The latest shot of Minatogawa Oyakata, former ozeki Takaketsugu, who retired at the end of last September’s autumn tournament, has become the talk of the town. Nawo, drummer and vocalist of the rock band Maximum the Hormone, who attended the “Grand Sumo Unveiling of Takakikatsu ‘s Retirement and Minatogawa’s Assumption of the Title” on April 4, updated his X. He wrote, “What a surprise! He said, “Oh my God! I participated in the ceremony to cut off Mr. Takaketsugu’s hair, and I was afraid to even put in the scissors,” he reported, revealing two shots of him and the Minatogawa Oyakata. Next to Nawo, who is dressed in a purple kimono, we see a slimmer and cleaner Minatogawa Oyakata, who looks quite different from the way Kikagatsu looked in his active years. Minatogawa Oyakata wears a crisp black montsuki kimono, and the contours of his face are now clearly visible. The dramatic change in Minatogawa Oyakata’s appearance was greeted on SNS with comments such as “I didn’t know who he was,” “He’s a different person now,” “Is that you, Takaketsugatsu? I couldn’t help but Google him to make sure,” “Who does he look like? I hope it’s not something morbid.” “I wonder if human beings can change their body shape like this…,” were some of the many surprised comments. In May, Minatogawa Oyakata also attended a talk event at the Sumo Museum in the Ryogoku Kokugikan. He announced that he had lost a great deal of weight, from 170 kg at the time of his retirement in the fall tournaments last year to 130 kg eight months later, “a little less than 40 kg. During his active career, he said, “I was not a strong eater by nature. I lost weight when I let my guard down.” He revealed that he was stoic about body building, and laughed, saying, “The biggest change since I was active is that I don’t have to force myself to eat anymore.
Maiduna News