[sumo] [Long] Kitazakura/Toyoazakura Interview - Part 1

[Joe Kuroda <joe_kuroda@yahoo.com>]

I posted this on sumoforum.net but someone suggested
perhaps I could post it on the ML:

This is from an interview section in Sumo Magazine
called "Friendly Talk" - in this September issue, the
interview was done with Toyozakura and Kitazakura (it
was conducted after the Nagoya Basho, before the Aki
Basho.)

===================================================

Sumo Magazine: Last time we did an interview with you,
Toyozakura-zeki just made the Juryo debut so it has
been six years.
Kitazakura : How many bashos were you in Makushita
since you fell from your Juryo debut basho? About a
year?
Toyozakura : Over a year. I think it's around 10
bashos.
Kitazakua : If you were there for 10 bashos, that was
a kind of waste of time, wasn't it. I've fallen down
often too. I fell five times, a total of six bashos. I
was stuck in Makushita for over a year.

Sumo: What was the hardest thing while you were in
Makushita after you were demoted from Juryo?
Toyo: I've gone down due to an injury so until I had
recovered from it, that was the toughest time for me.
To be honest there were times when I was thinking of
leaving. 

Sumo: Have you talked to each other as brothers in
such a time?
Kita: We've talked a lot. I guess we can talk about it
now but at the time, you were crying a lot.
Toyo: Yeah, true, I've cried a lot.
Kita: I was worried about a surgery then, whether to
do a surgery or not. But when I think about it now, it
turned out he was better off not having it. 
Toyo: Well, we still are not sure how it turned out
though.

Sumo: The injury you are speaking of is the one you
suffered when you made your Juryo debut.
Kita: Right. In the Juryo debut basho, he had 7 wins
and 6 losses record on the Day 14 and he managed to
get himself injured. On the Senshuraku he went in
after getting a shot of painkiller, but it was simply
no contest. 
Toyo: It was a badly twisted ankle. I had some damages
in the ligaments too, as well as some broken bones.
Since it was only for one day, I just had it taped up
tightly and got a shot of painkiller. If I got
Makekoshi, I'd go down to Makushita so I pushed myself
through but it was no use.
Kita: Since he went back on the Senshuraku, he didn't
qualify for a Kosho status so he had to go back the
next basho. But he couldn't do any training whatsoever
to prepare for the basho.

Toyo: After I got to Fukuoka (for Kyushu Basho), I
went back to Tokyo to get it check over again. I
withdrew for three days and decided to enter but I
ended up only winning two bouts.
Kita: And after that basho, he just did this climbing
up a bit and falling down a bit routine and stayed
down there for 10 bashos.
Toyo: Even once I got back in Juryo, I stayed for two
bashos and fell down, and then came up for three
bashos and went down again. I just could not stay in
Juryo for a long.

Sumo: In those days, as an older brother, what have
you been saying to your younger brother?
Kita: Two of us discussed about getting a firm grip on
the injury and how to best respond to it. 

Sumo: When were you able to start training again?
Toyo: I started resuming working out about in January
but it was still so painful so I needed to rest quite
a bit. Even in March it was more like I work out a bit
and then I rest a bit type of thing. I really couldn't
train well at all.
Kita: You know, we went through a pretty tough time
there. But even going through such a difficulty, him
getting the Kantosho and the fact that right now both
of us together are able to compete as Makuuchi
rikishis, we are really happy.

Toyo: How many times in the sumo history did we have
two brothers, competing at the same time in Makuuchi?
Sumo: You guys are the fifth in the sumo history.
Toyo: We have Terao-zeki, Waka-Taka, Ogi-zeki and who
else?
Kita: I believe Tanikaze...
Toyo: So we are the fifth brothers. Wow!
Kita: For the brothers belonging to a different heya,
aren't we the first?

Sumo: You are correct. But perhaps very soon we may
have the sixth. 
Toyo: Huh? Who are they?
Sumo: Roho and Hakurozan.
Kita: Well, they haven't faced any major injury yet.
It could be possible they may get an injury as it's
never a smooth sailing. You never know. This is sumo
so you can never go on without suffering some type of
injury so you need to wait and see. 
Sumo: I guess it's true that you have to live with
your injuries.

