Konishiki Yasokichi

This article describes the Ōzeki called Konishiki Yasokichi. For the yokozuna of the same name, see Konishiki Yasokichi (Yokozuna) .

小 錦 八十 吉
Konishiki Yasokichi

Personal data
real name	Salevaa Atisanoe
Born	December 31, 1963
place of birth	Hawaii
size	1.84 m
Weight	over 270 kg
Career
Heya	Takasago
Career record	649-476-89 (Makuuchi)
debut	July 1982
Highest rank	Ōzeki (July 1987)
Tournament victories	3 (Makuuchi) 2 (Juryo)
resignation	November 1997

Konishiki Yasokichi ( Japanese 小 錦 八十 吉 ; * December 31, 1963 in Hawaii as Salevaa Atisanoe ) is a former sumo wrestler and the first foreigner who was ever promoted to Ōzeki .

Konishiki began professional sumo in 1982 and made it through to the makuuchi division within two years . To this day, he is the heaviest known rikishi in commercial sumo sport and, after the American Emmanuel Yarborough, probably the second heaviest sumōtori ever and weighed over 270 kg (at the end of his career even 284 kg). He got his fight name after the yokozuna of the same name, who was also a fighter of the Takasago-beya stable. Fans and the media gave him the nickname "Kipplader" or, somewhat coarsely, Niku-bakudan ("meat bomb "). Konishiki Yasokichi is sung about in Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's song Tengoku Kara Kaminari (Gentle Giants) as well as his sumo colleagues Musashimaru Kōyō and Akebono Tarō .

Konishiki won three tournaments in the makuuchi division during his career. A good two years after his first tournament victory in the Fukuoka Kyushu Basho in 1989 , Konishiki was about to be promoted to yokozuna . After he was able to win the Fukuoka tournament again in 1991 with only one defeat out of 15 fights, he also won the tournament in Osaka in March of the following year . He had previously completed the New Year's tournament in Tokyo in 1992 with a good 12-3 record. However, the Japanese Sumo Association shortly thereafter issued new rules regarding promotion to yokozuna. Now a contender had to underline his ambitions for the highest rank in sumo with two successive tournament victories. However, Konishiki failed to do this. Ultimately, he was denied promotion despite his outstanding tournament performance, which firstly sparked a debate about possible racist motives and secondly led to a discussion about the question of whether a foreigner was even suitable as a yokozuna. Above all, because of his high body weight, he repeatedly had to struggle with injuries, especially on his knees. At the 1992 summer tournament in Tokyo, which he would have had to win to become yokozuna, he therefore only achieved 9 victories and afterwards was unable to build on old times. After the Kyushu Basho in Tokyo in 1993, he finally lost the rank of Ōzeki and shortly afterwards fell back to the maegashira ranks . Especially after his descent, he gained greater popularity, as he fought like a samurai despite all difficulties. Shortly before the end of the 1997 Kyushu Basho, he resigned from active sumo. He can claim to have been the first official foreign Ōzeki. His six-year tenure as Ōzeki is the fourth longest in history; after losing this rank he stayed in the top division for another 24 tournaments, which was a long time record for a former Ōzeki who lost his rank.

While Konishiki failed to become yokozuna , Akebono became the first non-Japanese to be promoted to grandmaster rank in 1993 . Nevertheless, Konishiki is considered to be one of the trailblazers for foreign sumotori, for whom it became easier to reach the championship ranks.

After his time as Ōzeki and another four years in the top division, Konishiki resigned in 1997 and worked for the sumo association for a time before moving into the entertainment industry. Today Konishiki works primarily as a producer and musician (including hip-hop ). As an actor, Konishiki starred in a minor supporting role in the 2006 film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift .

Web links

• Konishiki's website (English or Japanese)