By Avi Landau
Though born in Hyogo Prefecture in Western Japan, Yutaka Hagiwara came to live in Ibaraki Prefecture as a small child. He grew up in Ryugasaki and Ushiku (Tsukuba’s immediate neighbors to the south) where he played little-league and junior high-school baseball which he apparently excelled as a pitcher. But it was when he was fifteen years old and about to enter high-school that he found his “true-calling” – Sumo Wrestling – in which, under his SHIKONA (ring name), Kisenosato (稀勢の里) he rose up through the ranks of Japan’s “National Sport”, eventually being named (and thus immortalized) Yokozuna in 2017 at the age of 30 – the first native born Japanese promoted to Grand Champion in nearly 20 years.
It was not an easy road to the top – he posted lots of match wins, though for a long while didn’t win any tournaments (which was necessary for the final promotion) – and after his first tournament as a Yokozuna, which he won and was injured in, he was never the same again – and had to retire in 2019.
And through it all, Kisenosato had tremendous support from his hometown fans – and when I say hometown, I not only mean Ryugasaki and Ushiku, but Tsukuba and the rest of Ibaraki Prefecture (when sumo wrestlers are introduced before each match, their names come after their home prefectures!)- and with the Joban Line serving as a fast and convenient conduit to the National Sumo Stadium in Ryogoku (with only one transfer) he always had many supporters on hand to cheer him on – and all the Kisenosato goods – including the Kisenosato BENTO lunch-boxes – always quickly sold-out (this is emblematic of how the Japanese, in general, take great pride in their local heros ). And when he was FINALLY promoted to Yokozuna, there was an electric excitement in the air that was tangible even to those uninterested in the ancient sport.
Before his official retirement on September 29, 1919, he worked for a year as a coach in his Tagonoura Stable going by the name Araiso. This is something that he was required to do in order to realize his next goal – opening a stable of his own. To prepare himself more thoroughly for the task, too a one-year course at Waseda University and wrote a thesis entitled: A New Approach to Running a Sumo Stable.
He then announced (after apparently failing to find a good site to set up house in Tokyo’s Shitamachi area) he announced that he would be “coming home”, building a beautiful new stable near Hitachi no Ushiku Station (though the actual address is in Ami Town) so that he can give back to the community that had supported him so lovingly over the years (though the construction company doing the work is one that is based in Fukuoka… could that be the result of “an offer he couldn’t refuse”… from some underworld figures?).
The new facility will be ready in April – and from then on it will be possible to observe young trainees practicing – and even sign your kids up for sumo classes! It will also be a thrill for some to see the hefty and traditionally clad lads walking around the area, patronizing the local eating establishments.
Till the new stable opens, Kisenosato’s wrestlers (though he now goes by the name Nisho-no Seki) will be training at Tsukuba University’s martial arts gym. If you are lucky, you might run into them on campus – or you could even go to the DOJO and have a peak inside…
LOCATION: To get to the new STABLE (still under construction) from Tsukuba: head down Nishi O-Dori and go past Hitachino Ushiku Station and turn left on Route 25. Then go a couple of hundred meters and you’ll see a big TOYOTA dealership on the right. The new STABLE is also on the right, just past it.
TsukuBlog 
After a delay of more than a month (it was originally scheduled to have gone into operation in April), the long awaited opening ceremony was held at the new Nisho-no seki Sumo Stable (under stable-master and former Yokozuna Kise no Sato) in Ami Machi on June 5, 2022. If you had passed by the impressively large new building on that day (it has a bath that can fit ten wrestlers and a huge walk-in fridge) you would have seen throngs of fans, poilce cars and a fair share of VIPs there for the occasion. Kise no Sato gave an emotional speech, saying – Now I have my own castle, and I think this place is going to have an impact on our training. From today we will start working towards our goal of producing Champions (Ozeki) and Grand Champions (Yokozuna)
They say it will be possible to observe training sessions in the future, but I’m not sure about how that is going to work yet. I will let you know as soon as I do!
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Just letting all you hard-core Kise no Sato (and sumo in general) fans know that there is currently a small exhibiton of the locally born-and raised Yokozuna’s memorabilia and paraphernalia being held at the Chuo Kominkan (central community center) in Ami Town (https://www.town.ami.lg.jp/0000000768.html). On display are also photo’s of all the trainees at the newly opened Nisho-no Seki Stable and you can even get a video tour of their beautiful state-of-the-art facility. It runs through June 26, 2022 (9am-5pm) Admission is free.
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