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, born December 15, 1971 as is a former sumo wrestler from Asakita ward, Hiroshima City, Japan. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 9. He is the elder brother of Toyozakura, also a top division wrestler. He was a popular figure with sumo fans. He is now a coach and elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Onogawa Oyakata. ==Career== Kitazakura made his professional debut in March 1987, joining Kitanoumi stable. His brother Toyozakura became a sumo wrestler two years later. Unusually for brothers in sumo, they joined different stables, Toyozakura being recruited by Tatsutagawa stable. This was the wish of their father, a former sumo wrestler himself who reached the fourth highest ''sandanme'' division. Kitazakura and Toyozakura never met in competition, as brothers are not matched against each other. Initially wrestling using his real name, Kitazakura first adopted his current ''shikona'' in November 1987. It took a long time to get to the salaried ''sekitori'' ranks and he spent seven years from 1991 to 1998 in the third highest ''makushita'' division. He got as high as makushita 5 in September 1995 and a good performance might have got him promotion to the second ''jūryō'' division but he fell short with a 2-5 record. Reverting to his own surname failed to change his fortunes and he fell right to the bottom of the ''makushita'' division. However, after changing back to the name Kitazakura he took the makushita championship with a perfect 7-0 record in September 1997 and three more winning records finally earned him promotion to ''jūryō'' in July 1998, after a total of eleven years in the lower divisions. Kitazakura did not reach the top ''makuuchi'' division until July 2001 when he was in his thirtieth year, after winning the ''jūryō'' championship in May 2001. The 86 tournaments it took him to get there was the fourth slowest ever at the time (now the sixth slowest). He never managed to become a ''makuuchi'' regular, spending 48 of his 60 ''sekitori'' tournaments in ''jūryō'', but he was very popular with the tournament crowds, due to his adoption of Mitoizumi's trademark salt throwing routine in the pre-bout rituals.〔 He was also renowned for his sheer eagerness to fight, forever imploring his opponent to start battle before the allotted time was up, demonstrating complete commitment to the principles of classic sumo.〔Sumo Through the Wrestlers' Eyes (2011) Gould, Chris http://www.amazon.com/Sumo-through-Wrestlers-Eyes-ebook/dp/B006C1I5K8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322584827&sr=1-1〕 After a 5-10 result at ''jūryō'' 11 in January 2009 he was demoted to the unsalaried ''makushita'' division for the first time since 2003. Kitazakura did not retire as some expected and compiled a 4-3 record at Ms2w in March 2009, including one win against a ''jūryō'' ''sekitori'' (J13e Wakatenro). This however was not quite enough to send him back to ''sekitori'' status for the Natsu Basho, the three available places going to Sagatsukasa, Jumonji and Tamaasuka. He produced another 4-3 score in May and this time he was promoted back to ''jūryō.'' He is the second oldest wrestler in the modern era after Ōshio to earn promotion back to the ''jūryō'' division. However, he could score only 3-12 in the July 2009 tournament and returned to ''makushita''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kitazakura Hidetoshi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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