Rikidōzan hid that he was Korean, died of a yakuza stab wound, and left his 22-year-old widow president of five companies and a reported 3 billion yen of debt

Rikidōzan was born Kim Sin-rak in 1924 in South Hamgyong, now in North Korea. He entered sumo in Japan in 1940, took a Japanese name and kept his Korean birth secret. He founded Japanese professional wrestling and owned hotels, nightclubs, golf courses and apartments. In June 1963 he married Keiko Tanaka, a former Japan Airlines flight attendant. On 8 December 1963 a yakuza member stabbed him in a Tokyo nightclub quarrel. He died on 15 December, aged 39. Most Japanese learned of his Korean origin only after his death. His widow, 22, became president of all five of his companies: Riki Enterprise, the Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, Riki Sports, Riki Boxing Club and Riki Kanko Kaihatsu. A 2024 book on her life by Masashi Hosoda puts the debt he left at 3 billion yen. She had one daughter by him. A Korean woman, an Olympian, reportedly also had a daughter by him^†. North Korea later claimed him. Kim Il-sung had a tomb built for him in North Korea, though he is buried in Japan, so the tomb is empty. A 1989 North Korean biography, "I Am a Korean", became required reading. In 1995 his pupil Antonio Inoki laid a wreath at the empty tomb.