Kongà  Masahiro (18 November 1948 - 12 August 2014) was a former sumo wrestler from Hokkaidà Â, Japan. His highest rank was sekiwake and he won a top division tournament championship in 1975. He was a sumo coach and head of the Nishonoseki stable from 1976 until 2013.
He was born in Fukagawa as Masahiro Yoshizawa, and joined the Nishonoseki stable (home of the great Taihà Â) in May 1964 at the age of 15. He initially wrestled under the shikona of Oyoshizawa, based on his own surname. He first appeared on the banzuke ranking sheets in July 1964 and won all seven of his bouts, taking the jonokuchi championship with a perfect 7âÂÂ0 record. However his progress slowed somewhat after that. In 1966 he made the third makushita division, and gradually climbed up to makushita 3 before dropping to makushita 6 for the July 1969 tournament. There he took his second divisional championship, again with an unbeaten 7âÂÂ0 score, and was promoted to the second jà «ryà  division, giving him elite sekitori status. He was relatively light for a sumo wrestler at just . To mark his promotion he was given the new name of Kongà Â. He remained in the jà «ryà  division for just over a year, recording a couple of make-koshi or losing scores, but in May and July 1970 he won two consecutive jà «ryà  championships to earn promotion to the top makuuchi division.
He had put on a little more weight, and was now around , but he remained in the maegashira ranks until May 1972, when a 9âÂÂ6 score saw him reach the titled san'yaku ranks for the first time at komusubi. He was unable to maintain the rank however, scoring only 5âÂÂ10. In September 1974 he defeated yokozuna Kitanoumi on the opening day, earning him his first kinboshi or gold star, and at the end of the tournament he was awarded his first sanshà  or special prize for Outstanding Performance. He returned to komusubi for the following tournament.
The highlight of his career came in July 1975 when he won the top division championship from the maegashira 1 ranking. Yokozuna Wajima and à Âzeki Takanohana both missed the tournament through injury. Kongà  defeated Kitanoumi once again on the 7th day and finished one win ahead of fellow maegashira Aobajà  with a fine 13âÂÂ2 record. He won his third Outstanding Performance prize and was promoted straight to sekiwake for the following tournament. This was to be his highest rank, as he could score only 6âÂÂ9 in the September 1975 tournament and never managed to return to sekiwake.
In 1975 Kongà Â's stablemaster, former à Âzeki Saganohana, died and his widow asked Kongà  to marry her second daughter and take over the running of Nishonoseki stable. Kongà  agreed and he retired from active competition in 1976 at the age of 27. However, before the marriage could be officially registered, the daughter ran out on Kongà  and so the widow adopted him as her foster son instead. and he changed his name to Masahiro Kitamura. Veteran Kirinji, already in the top division when Kongà  took over, remained active until 1988, and Kongà  produced several other sekitori, such as Hà Âà Â, Daitetsu and Daizen. However, with the stablemaster in poor health it went into a gradual decline. Kongà  was hospitalized following a stroke in October 2012. In January 2013, the stable's three remaining wrestlers retired and the stable was closed. Kongà  himself retired from the Sumo Association in June 2013.
He died of pneumonia on August 12, 2014.