| Taihō Kōki | |
|---|---|
| 大鵬 幸喜 | |
 Taihō, May 1961 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Kōki Naya (1940-05-29)May 29, 1940 Shisuka,Karafuto,Empire of Japan |
| Died | January 19, 2013(2013-01-19) (aged 72) Shinjuku,Tokyo, Japan |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft1+1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 153 kg (337 lb; 24.1 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Nishonoseki |
| Record | 872-181-136 |
| Debut | September 1956 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (September 1961) |
| Retired | May 1971 |
| Elder name | Taihō |
| Championships | 32 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Sandanme) |
| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (2) Technique (1) |
| Gold Stars | 1 (Asashio III) |
Last updated: June 2020 | |
Taihō Kōki (Japanese:大鵬 幸喜; bornKōki Naya (納谷 幸喜,Naya Kōki),Ukrainian:Іва́н Маркіянович Бори́шко,Ivan Markiyanovych Boryshko; May 29, 1940 – January 19, 2013) was a Japanese professionalsumo wrestler. He became the 48thyokozuna in 1961 at the age of 21, the youngest ever at the time.
Taihō won 32 tournament championships between 1960 and 1971, a record that was unequalled until 2014. His dominance was such that he won six tournaments in a row on two occasions, and he won 45 consecutive matches between 1968 and 1969, which at the time was the best winning streak sinceFutabayama in the 1930s. He is the only wrestler to win at least one championship every year of his top division career.[1]
He was a popular grand champion, especially amongst women and children.[2] After retiring from active competition, he became a sumo coach, although health problems meant he had limited success.
When Taihō died in January 2013, he was widely cited as the greatest sumo wrestler of the post-war period.[3][4][5]
Taihō's birth name was Ivan Boryshko.[6] He was born on the island ofSakhalin (Karafuto Prefecture) to a Japanese mother Kiyo Naya[7] and an ethnicUkrainian father Markiyan Boryshko[7] who was born in Runivshchyna in present-dayKrasnohrad Raion,Kharkiv Oblast[8] and had fled theBolshevik Revolution.[9][10][11][12] However, he is regarded as having come fromTeshikaga, Hokkaidō, where he moved to as a child after theSoviet Union took control of Sakhalin in 1945. While on a sumo tour to the Soviet Union in 1965 he tried to locate his father without success, though he later succeeded and was allowed to reunite with him.[2] Taihō was the first of three greatyokozuna who all hailed fromHokkaidō, the most northerly of the main islands of Japan and who among them dominated sumo during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The others wereKitanoumi andChiyonofuji.
He entered sumo in September 1956, joiningNishonoseki stable. He initially fought under his real name of Naya Kōki. Upon promotion to the secondjūryō division in May 1959 he was given theshikona (ring name) of "Taihō", meaning "Greatpeng" ("peng" is often translated to "phoenix"). Taihō rapidly rose through the ranks after his debut in the topmakuuchi division in January 1960. In his first tournament in the top division, he recorded eleven consecutive wins from day one, a record that took 64 years to be equalled byTakerufuji.[13] Because he scored twelve victories in total, he was a runner-up in his first top division tournament and was awarded theFighting Spirit prize. Atsekiwake rank in November 1960 he won the first of his former record 32 tournament championships and earned promotion toōzeki. Following two consecutive tournament victories (his second and third) he became ayokozuna in September 1961, less than two years after his top division debut. Because the island of Sakhalin is/was claimed as a Japanese territory, Taihō is not considered the first non-Japaneseyokozuna.
