1985. However, he suffered an injury to his coccyx
Coccyx
The coccyx , commonly referred to as the tailbone, is the final segment of the vertebral column. Comprising three to five separate or fused vertebrae below the sacrum, it is attached to the sacrum by a fibrocartilaginous joint, the sacrococcygeal symphysis, which permits limited movement between...
(caused by a stool collapsing underneath him) and had to sit out all the next tournament. In May 1986 he suffered another injury, this time in competition, during a bout with Futahaguro. Konishiki came back strongly from this setback and three consecutive double figure scores in 1987 earned him promotion to ozeki.
Ozeki
Many people expected Konishiki to quickly make his push for yokozuna promotion. His stablemaster, the 46th yokozuna Asashio Tarō IIIAsashio Taro III
Asashio Tarō III was a sumo wrestler from Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. He was the sport's 46th Yokozuna. He was also a sumo coach and head of Takasago stable.-Career:...
had predicted Konishiki would reach the top rank by his 25th birthday. However, his continuous desire to increase in weight caused a strain on his knees, due to high school football injuries, which badly affected his performances. After a string of mediocre 8–7 scores he turned in a disastrous 3–12 in September 1988. His problems continued in 1989 and a 5–10 mark in September left him in danger of demotion from ozeki once again. He made a spectacular comeback in November 1989, taking his first tournament championship with a 14–1 record. He was the first foreigner to win a top division title since Takamiyama in 1972. In March 1990 he took part in a three-way playoff for the title but he was outshone by Asahifuji, who earned promotion to yokozuna in July. In May 1991 Konishiki won 14 consecutive bouts but was beaten in a playoff on the final day by Asahifuji.
Close to yokozuna
By late 1991 Konishiki was a strong yokozuna candidate. He had overcome his injuries and showed much more consistency. Yokozuna Chiyonofuji and Onokuni had both recently retired, and Asahifuji and Hokutoumi were struggling with illness and injury. Konishiki took advantage by winning two championships (his 2nd and 3rd overall) in November 1991 and March 1992, with a record in the last three tournaments of 38 wins and 7 losses. However, he was denied promotion to yokozuna, with the chairman of the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee, Hideo Ueda, announcing, "We wanted to make doubly sure that Konishiki is worthy to be a grand champion. Therefore, we decided to wait for another tournament." The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
subsequently quoted Konishiki as saying, "If I were Japanese, I would be yokozuna already." The Japan Sumo Association
Japan Sumo Association
The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Rikishi , gyōji , tokoyama , and yobidashi , are all on the Association's payroll, but the organisation is run...
demanded an apology. Konishiki held a press conference in which he tearfully denied making the remarks, but the damage had been done. The media furor hampered his preparations for the forthcoming tournament which resulted in a mediocre 9–6 record. Konishiki never came close to promotion again.
Later career
Fighting style
Early in his career, under the instruction of his first stablemaster, Konishiki was primarily oshi-sumo specialist, preferring pushing and thrusting techniquesKimarite
Kimarite are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament , a sumo referee, or gyoji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner...
such as oshi-dashi and tsuki-dashi that would win the bout as quickly as possible. Following his knee problems in 1988 and 1989, his balance suffered and as his weight continued to increase he began to change his style, preferring to bide his time by grabbing the opponent's mawashi
Mawashi
In sumo, a mawashi is the belt that the rikishi wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a keshō-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony or dohyo-iri.-Mawashi:...
and rely on his huge weight advantage to wear them out. By 1992 he was winning virtually all his matches by yori-kiri (force out), and his lack of ability to change tack once he had been sidestepped was one of the concerns raised by the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee when he was up for promotion.
Life after sumo
Konishiki remained in the Japan Sumo Association as an elder for a short time under the name of Sanoyama, before branching out as a JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese entertainer under the name "KONISHIKI" (the capitalization is an effort to reflect the association's requirement to write his name in the Roman alphabet, after prohibition of spelling it out in Japanese characters after his retirement from sumo).
