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Sumo's Foreign Invasion |
The Greatest Ever?by Brian Lewin |
Officially entering in July 1956, he made his debut two months later in the Aki Basho under the shikona Naya. A very lanky 16-year-old, and much stronger than he looked, he rose quickly through the ranks, winning the sandanme yusho in the 1958 Haru Basho, and making juryo just 14 months later in the 1959 Natsu Basho. In honor of that, his shisho (heya-master) gave him the new shikona, Taiho, chosen from a Zhongzi Chinese classic. Working hard to live up to the name, he continued to rise up the banzuke, making his makuuchi debut in 1960 Hatsu at the age of 19, starting 11-0, finishing 12-3, and winning a Kantosho (Fighting Spirit Prize) along the way. Eight months later, ranked at sekiwake, he won his first yusho and was promoted to ozeki. He held that rank for just five basho, winning two more yusho. The second, won in a three-way play-off with Kashiwado and Myobudani, resulted in a Taiho and Kashiwado joint yokozuna promotion on September 27th, 1961. |
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Last month, the world of sumo said an official goodbye to one of the greatest rikishi ever to serve in its ranks - Taiho.On May 29th, Taiho Oyakata reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, ending a 48-year association with the Nihon Sumo Kyokai that saw him reach some of the greatest heights in sumo history, followed by personal lows and highs that may only just be beginning.... The BeginningNaya Koki was born on May 29, 1940 in Shisuka, Karafuto in what is now the Southern Sakhalin Islands (north of Hokkaido), as the son of an escaped White Russian Cossack soldier named Borishiko Malikan and a Japanese farmwoman named Naya Kiyo. After the Soviet Army captured the islands in the closing days of World War II, the family was separated and his father was never seen again. Five-year-old Koki and his mother would shortly thereafter |
board a repatriation ship, the Ogasawara-Maru, bound for Wakkanai, Hokkaido - the only one of four ships that departed to survive the trip. He would grow up there over the next decade. Ultimately settling in Teshikaga, he had a harsh childhood, working in farming and other industries beginning in elementary school to help support his family.Becoming a SumotoriAs a junior high school student, Koki competed in a local amateur tournament, where he impressed many with his strength. He was given an invitation by then-makushita rikishi Miyanohana to join the Nishonoseki-beya of former ozeki Saganohana. His mother was opposed to the idea, but an uncle convinced him to go and watch a heya jungyo in Kunneppu before deciding one way or the other. However, once there, his uncle gave him a thousand yen bill, said "Try as hard as you can, goodbye," and Koki was left to join the heya. |
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