Kitanoumi Toshimitsu
北の湖敏満
Kitanoumi in 2013
Personal information
Born	Toshimitsu Obata (1953-05-16)May 16, 1953 Sōbetsu,Hokkaido, Japan
Died	November 20, 2015(2015-11-20) (aged 62) Fukuoka,Japan
Height	1.79 m (5 ft10+1⁄2 in)
Weight	169 kg (373 lb; 26.6 st)
Career
Stable	Mihogaseki
Record	951-350-107
Debut	January 1967
Highest rank	Yokozuna (July 1974)
Retired	January 1985
Elder name	Kitanoumi
Championships	24 (Makuuchi)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (2) Fighting Spirit (1)
Gold Stars	1 (Kitanofuji)
* Up to date as of June 2020.

Kitanoumi Toshimitsu (Japanese:北の湖敏満, May 16, 1953 – November 20, 2015), bornToshimitsu Obata (小畑 敏満,Obata Toshimitsu), was a Japanese professionalsumo wrestler. He was the dominant wrestler in the sport during the 1970s. Kitanoumi was promoted toyokozuna at the age of 21, becoming the youngest ever to achieve sumo's top rank. He won 24 tournament championships during his career and was one of a series of truly greatyokozuna who came fromHokkaido, the largest and northernmost prefecture of Japan. At the time of his death he still held the records for most tournaments atyokozuna (63) and most bouts won as ayokozuna (670), but they have since been surpassed. Following his retirement in 1985 he established theKitanoumi stable. He was chairman of theJapan Sumo Association from 2002 until 2008, and again from 2012 until his death.

Born inSōbetsu,Hokkaido, Kitanoumi began his professional sumo career in January 1967 at the age of 13, whilst still in middle school. He joinedMihogaseki stable, and was promoted to sumo's second highestjūryō division in May 1971 and the topmakuuchi division a year later.^[1] He won his first top divisionyūshō or tournament championship in January 1974 and was promoted toōzeki immediately afterwards. He secured promotion toyokozuna just three tournaments after that. At 21 years 2 months, he was the youngest everyokozuna,^[2] beating the previous record held byTaihō by one month.

Kitanoumi was the most successful wrestler in sumo for the rest of the 1970s. His dominance, and perceived stern demeanor, meant that he was not that popular with the general public.^[3] When he was defeated by underdogTakanohana in a playoff for the championship in September 1975, the audience threw so manyzabuton—or cushions—into the ring in delight, that Kitanoumi said he could "hardly see the ceiling".^[4] He was known for not offering a defeated opponent a hand to get back to their feet,^[5] and was also notoriously monosyllabic when being interviewed by reporters.^[6] His best year was 1978, when he won five of the six tournaments and won 82 out of a possible 90 bouts, a record that stood until 2005.^[7] His chief rival during these years wasWajima,^[8] but Kitanoumi was much more consistent. He was heavy at 169 kg, was extremely strong and had excellent balance. He was also remarkably injury free and rarely missed a tournament. From July 1973 until September 1981 he chalked up 50 consecutivekachi-koshi, or tournament records of at least eight wins out of 15, which was a record for the top division^[7] until 2015, whenHakuhō reached 51 consecutivekachi-koshi.

By the beginning of the 1980s he had a new rival,Chiyonofuji, who earned promotion toōzeki and thenyokozuna by defeating him in decisive matches in January and July 1981. In November 1981 Kitanoumi withdrew from a tournament for the first time. After that his record was patchy, with many absences.^[8] His 24th and final title came in May 1984, with a perfect 15–0 record. This was seen by many as a fitting end to a great career and he wanted to retire after that tournament, but was persuaded by the Sumo Association to carry on until the opening of the newRyōgoku Kokugikan stadium in January 1985.^[4] Three days into the tournament, without winning a match, he announced his retirement.^[8] He had been ranked as ayokozuna on thebanzuke in 63 tournaments, which remained the most in history until Hakuhō surpassed it in May 2018.^[3] During his career he had won 951 matches, the most in history at the time (he was overtaken byŌshio in 1987). Of those victories, 804 came in the top division (a record broken by Chiyonofuji in 1991), and 670 of those came at theyokozuna rank.^[9]

Kitanoumi was honored for his great achievements by being offered membership of theJapan Sumo Association without having to purchase a share (ichidai toshiyori). He was the secondrikishi after Taihō to be given this honor. As a result, he was able to keep his sumo name after retirement.^[10] He opened up his own training stable,Kitanoumi stable,^[1] taking several wrestlers from Mihogaseki stable who had already been under his wing. Kitanoumi stable became one of the largest in sumo, and produced a handful of top division wrestlers over the years, such asmaegashiraGanyū,Kitazakura andKitataiki. He also inherited Russian wrestlerHakurozan, who joined the stable in 2006.

In 2002 Kitanoumi became head of the Sumo Association. He was the first chairman under the age of 50 in half a century, and his appointment was widely welcomed;^[4] however, he came under pressure after a series of scandals hit sumo. These included the behavior ofyokozunaAsashōryū, who was suspended for two tournaments in 2007 but then allowed to return toMongolia,the death of junior wrestler Tokitaizan atTokitsukaze stable, and the dismissal of several top wrestlers for usingcannabis.^[4] When it became clear in September 2008 that one of them was his own wrestler Hakurozan, whom he had previously backed, Kitanoumi resigned his post,^[11] apologizing for "the trouble I have caused to the Sumo Association and to fans".^[12] He remained on the board of directors, in charge of running the Osaka tournament,^[4] but had to resign from that position in April 2011 after another of his wrestlers,Kiyoseumi, was found guilty ofmatch-fixing and forced to retire from sumo.^[13] AfterHanaregoma stepped down in February 2012, Kitanoumi returned to the role of chairman, becoming the first person to head the association twice.^[14]

Kitanoumi died ofcolorectal cancer and multiple organ failure on the evening of November 20, 2015.^[3] He was inFukuoka for the Kyushu tournament and was taken to the hospital foranemia in the morning, after which his condition deteriorated.^[15] A memorial service was held on December 22 at theRyōgoku Kokugikan.^[2]

Kitanoumi preferred to grip his opponent's belt (yotsu-zumō) over pushing and thrusting. His favored grip washidari-yotsu (the right hand outside of the opponent's arm and the left hand inside holding the opponent'smawashi).^[3] His most common winning techniques (kimarite) wereyorikiri (frontal force out),oshidashi (frontal push out), anduwatenage (overarm throw). He did not employ a wide variety of winning techniques, using only twenty-one differentkimarite over the course of his career.

• Glossary of sumo terms
• Kanreki dohyō-iri
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo record holders
• List of sumo tournament top division champions
• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• List of yokozuna

Wikimedia Commons has media related toKitanoumi Toshimitsu.

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• 1953 births
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• Deaths from colorectal cancer in Japan
• Deaths from multiple organ failure
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Sumo people from Hokkaido
• Yokozuna

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