Career
His highest rank was komusubi and he earned two special prizes. After retirement he became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association and is currently a coach at Sadogatake stable. He was recruited by the former yokozuna Kotozakura of the Sadogatake stable.
Kotoinazuma was a late-blooming wrestler.
(He also shares with yokozuna Kitanoumi the odd distinction of following an undefeated 7-0 score with a 0-7) In addition it took Kotoinazuma 100 career tournaments before he earned a special prize (a Outstanding Performance Award in September 1994), which is the most in sumo history. He is also the second slowest to make it to a sanyaku rank, at 106 tournaments from sumo entry.
This occurred when he was promoted to the rank of komusubi for the November 1995 tournament. This was to be his only tournament in sanyaku, as he had a losing record of six wins against nine losses.
(He never upset a yokozuna at a maegashira rank and so did not receive any gold stars).
He fought his final tournament in makuuchi in September 1998, by which time he was the oldest man in the top division. He announced his retirement in July 1999 after facing certain demotion to the unsalaried makushita division. He had been an active wrestler for 21 years and fought 1551 bouts across 129 tournaments.
Kotoinazuma became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Kumegawa Oyakata.
He works as a coach at Sadogatake stable, and as a shinpan or judge of tournament bouts. Kotoinazuma was one of the lighter men in the top division at around 130 kg (290 lb), and he lacked the power and skill to compete with the strongest wrestlers in the top division.
Although he was fairly adept at pushing and thrusting techniques, he favoured yotsu-sumo or grappling techniques. His preferred grip on his opponent"s mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position.
He also had the slap down, scoop throw and outer leg trip in his repertoire.
Kotoinazuma"s interests include music and golf. He received treatment for gout and a side-effect of the therapeutic agent was hair loss. This meant that the tokoyama or hairdressers had difficulty in producing the elaborate gingko leaf style oichomage or topknot that professional sumo wrestlers are required to wear on the dohyo.
He bore a similiarity to another top division wrestler of the time, Sasshūnada, who also had a receding hair-line.
