Kasugano stable

Entrance to Kasugano stable

Kasugano stable (春日野部屋, Kasugano-beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ichimon or group of stables. As of January 2023 it had 17 wrestlers. It has been led by former sekiwake Tochinowaka Kiyotaka since 2003. It was one of the most successful stables in 2013, with six sekitori wrestlers, including now retired Georgian Tochinoshin and Japanese born (but Korean national) Tochinowaka Michihiro, who used the current head coach's old ring name.

It was founded in the mid 18th century by a wrestler named Kasugano Gunpachi.[1] It became inactive for a long time but was led in the Meiji period by a referee named Kimura Soshiro (this is no longer allowed as oyakata must now be former wrestlers).[1] He adopted as his son the 27th yokozuna Tochigiyama, who led the stable for over thirty years. He in turn adopted as his son the 44th yokozuna Tochinishiki, who became the head in 1959 whilst still an active wrestler and later served as the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association.[1] Tochinoumi took over upon Tochinishiki's death in 1990 and led the stable until his retirement in 2003. Since Tochinishiki's death, the stable's wrestlers have made it a tradition to visit his grave every New Year.[2] The stable absorbed Mihogaseki stable in 2013 when its stablemaster (former ōzeki Masuiyama Daishirō II) reached the mandatory retirement age.

Kasugano-oyakata was warned by the Sumo Association in 2011 after he beat three of his charges with a golf club for breaking a curfew.[3] In a separate case, a junior wrestler was convicted in 2014 of an assault on another wrestler and given a three year jail sentence, suspended for four years. In March 2017 the victim sued Kasugano-oyakata and the now retired assailant, saying he was still suffering from the effects of the broken jaw he received and that Kasugano failed to exercise appropriate oversight.[4]

The stable is known for having bred a series of great wrestlers. Kasugano stable has always had at least one makuuchi wrestler between 1967 and November 2023, when Aoiyama was relegated to the second-highest jūryō division.[5] When Aoiyama retired following the September 2024 tournament it was announced that makushita wrestler Tochitaikai [ja] would return to jūryō, continuing Kasugano stable's streak of having at least one sekitori wrestler (ranked at jūryō or higher) at every sumo tournament since the summer of 1935.[6]

  1. ^ a b c Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X.
  2. ^ "栃ノ心、報知年間最優秀力士賞を文句なし初受賞「最後に評価されて良かった」" (in Japanese). Sports Hochi. 26 December 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Sumo stablemaster Kasugano reprimanded for beating wrestlers". Mainichi Daily News. 21 October 2011. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Suit revealed against former sumo stablemaster Kasugano, now JSA director, and wrestler over 2014 assault". Japan Times. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  5. ^ "【九州場所番付発表】碧山が十両転落　56年ぶりに春日野部屋の幕内力士不在に" (in Japanese). Sports Nippon. 30 October 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  6. ^ "元関脇碧山が引退会見…15年間の思い出は"ブルガリアの先輩"との一番「緊張して覚えてない」" (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.