Naruto stable (2017)


Naruto stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Nishonoseki ichimon or group of stables founded by Kotoōshū Katsunori on 1 April 2017.

History

Naruto stable was established on 1 April 2017 by the Bulgarian-born former ōzeki Kotoōshū Katsunori, who branched out from Sadogatake stable. It is based in Sumida, Tokyo. One of the stable's early recruits was also a Bulgarian – former junior wrestling champion Ventsislav Katsarov who retired in April 2019 and returned to Bulgaria. The opening ceremony of the stable was attended by one hundred people including Kotoōshū's former stablemate Kotoshōgiku. Kotoōshū commented, "I want to nurture a wrestler who will eclipse me." As of April 2020 it has 14 wrestlers.
Kotoōshū became a naturalized Japanese citizen two months after his retirement in March 2014. His official name is Andō Karoyan. He is the first European-born stablemaster. He is also only the third foreign-born wrestler to open his own stable after Takamiyama and Musashimaru.
According to a report in May 2018, some wrestlers said that they chose Naruto stable because they had the most information when they searched the internet. Naruto stable is not related to Tagonoura stable which had the same name until 2013.
Naruto Oyakata suspended one of his wrestlers from the January 2019 tournament after it emerged he had choked a more junior wrestler as a punishment. This is the first time the Compliance Committee and the Anti-Violence Provisions, which were established in December 2018, were applied. On February 19, 2019, an apology statement was posted on the official Twitter of Naruto stable "To all of you who always support us. This time, I was very sorry for the trouble that occurred in the stable. We will reflect firmly and take the disposition of the Sumo Association seriously, and will provide guidance and supervision to prevent this from happening in the future." and the official blog of Master Naruto.

Owners

1 Chome-22-16 Mukōjima, Sumida-ku, Tōkyō-to 130-0003, Japan. It is nearby the Tokyo Skytree.