In 2000 Shinichi Watanabe
Shinichi Watanabe
is a Japanese anime director and seiyu. He is best known for his over-the-top adaptation of Rikdo Koshi's Excel Saga, in which he appears as the character Nabeshin....
, director of Excel Saga
Excel Saga
is a manga series written and illustrated by Rikdo Koshi. It has been serialized in Young King OURs since 1996, with individual chapters collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Shōnen Gahosha. The series follows the attempts of Across, a "secret ideological organization", to conquer the city...
and Puni Puni Poemy
Puni Puni Poemy
is a two-part original video animation spin-off from the Excel Saga manga and TV animation. It features some of that series' secondary characters and many of its staff, primarily director Shinichi Watanabe...
, created an anime series called Dotto! Koni-chan
Dotto! Koni-chan
is a Japanese anime television series, which premiered in Japan on Animax between November 26, 2000 and May 29, 2001. It was animated by Shaft and produced by Animax and Genco. It had a wide fan base in Latin America, especially in México, Chile, Colombia and Argentina.-External links:*...
, in which Koni, the protagonist, is a fat kid who strongly resembles KONISHIKI. The series pays homage to KONISHIKI, who is well-loved by many Japanese people.
In January 2004 he married his girlfriend of two years, former medical worker Chie Iijima. He had previously married former model Sumika Shioda in 1992, but they divorced amicably in December 2000.
In 2006, he played in the film "Check It Out, Yo" Chekeraccho!! and also made a short cameo appearance in the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology...
.
In 2006, his image was erroneously used as Akebono
Akebono
means dawn or daybreak in Japanese. It may also refer to:Ships* Japanese destroyer Akebono , a Fubuki class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II...
's in that year's Guinness Book of World Records in which his Hawaiian compatriot was recognized for being the heaviest Yokozuna in history.
Until March 2007, he was the host of an NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
children's program called Nihongo de Asobo (にほんごであそぼ) which teaches children traditional and colloquial Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. He was replaced by Sanyō Kanda and for the next year had a minor role on the show; mostly clips from older episodes or filmed from Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. He returned from his hiatus in April 2008.
Although he continued to DJ for his FM Yokohama
FM Yokohama
FM Yokohama 84.7 is a radio station based in Yokohama, Japan owned by the Yokohama FM Broadcasting Company, a joint venture of Nippon Broadcasting System, Kanagawa Prefectural Government and Bank of Yokohama. This station was featured in the Xbox game Project Gotham Racing 2....
show Kony Island, he took a hiatus from Japanese celebrity
Tarento
is a Japanese rendering of the English word "talent" and is used as a catch-all term for mass media personalities who regularly appear on television. Detractors of the phenomenon have referred to it in an English sense as "famous just for being famous" because many that fall into this career line...
life for a year, returning to Hawaii to prepare for gastric bypass surgery. Although he did not have high blood pressure or any heart problems, he had not lost much weight since his retirement, and underwent the operation in February 2008. He announced on his website that the operation went smoothly and that he has since lost some 70 kg (154.3 lb). He returned to Japan in May 2008.
After sumo, he began to turn his talents to music, most notably with his collaboration with Rimi Natsukawa as well as L-Burna on the song 'Livin Like Kings'. He often sings and raps in a mixture of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. Konishiki can also play the ukulele
Ukulele
The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....
.
In 2011 when the tragedy of Japan occurred, Konishiki put it on himself to go and feed many of the torn Japanese at numerous shelters. After visiting Hawaii several times this year, he is back in his homeland of Japan, refueled and re-amped to go and comfort more.
Top division record
See also
- Glossary of sumo termsGlossary of sumo termsThe following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. azukari : Hold. A kind of draw. After a mono-ii, the gyōji or the shimpan "holds" the result if it was too close to call...
- List of sumo tournament winners
- List of sumo tournament second division winners
- List of past sumo wrestlers