It seems that newly promoted ozeki Takakeisho said that his “best memory of Nishinomiya” was Koshikiiwa Shrine when he paid a courtesy visit to Nishinomiya Mayor Toshiro Ishii on the 28th.
According to the linked article, he said he played at Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens as a child, and that his first time trying sumo was at a tournament held at Koshikiiwa Shrine.
He also served in the shrine’s regular “crying sumo” event, holding baby wrestlers, and said the shrine was his “best memory of Nishinomiya.”
Mayor Ishii apparently presented him with daiginjo sake from Nishinomiya’s sake brewery “Ozeki.”
Although Takakeisho is from Ashiya, he attended Nigawa Gakuin Elementary School and Hotoku Gakuen Junior High School, so he has quite a few ties to Nishinomiya.
