, born , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the dominant wrestler in the sport during the 1970s. Kitanoumi was promoted to yokozuna at the age of 21, becoming the youngest ever to achieve sumo's top rank. He won 24 tournament championships during his career and was one of a series of truly great yokozuna who came from Hokkaido, the largest and northernmost prefecture of Japan. At the time of his death he still held the records for most tournaments at yokozuna (63) and most bouts won as a yokozuna (670), but they have since been surpassed. Following his retirement in 1985 he established the Kitanoumi stable. He was chairman of the Japan Sumo Association from 2002 until 2008, and again from 2012 until his death. Career Born in Sōbetsu, Hokkaido, Kitanoumi began his professional sumo career in January 1967 at the age of 13, whilst still in middle school. He joined Mihogaseki stable, and was promoted to sumo's second highest jūryō division in May 1971 and the top makuuchi division a year later. He won his first top division yūshō or tournament championship in January 1974 and was promoted to ōzeki immediately afterwards. He secured promotion to yokozuna just three tournaments after that. At 21 years 2 months, he was the youngest ever yokozuna, beating the previous record held by Taihō by one month. Kitanoumi was the most successful wrestler in sumo for the rest of the 1970s. His dominance, and perceived stern demeanor, meant that he was not that popular with the general public. When he was defeated by underdog Takanohana in a playoff for the championship in September 1975, the audience threw so many zabuton—or cushions—into the ring in delight, that Kitanoumi said he could "hardly see the ceiling". He was known for not offering a defeated opponent a hand to get back to their feet, and was also notoriously monosyllabic when being interviewed by reporters. His best year was 1978, when he won five of the six tournaments and won 82 out of a possible 90 bouts, a record that stood until 2005. His chief rival during these years was Wajima, but Kitanoumi was much more consistent. He was heavy at 169 kg, was extremely strong and had excellent balance. He was also remarkably injury free and rarely missed a tournament. From July 1973 until September 1981 he chalked up 50 consecutive kachi-koshi, or