Kintamayama

Hanakaze retires

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Yes, it's true-sumo's oldest active rikishi Hanakaze (51) has announced his retirement. He will be working in a newly opened restaurant in Hyogo prefecture from February. He planned on retiring when he reached 50 but decided to postpone it due to the virus and difficulty in finding a job. He was the first over - 50 rikishi to get a kachikoshi in 116 years in January 2021 and was in charge of the chanko making at Tatsunami beya, feeding Meisei and Houshouryuu lately.

Edited by Kintamayama
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2 minutes ago, Kintamayama said:

Yes, it's true-sumo's oldest active rikishi Hanakaze (51) has announced his retirement.

Does he get an extra five-year term as a chanko advisor?:-P

What an amazing feat to stick it out that long!

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End of an era. It's unbelievable how long he was around. Chiyonofuji was in the middle of his reign when he began. He holds so many longevity records and was the only rikishi to fight in the showa, heisei and reiwa eras.

I wonder if he gets anything in retirement bonuses, might be a nice sum if so just for how long he was there.

 

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おつかれさまでした。。。 but I was kind of hoping he would stick it out until the mandatory retirement age!!!

9 minutes ago, Yokozuna Hattorizakura said:

It's unbelievable how long he was around. Chiyonofuji was in the middle of his reign when he began.

Another fun fact... he also started a year before his shisho!

It seems fairly remarkable that anyone who was in sumo that long only worked under two stablemasters.

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Hanakaze shared a banzuke with Oshio in Haru 1986, who shared a banzuke with Kitanonada in Hatsu 1962, who shared a banzuke with Oshio (again!) in Haru 1940,  who shared a banzuke with Otokojima in 1919, who's career started in Natsu 1900.

5 rikishi spanning 120+ years of Ozumo dating back to the turn of the 20th century. And the last rikishi to start his career before I was born. 

A great career of dedication and longevity worth praise, thank you Hanakaze!

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Otsukaresamadeshita (Showingrespect...)(Iamnotworthy...)

I have a vague memory that he was about to break one of Hakuho's records, cannot remember which one. Wonder if he managed to do it before the intai.

 

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12 minutes ago, hakutorizakura said:

Otsukaresamadeshita (Showingrespect...)(Iamnotworthy...)

I have a vague memory that he was about to break one of Hakuho's records, cannot remember which one. Wonder if he managed to do it before the intai.

 

Well, he wasn't too far off the record for most kachi koshi, although that record is actually held by Kaio who had one more than Hakuho. 

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On 25/01/2022 at 22:26, Kintamayama said:

sumo's oldest active rikishi Hanakaze (51) has announced his retirement. He will be working in a newly opened restaurant in Hyogo prefecture from February. He planned on retiring when he reached 50 but decided to postpone it due to the virus and difficulty in finding a job.

Hanakaze will now work  - after training - as driver for Asahi Taxi in Fukuyama, Hiroshima. A member of the Tatsunami-beya koenkai is an acquaintance of the company president. http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/articles/-/155706

He'll be driving this small electric vehicle, a gurisuro (green slow mobility) sightseeing mobile https://asahitaxi.jp/kanko/taxi_kanko/gurisuro/

img_e64a578de50e6434e8b0c9c11a0e69506618

Edited by Akinomaki
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I hope this is just to tide him over while economic conditions improve before opening his restaurant with a proper bang, rather than him changing plans altogether. I would one day like to visit Chanko Hanakaze wherever it may be.

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On 25/01/2022 at 15:26, Kintamayama said:

Yes, it's true-sumo's oldest active rikishi Hanakaze (51) has announced his retirement. He will be working in a newly opened restaurant in Hyogo prefecture from February. He planned on retiring when he reached 50 but decided to postpone it due to the virus and difficulty in finding a job. He was the first over - 50 rikishi to get a kachikoshi in 116 years in January 2021 and was in charge of the chanko making at Tatsunami beya, feeding Meisei and Houshouryuu lately.

 

53 minutes ago, Seiyashi said:

I hope this is just to tide him over while economic conditions improve before opening his restaurant with a proper bang, rather than him changing plans altogether. I would one day like to visit Chanko Hanakaze wherever it may be.

Based on what Kinta said back on Jan 25, it looks like he was going to work in a newly opened restaurant, not HIS restaurant, although it would be great if he had his own restaurant.

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1 hour ago, sumojoann said:

 

Based on what Kinta said back on Jan 25, it looks like he was going to work in a newly opened restaurant, not HIS restaurant, although it would be great if he had his own restaurant.

There was a leaked job ad for a restaurant called Chanko Hanakaze about a basho before Hanakaze retired, before the ad was pulled. The timing was too good to not suspect a connection, although it could well be a restaurant that someone is setting up for him (they bring the funds, he brings the expertise) and something fell through or got delayed.

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5 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

There was a leaked job ad for a restaurant called Chanko Hanakaze about a basho before Hanakaze retired, before the ad was pulled. The timing was too good to not suspect a connection, although it could well be a restaurant that someone is setting up for him (they bring the funds, he brings the expertise) and something fell through or got delayed.

