Sadogatake stable

{{Short description|Stable of sumo wrestlers}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2021}} thumb|right|280px

{{nihongo|'''Sadogatake stable'''|佐渡ヶ嶽部屋|Sadogatake-beya}} is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Nishonoseki group of stables. In its modern form, it dates from September 1955, when it was set up by former ''komusubi'' Kotonishiki Noboru. Former ''yokozuna'' Kotozakura took over the running of the stable in 1974 following Kotonishiki's death. The stable is located in Matsudo, Chiba prefecture. Over the next thirty years the stable produced a string of top division wrestlers. Kotozakura stood down in November 2005, handing the stable over to his son-in-law, former ''sekiwake'' Kotonowaka.

A successful stable, Sadogatake is currently the active stable with the longest continuous presence (59 years) of at least one of its wrestlers in the ''makuuchi'' division.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2023/10/30/kiji/20231030s00005000038000c.html|title=【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|language=ja|date=30 October 2023|publisher=Sports Nippon|access-date=30 October 2023}}</ref> Between September 2007 and July 2010, it became the first stable since Musashigawa stable in 2001 to have two wrestlers ranked at ''ōzeki'' simultaneously, with Kotomitsuki and Kotoōshū. It happened again between November 2011 and November 2013 with Kotoōshū and Kotoshōgiku. As of January 2023 the stable has 26 wrestlers, three of them being ''sekitori.'' In March 2020 Sadogatake-''oyakata'''s son, who has taken the name Kotozakura after his grandfather, reached the top ''makuuchi'' division. On the May 2020 ''banzuke'' all five ''sekitori'' were ranked in the top division, although none were above ''maegashira'' 13. The most the stable has ever had in ''makuuchi'' simultaneously is seven, in November 1992 and January 1993.

In April 2024, the stable recruited Kōsei Motomura, a former Hakuhō Cup participant and the first wrestler since the end of the Second World War to measure less than {{height|m=1.60}} since the abolition of the weight and height minimums system.<ref name=motomura>{{cite web|url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2024/04/19/kiji/20240419s00005000309000c.html|title=戦後初の「身長150センチ台力士」誕生へ！体格基準撤廃後初の新弟子二次検査に元村康誠が合格|language=ja|work=Sports Nippon|date=19 April 2024|access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref> In October of the same year, Hidenoyama (former ''ōzeki'' Kotoshōgiku) broke off from Sadogatake to found his own stable.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tokyo-sports.co.jp/articles/-/320903|title=【大相撲】新部屋を開設した秀ノ山親方が〝ちゃんこ改革〟弟子育成の決意を表明|language=ja|work=Tokyo Sports|date=21 October 2024|access-date=23 October 2024}}</ref>

==Controversy== In January 2021, junior wrestler Kotokantetsu retired and publicly criticized Sadogatake-''oyakata'' for not supporting him during his sumo career and not allowing him to sit out that month's ''honbasho'' despite his fears of contracting COVID-19 after undergoing cardiac surgery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/01/13/sumo/sumo-stables-scrutiny-wrestlers-retirement/|title=Sumo stables deserve more scrutiny after wrestler's shock retirement|last=Gunning|first=John|date=13 January 2021|work=Japan Times|accessdate=5 February 2021}}</ref> The former Kotokantetsu, whose real name is Daisuke Yanagihara, subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Japan Sumo Association and Sadogatake in March 2023 for ¥4.1 million in monetary damages over claims of being forced to retire from professional sumo and for violations of his human rights, while also alleging that lower division wrestlers in the stable were mistreated.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 March 2023 |title=佐渡ヶ嶽部屋コロナ禍引退の元力士が相撲協会提訴千葉松戸 |url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/shutoken/chiba/article/009/88/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308034216/https://www.nhk.or.jp/shutoken/chiba/article/009/88/ |archive-date=8 March 2023 |access-date=3 March 2023 |publisher=NHK |lang=ja}}</ref> In a statement to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in July 2023, Yanagihara said that he wanted to reveal the actual state of the sumo world "which has been shrouded in mystery in the name of traditional culture," adding his concern that the Japanese media was not accurately covering the issue and that there was a possibility it could be covered up. He alleged that in 2011 he was repeatedly slapped by a senior wrestler with traditional footwear that contained metal. He also told reporters that lower-division wrestlers at the stable were often forced to eat rotten meat during their training. Yanagihara showed reporters a picture he took in July 2017 and sent to his mother using the communications app Line of a package of rib roast allegedly served at the stable that had been expired for {{frac|5|1|2}} years. When asked by Agence France-Presse about the lawsuit in July 2023, the Sumo Association declined to comment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.barrons.com/news/former-wrestler-sues-japan-sumo-body-for-alleged-mistreatment-f8003f34?refsec=topics_afp-news|title=Former Wrestler Sues Japan Sumo Body For Alleged Mistreatment|date=31 July 2023|website=barrons.com|publisher=Agence France-Presse|access-date=31 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.j-cast.com/2023/07/31466213.html|title=5年前の腐った肉食わせられ...元力士が「奴隷生活」訴え相撲協会は否定|date=31 July 2023|publisher=J-Cast|access-date=31 July 2023|lang=ja}}</ref>

