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Konishiki Yasokichi was an American-born Japanese sumo wrestler who reached ōzeki, the second-highest rank, in 1987. He was the first non-Japanese-born wrestler to win three top division championships and came close to becoming the first foreign-born yokozuna, or grand champion.
- Early Life
- Career
- Retirement from Sumo
- Personal Life
- Fighting Style
- Record
- See Also
- Sources
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Atisanoe entered sumo in July 1982 at the age of 18, recruited by another Hawaiian-born wrestler, Takamiyama of the Takasago stable. A promising student at the University High School in Honolulu, he initially wanted to be a lawyer and was also offered a music scholarship to Syracuse University. His father had regular work with the US Navy but had t...
Early Career
Due to his potential he was given the name Konishiki, after the 17th Yokozuna, Konishiki Yasokichi I who came from the same training stable at the end of the 19th Century (during the Meiji period in Japan) and Konishiki Yasokichi II (a komusubiin the beginning of the 20th century). Atisano'e was the sixth "Konishiki" in history, though he was the third to reach the top division. Konishiki posted a perfect 7-0 record in his first tournament and took the jonokuchi yusho. He replicated his perfo...
Juryo Career
Konishiki made his sekitori debut in the November 1983 tournament. At the time he was still only 19 years old and was the youngest sekitori in both makuuchi and juryo. In his first tournament, he posted a strong 11-4 record, but missed out on the yusho after losing to Hooin the playoff. In the following tournament he struggled and eventually pulled out on the ninth day which resulted in a 4-5-6 record: his first career losing record. In the next two tournaments he won the juryo yusho's and wa...
Makuuchi Career
He made his debut in the top makuuchi division in July 1984, and in the following tournament in September he defeated two yokozuna, Chiyonofuji and Takanosato, and was runner-up with a 12–3 record. He was promoted to komusubi for the first time in May 1985 and sekiwake in July 1985. However, he suffered an injury to his coccyx (caused by a stool collapsing underneath him) and had to sit out all the next tournament. In May 1986 he suffered another injury, this time in competition, during a bou...
Konishiki remained in the Japan Sumo Association as an elderfor a short time under the name of Sanoyama, before branching out as a Japanese entertainer under the name "KONISHIKI" (the capitalization is an effort to reflect the association's requirement to write his name in the Roman alphabet, after prohibition of spelling it out in Japanese charact...
Konishiki is close friends with professional wrestler Tatsumi Fujinami and baseball player Hirokazu Kato. He is also close friends with Chiba Lotte Marines baseball player, Benny Agbayani, who also...Konishiki is of Samoan descent and six of his siblings were born in Samoa. He is distantly related to the California-based rap group, Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E.. One of the members Vincent Devoux, better k...At a peak weight of 287 kg (633 lb) he was also at the time the heaviest wrestler ever in sumo, earning him the nicknames "Meat Bomb" and "Dump Truck".Early in his career, under the instruction of his first stablemaster, Konishiki was primarily oshi-sumo specialist, preferring pushing and thrusting techniques such as oshidashi and tsukidashi that would win the bout as quickly as possible. Following his knee problems in 1988 and 1989, his balance suffered and as his weight continued to increase he...
Division Results
1. Total:730-498-95/1219 (93 basho) 2. Makuuchi:649-476-89/1117 (81 basho) 3. Juryo:39-15-6/53 (4 basho) 4. Makushita:16-5/21 (3 basho) 5. Sandanme:12-2/14 (2 basho) 6. Jonidan:7-0/7 (1 basho) 7. Jonokuchi:7-0/7 (1 basho)
Championships
1. 3 Makuuchi Championships 1.1. 1st (November 1989) 1.2. 2nd (November 1991) 1.3. 3rd (March 1992) 2. 2 Juryo Championships 2.1. 1st (March 1984) 2.2. 2nd (May 1984) 3. 1 JonidanChampionship (November 1982) 4. 1 JonokuchiChampionship (September 1982)
Achievements
1. Special Prizes:Fighting Spirit Prize (5), Outstanding Performance Prize (4), Technique Prize (1) 2. Kinboshi:2: (1) Chiyonofuji, (1) Takanosato 3. Record: 2ndheaviest sumo wrestler (287 kg) 4. Record: 6thmost tournaments ranked at ozeki (39 tournaments) 5. Record: Tied for 8thfastest progress to top division (12 tournaments) 6. 1stnon-Japanese ozeki
Konishiki Yasokichi was a former American sumo wrestler from Hawaii who reached ozeki and won three top division championships. He was known for his size, strength and fighting style, and retired in 1997 after a knee injury.
Learn about the life and career of former ozeki Konishiki, who appeared in a famous photo with another wrestler. Watch an interview with Konishiki and see how he changed sumo with his foreign presence and colorful hair.
- 14 min
- 530.1K
- Sumostew
Sep 6, 2022 · Konishiki Yasokichi, born Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e is a Hawaii-raised, American former sumo wrestler. This segment was aired in conjunction with The Giants documentary on KITV and...
Sep 6, 2022 · Watch a segment celebrating the 40th anniversary of his sumo legacy, aired with The Giants documentary on KITV and KIKU. Learn about his life, achievements and challenges as a yokozuna, the highest rank in sumo.
Japan Documentary Exclusive Interviews: Discover the inspiring journey of Konishiki Yasokichi, the first foreign sumo wrestler to reach the prestigious rank ...
- 38 min
- 59K
- Japan Documented
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Sep 12, 2022 · Learn from Konishiki, the first foreign-born ōzeki, about the mental and physical challenges of sumo. He shares his insights on the sport's history, culture, and psychology in an on-demand video course on Naro.TV.
![Konishiki Yasokichi [2024 Update]: Yokozuna & Net Worth - Celeb Doko](https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=Konishiki+Yasokichi&ei=UTF-8&xargs=0&age=1w&fr=yhs-Elex-elex_22find&th=91.6&tw=122.4&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcelebdoko.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F11%2Fkonishiki_posing_for_the_camera.jpg&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcelebdoko.com%2Fkonishiki-yasokichi%2F&size=39KB&name=Konishiki+Yasokichi+%5B2024+Update%5D%3A+Yokozuna+%26+Net+Worth+-+Celeb+Doko&oid=2&h=576&w=768&turl=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.He9axAZ4DX3M-SUZL_LYZwHaFj%26pid%3DApi%26rs%3D1%26c%3D1%26qlt%3D95%26w%3D122%26h%3D91&tt=Konishiki+Yasokichi+%5B2024+Update%5D%3A+Yokozuna+%26+Net+Worth+-+Celeb+Doko&sigr=KJd6KuNR2e3m&sigit=X4J9kRk4DyDh&sigi=UqLSi3gW7kCR&sign=KhO03xo6zlEP&sigt=KhO03xo6zlEP "Konishiki Yasokichi [2024 Update]: Yokozuna & Net Worth - Celeb Doko")
