Meisei Chikara
明生 力
Meisei in May 2019
Personal information
Born	Meisei Kawabata (1995-07-24)July 24, 1995 (age 29) Setouchi, Kagoshima, Japan
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	155 kg (342 lb)
Career
Stable	Tatsunami
Current rank	seebelow
Debut	July, 2011
Highest rank	Sekiwake (September, 2021)
Championships	1 (Jūryo)
Special Prizes	1 (Outstanding Performance) 1 (Fighting Spirit)
Gold Stars	2 (Terunofuji)
* Up to date as of 13 March 2024.

Meisei Chikara (Japanese:明生 力, bornMeisei Kawabata (川畑 明生,Kawabata Meisei) on July 24, 1995) is a Japanese professionalsumo wrestler fromSetouchi, Kagoshima. He debuted in sumo wrestling in July 2011 and made hismakuuchi debut in July 2018. His highest rank has beensekiwake. He wrestles forTatsunami stable. Unusually for a top-class sumo wrestler, he uses his given name as hisshikona.

Meisei was born inSetouchi, a town onAmami Ōshima, one of theRyukyu Islands. He began sumo at the age of five and was strongly encouraged by his father and other family members. When hiselementary school closed their sumo programme he joined a sumo club in a neighboring town and in sixth grade he won the All-Japan Primary School Sumo Tournament. He moved to the Kamogawa Junior High School and competed in national championships but failed to win any further championships. Although he considered attendingHigh School he took his father's advice and left education at the age of 15 to pursue a career in professional sumo.^[1][2][3]

In 2011 Meisei joined theTatsunami stable, bringing him under the tutelage of the formerkomusubiAsahiyutaka. Unlike most new wrestlers who begin their careers under their family names he took his given name as hisshikona surname. Shortly before his sixteenth birthday he began his professional career in July 2011 and recorded four wins in seven bouts in thejonokuchi division to secure promotion tojonidan. A 5–2 result in November saw him promoted to the fourthsandanme division but in January 2012 he won only two matches and returned tojonidan after posting his firstmake-koshi (losing record). He returned tosandanme after a 6–1 record in March 2012 and a run ofkachi-koshi (winning records) saw him promoted tomakushita (third division) in January 2013. After moving up and down betweensandanme andmakushita several times he established himself in the higher division and began a steady climb through the ranks. In September 2016 a 4–3 result at the rank ofmakushita 3 saw him promoted to the secondjuryo division for the first time. He returned tomakushita after recording a 5–10 record in November but was promoted back tojuryo after two consecutivekachi-koshi. A series of solid results saw him rise to the top of the second division and in May 2018 a 10–5 record atjuryo saw him promoted to themakuuchi division.^[4]

In his first tournament in the top division Meisei was assigned the rank ofmaegashira 16. Hiskesho-mawashi, which featured the sun rising from the sea was embroidered by Miyuki Tanaka whose previous clients had includedChiyonofuji.^[5] He recorded six wins including victories overHokutofuji andChiyomaru but was relegated back tojuryo. Nine wins atjuryo 2 saw him return to the top division in November 2018 when he posted a 9–6 record including wins over Chiyomaru andŌnoshō. In January he reached a score of 6–7 after 13 days but reached hiskachi-koshi by beatingYoshikaze and Onosho in his last two bouts. Competing a career high ofmaegashira 11 in March 2019 he won nine of his fourteen bouts highlighted by anuwatedashinage win over the formerōzekiKotoshogiku on day 13. In the following tournament, at another career high rank ofmaegashira 7 he lost his first three bouts but won ten of his remaining twelve matches including a victory overTochinoshin. He reachedmaegashira 2 in November 2019.

On December 28 during training at his stable he injured his left upper arm muscle. He still entered the January 2020 tournament but withdrew on Day 8 with only one win.^[6] He failed to makekachi-koshi in March 2020 at the rank ofmaegashira 17, and secured his demotion tojūryō. In July 2020, he won thejūryōchampionship following a six-man playoff, ensuring his return tomakuuchi.

After several solid performances saw him rise tomaegashira 3 by March 2021, he produced a 10–5 record to win his first Fighting Spirit prize.^[7] In July 2021 he made hissanyaku debut at the rank ofkomusubi.^[8] He was the first wrestler from Tatsunami stable to reach that rank sinceTomonohana in 1994.^[9] The following tournament he was promoted tosekiwake, the first from Tatsunami sinceKitao in 1985.^[10] He earned his first win over ayokozuna on Day 12 of the September tournament when he defeatedTerunofuji, although as he was not ranked as amaegashira he did not get akinboshi.^[11] He finished the November 2021 tournament with a 7–8 record.^[12]

In the January 2022banzuke he was demoted fromsekiwake back tokomusubi.^[13] In the New Year tournament he posted a 5–10 record.^[14] This led to his demotion to the rank ofmaegashira 3 in the following rankings. At the March tournament he had a 1–14 record.^[15] He was then rankedmaegashira 13 for the May tournament.^[16] He then posted winning records in each of the four remaining tournaments of 2022.^{[17][18][19][20]}

In the firstbanzuke of 2023 he was promoted back to the rank ofkomusubi.^[21] However, at the January 2023 tournament hiskachi-koshi streak was ended on day 12 after a loss toSadanoumi. He finished the tournament with a 5–10 record.^[22] On the ninth day of the 2023 summer tournament, Meisei achievedkachi-koshi and won his firstkinboshi by dealingyokozunaTerunofuji his only loss in this tournament.^[23] Meisei would lose all his remaining matches and end up with an 8–7 record. Nevertheless, he was awarded theOutstanding Performance prize because of his win overTerunofuji.^[24]

During the March 2024 tournament, Meisei, then ranked at West Maegashira 2 wrestlers, defeatedYokozuna Terunofuji to record his secondkinboshi against him.^[25]

Meisei has shown a preference foryotsu techniques which involve grasping his opponent'smawashi or belt and favors thehidari-yotsu, or left-hand inside grip. His most commonkimarite or winning move isyorikiri, the force-out.^[26]

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of active sumo wrestlers
• List of active gold star earners
• List of sekiwake

• Meisei Chikara's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1995 births
• Living people
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• People from the Amami Islands
• Sumo people from Kagoshima Prefecture
• Tatsunami stable sumo wrestlers
• Sekiwake

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Interlanguage link template forcing interwiki links