Shonosuke Kimura ("Sho-o"), 64, the highest umpire on the Dai Nippon Sumo Association Staff, who in private life was Kanokichi Goto, died on Saturday, March 9, at 2 a.m. at Hayashi Hospital, 22, Azuma-cho, Azabu-ku, Tokyo, where he had been undergoing treatment for a stomach disease since the close of the January tournament.
    The remains were removed Saturday morning to his home at 2 Higashi Ryogoku 2-chome. The funeral will be held before the May tournament.
    He was born in Tochigi prefecture in 1876, and steadily rose in the ranks of professional wrestlers as an umpire. In 1936 he was granted the title of "Sho-o", designating the highest rank, by Yoshida Tsukasake, the Judge Landis of Japan's professional sumo circles.