Kitanoumi Toshimitsu - After Retirement

After Retirement

Kitanoumi was honoured for his great achievements by being offered membership of the Japan Sumo Association without having to purchase a share (ichidai toshiyori). He was the second rikishi after Taihō to be given this honour. As a result, he was able to keep his sumo name after retirement. He opened up his own training stable, Kitanoumi-beya, taking several wrestlers from Mihogaseki stable who had been already been under his wing. Kitanoumi stable is one of the largest in sumo, and has produced a handful of top division wrestlers over the years, such as maegashira Ganyu, Kitazakura and Kitataiki. He also inherited Russian wrestler Hakurozan, who joined the stable in 2006, and the Georgian Gagamaru, who joined in 2010.

In 2002 Kitanoumi became head of the Sumo Association. He was the first chairman under the age of 50 in half a century, and his appointment was widely welcomed. However, he came under pressure after a series of scandals hit sumo. These included the behaviour of yokozuna Asashōryū, who was suspended for two tournaments in 2007 but then allowed to return to Mongolia, the death of junior wrestler Tokitaizan at Tokitsukaze stable, and the dismissal of several top wrestlers for using cannabis. When it became clear that one of them was his own wrestler Hakurozan, whom he had previously backed, Kitanoumi resigned his post on September 8, 2008. He remained on the board of directors, in charge of running the Osaka tournament, but had to resign from that position in April 2011 after another of his wrestlers, Kiyoseumi, was found guilty of match-fixing and forced to retire from sumo. However he returned to the role of chairman in February 2012, after Hanaregoma stepped down.