At the time of his promotion, Taihō was the youngest wrestler ever to have achieved sumo's highest rank ofyokozuna aged 21 years and three months, a record subsequently surpassed by Kitanoumi who was one month younger. In a fashion which is considered to be exceptional for a newly promoted yokozuna he also managed to win his first tournament subsequent to his promotion. He was promoted simultaneously withKashiwado, and their rivalry created what became known as theHakuhō era.[14] Although Kashiwado was to win only five tournament championships, Taihō was to remark, "There was Taihō because there was Kashiwado. There was Kashiwado because there was Taihō."[15] Outside of competition they had a genuine friendship, which continued until Kashiwado's death in 1996.[16]
Taihō outperformed Kashiwado very quickly, and during his tenure in sumo's highest rank he was dominant, especially in the early part of his career. Until 2005—when the 68thyokozunaAsashōryū bettered his record—he was the only post-waryokozuna to have achieved six tournament victories consecutively, a feat he managed on two separate occasions. Eight of Taihō's championships were achieved with a perfect record of 15 wins and no losses (zenshō-yūshō), a record that stood until 2013 when it was broken byHakuhō. He came back from withdrawing from or missing five straight tournaments to win the championship in September 1968 with a 14–1 record and embarked on a 45 bout winning streak.[17] It was broken in March 1969 only after an incorrect decision by thejudges, which caused such a furor that video replays were introduced after the incident.[18]
His final championship came in January 1971 after a playoff withTamanoumi, maintaining his record of winning at least one championship every year of his top division career. He had a good score of 12–3 in the following tournament; however, he announced his retirement five days into the May 1971 tournament after losing to the promising young wrestlerTakanohana for the second time.[2] He had been ayokozuna for nearly ten years. His career win ratio was in excess of 80%, which is also a post-war record. He became the first formerrikishi to be offered (and accept) membership of theJapan Sumo Association without having to purchase a share (ichidai toshiyori), in recognition of his great achievements.[19]
Taihō branched off from his oldheya and openedTaihō stable in December 1971. In February 1977, at the age of 36, he suffered astroke, and his subsequent health problems may have played a part in him being passed over for the chairmanship of the Sumo Association.[3] He had extensive rehabilitation sessions to get the left side of his body moving again.[15] In general he did not manage to replicate his own wrestling success as a trainer, but he did produceŌzutsu, asekiwake who fought in 78 consecutive top division tournaments from 1979 to 1992. He had hiskanreki dohyō-iri ceremony to mark his 60th birthday in 2000, although his restricted mobility meant he could not perform it in full. In fact, suffering from a stroke at the age of 36, he was originally scheduled not to perform the ceremony at all, but only to pose for a commemorative photo with histsuna tied behind him. However, he was able to complete his Unryūring-entering style by tightly pinching the skin of his stomach with the fingers of his left hand so that his left arm, which was not free to move, would not slump down.[20] In May 2002 Taihō recruited the Russian wrestlerRohō. He handed over control of his stable to his son-in-law, ex-sekiwakeTakatōriki, in February 2003.
Taihō reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 in May 2005 and became the curator of the Sumo Museum at theRyōgoku Kokugikan.[21] He still maintained close contact with his old stable, invitingyokozuna Hakuhō to train there in May 2008.[22][23]
Taihō was awarded theMedal with Purple Ribbon by the Japanese government in 2004.[24] In November 2009, he was one of 15 people to receive thePerson of Cultural Merit award from the Japanese government, becoming the first sumo wrestler to be so honoured.[25]
After suffering a stroke at 36 in 1977, Taihō used a wheelchair in the last stage of his life.[12][26] He died ofheart failure in a Tokyo hospital on January 19, 2013, at the age of 72.[27] His death was announced by the Japan Sumo Association.[28][29] In its obituary,Nikkan Sports named him "the strongest yokozuna in history."[26][30] In February 2013, he posthumously became the second sumo wrestler to be commended with thePeople's Honour Award, withYoshihide Suga calling him a "national hero."[31] After winning the March 2013 championship, Hakuhō urged the crowd to get to their feet and honour Taihō's memory with a moment of silence.[32] He said that Taihō gave him regular advice, and told him that records are meant to be broken.[32] Hakuhō would indeed surpass Taihō's all-time championship record by winning his 33rdyushō in January 2015, two years after Taihō's death.
Taihō was noted for his skill and power when he grabbed his opponents'mawashi or belt–techniques known asyotsu-sumo.[2] His preferred grip washidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most common winning move wasyori-kiri, a straightforward force out, which accounted for about 30 percent of his wins.[33] His most frequently used throws weresukuinage (the beltless scoop throw) anduwatenage (the overarm throw).
He was particularly diligent about training, and was known to invite every new member of the top division to train with him.