Sumo: In the Nagoya, both of you had good records.
Kitazakura-zeki, you had consecuetive wins, didn't
you?
Kita: Well in my case I was just lucky. But how many
wins did you have?
Toyo: I won four straight, lost one, two straight
wins, one loss, two straight wins and another loss and
then finished with four straight wins. 
Kita: That's amazing. I won nine straight, too. So
it's really amazing (laugh).

Sumo: Until the Senshuraku, you both had a chance of
winning the Yusho.
Kita: If you just looked at the record, that's true,
but I never even thought about it at all. The winning
streak was just one of those things, you know. The
thing that pleased me the most was that I was able to
get Kachikoshi without getting any injury. I was
thinking even if I did get Makekoshi, if I could
finish without suffering any injury, I would be happy.
Actually around from the Day 14 onwards, I was more
concerned what Toyozakura-zeki was doing, far more
than my own situation. 

Sumo: He was in the Makuuchi Yusho race and at that
point, his winning a Sansho-award was pretty certain.
Kita: Well he has the same DNA as I have, it's just
the way it's been lined up is little different. So
from a point of view of someone sharing the same DNA,
I was so happy that the same DNA got the Kantosho
award (laugh). Actually not only I was really happy,
it gave me a tremendous motivation.

Sumo: Toyozakura-zeki, you stepped on the dohyo after
seeing your older brother competed, so I think it must
have given you a motivation as well. 
Toyo: Yes, that's true. It really gave me a boost.

Sumo: You'd always watch his bouts every day.
Toyo: Hmm...actually I missed several. What can I
say...I've forgotten to see it.
Kita: You didn't want to watch it, did you? 
Toyo: I just forgot about it. That's all. Like...oh it
was already over, you know. I figured there was no
point in worrying about it so much.
Kita: Well actually I have't seen all of his bouts
either so...it's each individual's battle.
Toyo: This isn't a "friendly talk" at all then!
Kita: Hahahaha. But since you were winning you had a
time to relax a bit.
Toyo: He had a pretty good record then so I figured
even if he dropped one or two...
Sumo: Do you worry more when you two are not doing so
well?
Toyo: Yes, especially when there is an injury
involved.

Sumo: Weren't your father (former Sandanme with
Tokitsukaze Beya) Yoshiharu, happy about your record? 
Toyo: He was very happy. As soon as the basho was
over, I immediately called him but he sounded rather
nervous. Apparently there was a reporter from a local
paper (the Chugoku Shimbun) there and he sounded like
a stranger.
Kita: That's because the comment would get printed in
the paper. 

Sumo: He must have been ecstatic.
Kita: When an older brother like myself was that
happy, I imagined he must have been way way happier. I
hope he will try to do his best to stay healthy and
live long by seeing both of us doing our best (laugh).
Toyo: Exactly.
Kita: Hahaha. But we are starting to sound rather
serious.

Sumo: Your first Kachikoshi in your third Makuuchi
Basho was 12 wins.
Toyo: My objective was to get Kachikoshi so I've
outdone myself.
Kita: This was your third Makuuchi basho?
Toyo: Right. It was my third.
Kita: The next one is my fourth.
Toyo: So that means we have the same number of
Makuuchi bashos under our belt.
Kita: In your just fourth basho, you'd be going up
pretty high in the Banzuke. I must work much harder.

Sumo: You should go up pretty high.
Toyo: I figure I would climb up to around M5.
(note: Toyozakura went up to M5 from M14). 

Sumo: It's a position that you may or may not face the
yokozuna or ozekis.
Kita: If you get Kachikoshi at that rank, you may get
to Maegashira 1 or possibly even a Sanyaku.
Toyo: To get to a Sanyaku, I probably need to win 13
bouts or so. It's pretty crowded up in the top ranks. 
Kita: That may not be so. If a higher rank gets
Makekoshi and Sanyaku rikishis also get Makekoshi, you
will definitely have a good chance. So why don't you
just shoot for a Sanyaku as well?
Toyo: It never goes that smooth.
(note: Toyozakura finished the Aki with 5 wins and 10
losses.)

(continues....) 


=====
.....Jonosuke 
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