I really hope it is, when I visit Japan, I would like to have chanko from the cook yokozuna :D

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On 14/04/2022 at 17:15, Seiyashi said:

There was a leaked job ad for a restaurant called Chanko Hanakaze about a basho before Hanakaze retired, before the ad was pulled. The timing was too good to not suspect a connection, although it could well be a restaurant that someone is setting up for him (they bring the funds, he brings the expertise) and something fell through or got delayed.

Chanko-cho Hanakaze opened yesterday in Kobe - he switched to Hyogo pref. because he's a big Takarazuka fan.

In the heya he created 11 varieties of chanko, preserving the Tatsunami-beya taste, and up to 7 types of other dishes were served when he was chanko-cho.

https://www.daily.co.jp/general/2022/04/16/0015223565.shtml

f_15223566.jpg

I wonder how he'll be taxi driver in Hiroshima pref. while running his restaurant (48min. with the shinkansen from Kobe to Fukuyama, 154min. by car)

Edited by Akinomaki
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The shinkansen's travelling time doesn't sound too bad, but a constant commute on it is quite the expense.

Probably some part-time for one of the jobs, or maybe he's more a consultant/owner than actually involved in the day to day operations of the restaurant.

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On 16/04/2022 at 09:54, Akinomaki said:

Chanko-cho Hanakaze opened yesterday in Kobe - he switched to Hyogo pref. because he's a big Takarazuka fan.

In the heya he created 11 varieties of chanko, preserving the Tatsunami-beya taste, and up to 7 types of other dishes were served when he was chanko-cho.

I wonder how he'll be taxi driver in Hiroshima pref. while running his restaurant (48min. with the shinkansen from Kobe to Fukuyama, 154min. by car)

The taxi company is based in Fukuyama, but the next article tells that Hanakaze will be on duty in Kyoto on weekdays, only on the weekend he's chanko-cho in his own restaurant, Chanko-cho Hanakaze. http://www.daily.co.jp/opinion-d/2022/04/20/0015232718.shtml

It seems he was in Fukuyama only for the training, Asahi taxi also operates in Kyoto keizai.info/general-bingo/103252

I guess the other 3 will be operating the shop alone when he's  taxi driver

f_15232719.jpg  b_15232721.jpgo

Pics and info from the menu: https://ameblo.jp/enomotosafe/entry-12737631602.html

Edited by Akinomaki
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Aren't rikishi banned from driving? I hope his training was good, he's got plenty of lost time to make up for...

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12 minutes ago, Octofuji said:

Aren't rikishi banned from driving? I hope his training was good, he's got plenty of lost time to make up for...

He doesn't appear to be driving a Ferrari or a cement truck.  ;-)

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3 minutes ago, Asojima said:

He doesn't appear to be driving a Ferrari or a cement truck.  ;-)

Ah yes I've scrolled up a bit further now :-)

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On 23/04/2022 at 16:51, Akinomaki said:
On 16/04/2022 at 09:54, Akinomaki said:

I wonder how he'll be taxi driver in Hiroshima pref. while running his restaurant (48min. with the shinkansen from Kobe to Fukuyama, 154min. by car)

The taxi company is based in Fukuyama, but the next article tells that Hanakaze will be on duty in Kyoto on weekdays, only on the weekend he's chanko-cho in his own restaurant, Chanko-cho Hanakaze. http://www.daily.co.jp/opinion-d/2022/04/20/0015232718.shtml

It seems he was in Fukuyama only for the training, Asahi taxi also operates in Kyoto keizai.info/general-bingo/103252

I guess the other 3 will be operating the shop alone when he's  taxi driver

I got this one wrong. He's learning to drive properly in Kyoto, with a usual taxi, and after that goes to Fukuyama - for the week - and drives that little sight-seeing mobile. In the article his 2nd career is still seen as that of only a taxi driver: https://maidonanews.jp/article/14604807

c2200279c5a6f38f851f2c194dd10020.jpg

And on the weekend he's in his own restaurant - I wonder who financed it.

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6 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

And on the weekend he's in his own restaurant - I wonder who financed it.

Highest probability guess - Tatsunami koenkai connections. With someone of his seniority and association with the heya, I'm not surprised if someone there bent over backwards more than the usual to tap on his cooking skill. That said, I wonder why he's not running the restaurant full time: maybe he's hedging his bets, wants to do something different for a change, etcetc. 

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6 hours ago, Seiyashi said:

Highest probability guess - Tatsunami koenkai connections. With someone of his seniority and association with the heya, I'm not surprised if someone there bent over backwards more than the usual to tap on his cooking skill. That said, I wonder why he's not running the restaurant full time: maybe he's hedging his bets, wants to do something different for a change, etcetc. 

He is dependent on koenkai connections for both careers now, but are they connected to the same persons, with the taxi driver job as something to pay for the restaurant?

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5 hours ago, Akinomaki said:

He is dependent on koenkai connections for both careers now, but are they connected to the same persons, with the taxi driver job as something to pay for the restaurant?

Seems an awfully complicated way to go about things rather than just adjusting the cut he vs his investors take in the restaurant (I'm assuming he doesn't actually have enough funds to set up one on his own). Goes back to hedging the bets about how a new eatery will do in an uncertain business climate?

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