Kotogaume Tsuyoshi

Did You Know?

• He served as a tsukebito to ozeki Kotokaze early in his career.
• He was the last man to defeat Chiyonofuji before Chiyonofuji's 53-bout winning streak, in May 1988.

Career

Before turning to sumo, Kotogaume earned a first-degree black belt in judo. He joined the professional ranks in March 1979 right after junior high, competing first under his family name Kitayama before adopting the ring name Kotogaume. As a young wrestler, he worked as a personal attendant to ozeki Kotokaze. Kotogaume climbed into the sanyaku elite ranks for the first time in November 1985, the very tournament where Kotokaze retired. He reached sekiwake, his highest career rank, in September 1986. A push for ozeki came in 1989 after back-to-back double-digit wins at sekiwake in July and September, but a mere eight victories in November ended that hope. Diabetes later took a toll, dropping him to the second-tier juryo division. His final top-division bout was in January 1995, and he retired in May 1997. As a maegashira, he earned two gold stars by beating yokozuna. At sekiwake in May 1988, he handed Chiyonofuji his last loss before a 53-bout winning streak. He collected seven special prizes overall. His best tournament finish was third place in January 1988, behind Asahifuji and Konishiki.

Retirement from sumo

Upon retiring, Kotogaume became an elder of the Sumo Association but lacked permanent toshiyori elder stock and borrowed from active wrestlers. He used the Shikoroyama name until 2002, then the Onaruto name, but left the Sumo Association in November 2007 when Buyuzan needed it. After leaving sumo, he opened a chankonabe restaurant in Tokyo named Kotogaume and worked as an assistant instructor at Shikoroyama stable.