Hasegawa Katsutoshi
Sekiwake who won a championship and held the rank for 21 tournaments.
Hasegawa Katsutoshi was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Kurisawa, Hokkaido (now part of Iwamizawa city). He began his professional career in 1960 and reached the top division in 1965. Hasegawa won eight special prizes for his achievements in tournaments and earned nine gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He won a tournament championship or yūshō in 1972 and was a runner-up in two other tournaments. His highest rank was sekiwake. Hasegawa retired in 1976 and became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association, working as a coach at Sadogatake stable until his retirement in 2009.
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Katsutoshi Hasegawa
- Born
- 20 July 1944
- Birthplace
- Hokkaidō, Japan
- Died
- 31 May 2026
- Weight
- 127 kg / 280 lb
- Record
- 678-577-15
- Debut
- March 1960
- Prizes
- Outstanding Performance (3)
- Fighting Spirit (3)
- Technique(2)
Facts from the source article.
Career
Hasegawa began his professional sumo career in March 1960 at age 15, recruited by former sekiwake Kotonishiki. He fought under his own surname throughout his career, the only top division wrestler from Sadogatake stable not to adopt a shikona with the prefix "Koto." He reached the jūryō division in January 1963 and was promoted to makuuchi in January 1965. In September 1965 he defeated his first yokozuna, Tochinoumi, and earned his first special prize for Technique. He debuted at komusubi in November 1965. He was runner-up to yokozuna Taihō in May 1967. Hasegawa first reached sekiwake in January 1969 and held the rank for eight consecutive tournaments. He won the top division championship at sekiwake in March 1972, defeating Kaiketsu in a playoff, but the Sumo Association did not promote him to ōzeki because there were already four ōzeki performing at a mediocre level. After managing only eight wins in the following tournament, he never became ōzeki. He held sekiwake for 21 tournaments, a modern-era record that stood until Kotomitsuki broke it in 2007. His final sekiwake appearance was in January 1974. After that tournament he changed the second part of his shikona from Katsutoshi to Katsuhiro, but his luck did not improve and he remained mostly at maegashira.
Retirement and death
Hasegawa retired in May 1976 and stayed in sumo as an elder under the name Hidenoyama Oyakata. Until 2008 he served as a Director of the Japan Sumo Association, overseeing the Nagoya honbasho, and later worked at Special Executive level. Rather than leading a stable, he coached at Sadogatake stable under former yokozuna Kotozakura and later under former sekiwake Kotonowaka. He reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 in July 2009. The Japan Sumo Association announced on 8 June 2026 that he had died of pancreatic cancer on 31 May at age 81.
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