He married in 1966 at the height of his fame (coincidentally, the final day of the May Tournament that year, which he won, was also his 26th birthday), to the daughter of aryokan proprietor. Their lavish reception at theImperial Hotel was attended by 1000 guests and over 200 reporters. He was the first to hold a press conference afterwards, now a common occurrence with sumo marriages.[34]
Taihō's youngest daughter married the formersekiwakeTakatoriki, who took over the running of Taihō stable (renamedŌtake stable) after Taihō's retirement. When Ōtake was dismissed from sumo after a gambling scandal, he divorced Taihō's daughter. Taihō's grandsonKonosuke Naya (born 2000) joined Ōtake stable as a professional sumo wrestler in January 2018, initially fighting under theshikona Naya before switching to Ōhō. He was followed into sumo by his brothers Kosei in November 2019, with theshikonaMudōhō [ja]; and Takamori in March 2020, initially with theshikona Hozan before switching toNaya [ja]. Taihō's fourth and eldest grandson,Yukio Naya (born 1994), is aprofessional wrestler.
| Year | January Hatsu basho,Tokyo | March Haru basho,Osaka | May Natsu basho,Tokyo | July Nagoya basho,Nagoya | September Aki basho,Tokyo | November Kyūshū basho,Fukuoka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | x | x | x | x | (Maezumo) | Not held |
| 1957 | West Jonokuchi #23 7–1 | East Jonidan #83 6–2 | West Jonidan #29 7–1 | Not held | West Sandanme #71 7–1 | East Sandanme #37 6–2 |
| 1958 | West Sandanme #20 6–2 | East Sandanme #1 8–0–P Champion | West Makushita #31 7–1–P | East Makushita #9 7–1 | West Makushita #2 3–5 | East Makushita #7 6–2 |
| 1959 | East Makushita #4 6–2 | East Makushita #1 6–2 | West Jūryō #20 9–6 | East Jūryō #16 9–6 | East Jūryō #10 13–2 | East Jūryō #3 13–2 Champion |
| 1960 | West Maegashira #13 12–3 F | East Maegashira #4 7–8 | East Maegashira #6 11–4 F★ | West Komusubi #1 11–4 | West Sekiwake #1 12–3 T | East Sekiwake #1 13–2 |
| 1961 | East Ōzeki #2 10–5 | West Ōzeki #2 12–3 | West Ōzeki #1 11–4 | East Ōzeki #1 13–2 | East Ōzeki #1 12–3–PP | West Yokozuna #1 13–2 |
| 1962 | East Yokozuna #1 13–2 | East Yokozuna #1 13–2–P | East Yokozuna #1 11–4 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 13–2–P | East Yokozuna #1 13–2 |
| 1963 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 15–0 | East Yokozuna #1 12–3 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 | West Yokozuna #1 12–3 |
| 1964 | East Yokozuna #1 15–0 | East Yokozuna #1 15–0 | East Yokozuna #1 10–5 | East Yokozuna #2 1–4–10 | West Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 |
| 1965 | East Yokozuna #1 11–4 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 9–6 | West Yokozuna #1 13–2 | East Yokozuna #1 11–4 | East Yokozuna #2 13–2 |
| 1966 | East Yokozuna #1 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 | East Yokozuna #2 13–2 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 13–2–P | East Yokozuna #1 15–0 |
| 1967 | East Yokozuna #1 15–0 | East Yokozuna #1 13–2 | East Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 2–1–12 | East Yokozuna #2 15–0 | East Yokozuna #1 11–2–2 |
| 1968 | East Yokozuna #1 1–3–11 | East Yokozuna #2 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 | West Yokozuna #1 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 | West Yokozuna #1 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 | West Yokozuna #1 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 15–0 |
| 1969 | East Yokozuna #1 15–0 | East Yokozuna #1 3–2–10 | West Yokozuna #1 13–2 | East Yokozuna #1 11–4 | East Yokozuna #1 11–4 | East Yokozuna #1 6–4–5 |
| 1970 | East Yokozuna #1 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 | East Yokozuna #2 14–1 | East Yokozuna #1 12–3 | West Yokozuna #1 2–2–11 | East Yokozuna #2 12–3 | West Yokozuna #1 14–1–P |
| 1971 | West Yokozuna #1 14–1–P | West Yokozuna #1 12–3 | West Yokozuna #1 Retired 3–3 | x | x | x |
| Record given aswins–losses–absences Top division champion Top division runner-up Retired Lower divisions Non-participation Sanshō key:F=Fighting spirit;O=Outstanding performance;T=Technique Also shown:★=Kinboshi;P=Playoff(s) | ||||||
| Preceded by | 48thYokozuna 1961–1971 | Succeeded by | ||
| Yokozuna is not a successive rank, and more than one wrestler can hold the title at once | ||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
