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Takamisakari Seiken (born May 12, 1976 as Seiken Katō) is a former sumo wrestler from Aomori Prefecture, Japan. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1999 and established himself in the top division in 2002 after a brief appearance in 2000. He received five special prizes for his achievements in tournaments and earned two gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna''. The highest rank he reached was ''komusubi'', which he held on two occasions. He was one of the most popular wrestlers in sumo in his time, largely due to his eccentric warm-ups before his matches. He retired in January 2013 and is now a coach at Azumazeki stable, having taken the ''toshiyori-kabu'' Furiwake-''oyakata''. ==Career== Born in Itayanagi, Kitatsugaru District, Katō was an amateur sumo champion at Nihon University, winning the College Yokozuna title in his final year. He began his professional sumo career as a ''makushita tsukedashi'' (a promising amateur allowed to start at a level significantly higher than entry level) in March 1999, wrestling under his own name. He reached ''jūryō'', the second-highest division, in January 2000, at which point he changed his fighting name to Takamisakari. Three tournaments later, in July of the same year, he was promoted to the top ''makuuchi'' division, becoming only the second wrestler (and first Japanese born) from his Azumazeki stable to achieve this feat. In September he acted as ''tsuyuharai'' ("dew-sweeper", an honorary attendant) in stablemate ''Yokozuna'' Akebono's ring-entering ceremony, but he was injured on the third day of that tournament. Enforced absence from the next two tournaments saw him demoted all the way back to the unsalaried ''makushita'' division, where he had begun his career. It took him until March 2002 to work his way back up to the ''makuuchi'' division, and in September he reached ''komusubi'', his highest rank to date. He only held this rank for one tournament, however, dropping back to ''maegashira'' in November. He has earned five special prizes, and has two gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna'', both earned in the July 2003 tournament where he was also awarded the Outstanding Performance prize. Although he again reached ''komusubi'' in November 2003, he again failed to retain the rank and spent the rest of his career in the top division as a middle-level ''maegashira''. Takamisakari again appeared in a ''yokozunas ring-entered ceremony in September 2005, when he replaced Asasekiryū, who was injured, as sword-bearer. On the first day he accidentally scraped the sword against the ceiling. He came close to demotion from the top division after missing five bouts through injury in November 2007. However, in the next tournament he achieved a majority of wins against losses from the ''maegashira'' 14 ranking. In May 2011 he could score only 7-8 at ''maegashira'' 15 but actually rose one place in the rankings for the following tournament due to the large number of wrestlers retiring over a match-fixing scandal. However his run of 56 consecutive makuuchi tournaments ended when he could only score 3-12 in the July 2011 basho. Takamisakari was a hugely popular wrestler. He built himself up for each bout with a somewhat eccentric series of muscle flexes and slaps, and threw a copious amount of salt onto the ''dohyō''. In a culture where impassivity is sometimes seen as a sign of strength, he made no attempt to hide his emotions, obviously elated after each win and inconsolably dejected after each loss. Even though he usually performed in the middle to lower ranks, the winner of his matches were always greatly rewarded with ''kenshō-kin'' (prize money) provided by his sponsor, a food company. 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「Takamisakari Seiken」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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