==Ring name conventions== Virtually all wrestlers at this stable take ring names or ''shikona'' that begin with the character 琴 (read: ''koto''), in deference to the founder, Kotonishiki, and the owners who followed him.

==Owners== *2005–present: 13th Sadogatake (''riji'', former ''sekiwake'' Kotonowaka) *1974–2005: 12th Sadogatake (the 53rd ''yokozuna'', Kotozakura) *1955–1974: 11th Sadogatake (former ''komusubi'' Kotonishiki)

==Notable active wrestlers== {{See also|sekitori}} *Kotozakura (best rank {{translit|ja|ōzeki}}) *Kotoshōhō (best rank {{translit|ja|sekiwake}}) *Kotoeihō (best rank {{translit|ja|maegashira}})

==Coaches== *Kumegawa Yoshikiro (''iin'', former ''komusubi'' Kotoinazuma) *Hamakaze Hideaki (''iin'', former ''maegashira'' Gojōrō) *Shiratama Katsuyuki ({{translit|ja|san'yo}}, former {{translit|ja|maegashira}} Kototsubaki)

==Assistant== *{{ill|Kotoyūshō Yoshihiro|lt=Kotoyūshō|ja|琴裕将由拡}} ({{translit|ja|wakaimonogashira}}, former {{translit|ja| jūryō}}, real name Yoshiyuki Inagaki, born 1994)

==Notable former members== *Kotozakura (the 53rd ''yokozuna'') *Kotogahama (former ''ōzeki'') *Kotokaze (former ''ōzeki'') *Kotomitsuki (former ''ōzeki'') *Kotoōshū (former ''ōzeki'') *Kotoshōgiku (former ''ōzeki'') *Kotogaume (former ''sekiwake'') *Hasegawa (former ''sekiwake'') *Kotonishiki (former ''sekiwake'') *Kotonowaka (former ''sekiwake'') *Kotofuji (former ''sekiwake'') *Kotoyūki (former ''sekiwake'') *Kotoinazuma (former ''komusubi'') *Kotobeppu (former ''maegashira'') *Kotokasuga (former ''maegashira'') *Kotoryū (former ''maegashira'') *Kototsubaki (former ''maegashira'') *Kotoekō (former ''maegashira'') *{{Interlanguage link multi|Kotoyūshō Yuhiro|ja|3=琴裕将由拡|lt=Kotoyūshō}} (best rank ''jūryō'') *Kototenzan (later known as the professional wrestler Earthquake)

==Referees== *Shikimori Kinosuke (''makushita'' ''gyōji'', real name Kazuki Ikegami) *Shikimori Shihō (''Makushita'' ''gyōji'', real name Hitoshi Fukuda)

==Ushers== *Kotozō (''makuuchi'' ''yobidashi'', real name Tsuyoshi Tsuma) *Kotoyoshi (''makuuchi'' ''yobidashi'', real name Masaki Takahashi)

==Hairdresser== *Tokoazuma (4th ''tokoyama'') *Tokohibiki (5th class ''tokoyama'')

==Location and access== Chiba prefecture, Matsudo City, Kushizaki Minamicho 39<br> 7 minute walk from Matsuhidai Station on the Hokusō Line

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == *[http://www.sumo.or.jp/EnSumoDataSumoBeya/detail?id=27 Japan Sumo Association profile] *[https://sadogatake.jp/ Official site]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadogatake Stable}} Category:Active sumo stables Category:Sports clubs and teams established in 1955 Category:1955 establishments in Japan Category:Sadogatake stable sumo wrestlers