is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Matsudo. He wrestles for Sadogatake stable, a sumo stable previously run by his grandfather, former Kotozakura, and currently run by his father, former Kotonowaka. He made his debut in November 2015 and reached the top division in March 2020, reaching the ranks in January 2023. His highest rank has been . He has won one championship in the top division and five special prizes for Fighting Spirit, as well as one Technique prize.
Long before his professional debut, Kotozakura's goal was to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and inherit his ring name if he was ever promoted to the rank of , something he had been repeating regularly since his promotion to status. Following his promotion at the end of the January 2024 tournament, he said that he planned to inherit the Kotozakura name starting in May 2024. Prior to taking the Kotozakura name, he was known professionally as .
Early life Kamatani was born on November 19, 1997, the only child of then-active top division wrestler Kotonowaka I and Machiko Kamatani, the eldest daughter of sumo's 53rd Kotozakura. Kotonowaka had married the daughter of his stablemaster the previous year, an old custom in the sumo world to secure the ownership of a stable. During his youth, Kamatani made a habit of attending Sadogatake stable's training sessions every day before going to school. During his childhood he had a good relationship with Kotoyūki, the latter seeing him as a little brother. He had a good relationship with his grandfather, who taught him basic sumo elements (such as or using a pole) and expected him to be a sumo wrestler in order to continue his legacy. Shortly before Kotozakura died, Kamatani–who was still in third grade of elementary school–promised him that he would inherit his ring name if he was promoted to the rank of . In November 2005 when Kamatani was in the second year of elementary school his father retired and took over the running of Sadogatake stable. Kamatani was in the Fukuoka International Center to witness his father's final bout, and his father told him to one day inherit the Kotonowaka ring name.
As a student, he decided to enter Saitama Sakae High School (well-known for its sumo club) where he also trained with future professional wrestlers Ōhō and Gōnoyama, both his juniors. In 2013, Kamatani participated to the Hakuhō Cup and came third in the junior high school individual competition. Initially, he thought about joining professional sumo after graduating from junior high school, but as he did not have the confidence to do so, he postponed his decision to become a professional wrestler until his graduation from senior high school. Despite his podium at the Hakuhō Cup, it was noted that Kamatani struggled to gain momentum during his student years, achieving little success at first. In his third year, he was named captain of the sumo club and won both the team competition at the National High School Comprehensive Athletics Sumo Tournament and the World Junior Sumo Championship heavyweight competition, held that year in Osaka.
After graduating from senior high school, he decided to become a professional sumo wrestler and logically joined the Sadogatake stable, where his mother and father announced that he would now be treated like any other wrestler, and Kotoshōgiku announced that he would receive no special treatment.
Early career
Kamatani made his professional sumo debut in November 2015 and was given the , or ring name, , taking up his original name combined with the kanji used by all the wrestlers in his stable and using the first name his grandfather used when he was a wrestler. During his presentation ceremony with the other new wrestlers, Kotokamatani used the that his father had used on his last day as an active wrestler.
Kotokamatani won all three of his bouts in November 2015. In the following tournament, in January 2016, he won the championship with a perfect record. Moving up in the rankings, Kotokamatani made it to the division in September 2016, hitting the wall of that division and stagnating for a while. In May 2019, in a position of potential promotion to the division, Kotokamatani recorded a record at 2, including a victory over Hōshōryū and narrowly completed with a win over Churanoumi, that was enough to earn promotion to the status of for the first time.
Upon promotion, he adopted his father's surname of , with the expectation that he would eventually adopt his grandfather's of Kotozakura if ever promoted to . He also changed his first name by keeping a character from his grandfather's (, meaning 'outstanding') and adding the kanji (meaning 'big' or 'thick').
With four straight or winning records in the division, Kotonowaka was promoted to the top division in March 2020. They were the ninth father-and-son pairing to both reach the top division. Kotonowaka was ranked at 18, the first time since 1959 that had extended to an 18th rank. He secured a winning record on the 14th day of the tournament, having suffered four straight losses, and finished on . The next tournament to take place in July 2020 saw him pull out with a knee injury on Day 8, which he sustained the previous day in a loss to Kaisei. He re-entered on Day 14 but was unable to add any more wins, finishing on which saw him demoted back to . He earned immediate promotion back to makuuchi for the November 2020 tournament with a record (although he lost his last four matches).
Up-and-comer Upon his return to Kotonowaka only managed a record (this time losing his last three matches) although it was enough to keep him in the top division as he fell just one place from 14 to 15. He performed better in the January 2021 tournament, scoring . He narrowly failed to get a majority of wins in the March and May 2021 tournaments, scoring and respectively.
In the July 2021 tournament Kotonowaka had his best career performance to date. He scored and was awarded his first special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He moved up to 3 for the September tournament. On the eighth day of the September tournament he defeated Shōdai. However, he had to withdraw from the tournament with a left knee injury on Day 10. This injury, to the medial collateral ligament and medial meniscus of his left knee, could have cost him a year's absence from the ring had he opted for surgery. However, Kotonowaka decided to opt for regenerative surgery and obtained mixed results at the following tournaments as a result of his therapy.
In January 2022 Kotonowaka won eleven matches from 14, and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize for the second time. In March Kotonowaka was in contention for the championship on the final day for the second straight tournament, but lost to Hōshōryū when victory would have given him a chance of a playoff with the other two contenders, Wakatakakage and Takayasu. He finished in third place with , but did receive his third Fighting Spirit prize. In the May 2022 tournament he reached 2.
promotion After a winning record at his highest rank of 1, Kotonowaka was promoted to for the January 2023 tournament. This promotion makes Kotozakura, Kotonowaka, and the new Kotonowaka the first wrestling family to produce three consecutive -ranked wrestlers in sumo history. This promotion also makes the Kotonowaka the sixth father-son pair to be promoted to and the first since Oginohana Masaaki and Oginishiki Yasutoshi at the Nagoya tournament in 1997. At the January tournament he secured an record on the final day with a win over Hokutofuji. Kotonowaka lost his first four bouts of the tournament, but rallied to get a winning record which included a win over eventual championship winner Takakeishō. He retained his rankings for the March tournament.
In the March tournament Kotonowaka secured a record, which included a win over eventual championship winner Kiribayama. During the July tournament of the same year, Kotonowaka scored several significant victories, including against former Mitakeumi and Shōdai, as well as promotion seekers, Daieishō. On Day 7, he even defeated one of the tournament leaders, Nishikigi, ending his streak of 14 straight wins. On the tenth day, Kotonowaka inflicted defeat on another rank contender, Hōshōryū. This victory was particularly significant for Kotonowaka, who had only beaten Hōshōryū once in eleven matches since the two joined the division. In a letter to the editor published in Sankei Sports, former Musōyama commented with satisfaction on Kotonowaka's wrestling style, deeming it worthy of the rank of . For his performances during the tournament, Kotonowaka was promised a fourth award for Fighting Spirit, which was nonetheless conditional on an eleventh victory. On the final day of the tournament, Kotonowaka won his match against Ryūden and was awarded the prize. Since he achieved double figures in a rank, and was the first in this category to reach 10 wins during the July tournament, Kotonowaka commented on his satisfaction at having seriously strengthened his case for promotion to the rank of , the highest rank held by his father and master (former Kotonowaka Terumasa) after having stagnated at the rank of for 4 consecutive tournaments. He also commented on his ambition to be promoted to , in order to revive and inherit the , or ring name, of his maternal grandfather, former Kotozakura, to whom he had made this promise.
Kotonowaka's promotion to was made official with the release of the September tournament rankings on 28 August 2023. He became Sadogatake stable's first since Kotoyūki was promoted in May 2016. Upon his promotion, Kotonowaka said he was honored to be at the same ranking as his father, while his father and stablemaster said that the rank was not the end, adding his hopes that someday his son would be on par with Kotozakura. Since Kotonowaka has obtained a solid base to start a run towards the rank of , it was announced before the September tournament that his matches would be sponsored by the management and entertainment company LDH.
During the November 2023 tournament, Kotonowaka made his mark with a third consecutive victory on the third day of the championship, using the rare ('backward twisting overarm throw'); a technique that had not been used in the division for 13 years. He continued his tournament with a good performance, recording a winning record on Day 10 for the eighth tournament in a row. On the thirteenth day of the tournament Kotonowaka recorded a fourth defeat against Ryūden, automatically eliminating him from the title race and ended his hopes of promotion to at the end of the tournament. Despite having been knocked out of the title race, Kotonowaka played a part in the final outcome of the tournament with a victory over Atamifuji, who needed a win to possibly trigger a playoff for the championship. As this victory was a prerequisite for the Fighting Spirit award, Kotonowaka won the prize for the fifth time in his career. Kotonowaka finished 2023 with winning records at the ranks in all six of his tournaments. His father Sadogatake, speaking as the head of the Sumo Association's judging department, added that promotion is at stake for Kotonowaka at the tournament in January 2024.