Author: Liam R

Legends of the Dohyo #4: A Family Divided Part One

Liam R Kyushu Basho 2017 , ,

Takanohana Wakanohana 2

Sports have a unique power to bond and connect us. New friendships begin on rinks, courts, and fields all over the world, and many a companion has been made cheering for the home team. Even the bond between siblings can be strengthened by a shared love of sports, and the storied history of athletics is full of brothers competing side by side, and sometimes, against each other. Competition drives us to become better, to push each other to new successes. But just as it can strengthen us, competition and the will to succeed can turn family into foe and tear the bonds of brotherhood apart. Such is the case of the Hanada brothers, Takanohana II and Wakanohana III.

The Hanada brothers were born into sumo royalty. Thier uncle, Yokozuna Wakanohana Kanji, was one of the most popular rikishi of the 1950’s. Nicknamed the devil of the dohyo, he had a prosperous career spanning twelve years and ten yusho championships. Wakanohana I opened the highly successful Futagoyama beya upon his retirement in 1962. One of his most promising students was his own younger brother, Ozeki Takanohana Kenshi. Although Takanohana never went on to reach the rank of Yokozuna, he was incredibly popular with fans throughout the 1970’s. Like his older brother before him, Takanohana would open his own stable (Fujishima beya) in 1982. After a successful junior high sumo career, Takanohana’s youngest son Koji joined his father’s stable in 1988. Not wanting to fall behind, he was soon joined by his older brother Masaru, and the two began to train together. Heya life would be an adjustment for the two brothers. When addressing their father, they were instructed to use the traditional name of oyakata, and they lived alongside their fellow rikishi in the stable, performing all the duties of rookies, regardless of their lineage.

Koji and Masaru adopted the shikona of Takahanada and Wakahanada respectively, and made their debut in March of 1988 alongside future rival Akebono. They made quick progress through the lower ranks amid much fanfare, as it was believed by many that the two “princes of sumo” were destined to continue their family’s prestigious legacy. Both earned promotions into the Maegashira rank in 1990, and by 1993 the brothers had become sumo superstars. With a combined four yusho and six jun-yusho, the brothers were widely credited for the sport’s restored popularity. 1993 also saw both men earn ozeki promotions, with Takahanada’s coming in March and Wakahanada receiving his in September. With these promotions the two were permitted to adopt the shikona of their father and uncle, officially becoming Takanohana II and Wakanohana III. Within six years, the Hanada brothers had taken the sumo world by storm, yet their greatest achievements and most challenging trials were still ahead of them.

End of part one.

Takahanada (left) vs. Chiyonofuji (right), Natsu basho, 1991.

 

Who’s That Rikishi #5: Okinoumi Ayumi

Liam R Kyushu Basho 2017 , ,

OkinoumiAge: 32
Birth Name: Ayumi Fukuoka
Home Town: Okinoshima, Japan
Stable: Hakkaku
Highest Rank: Sekiwake

Okinoumi Ayumi never intended to take up professional sumo. Born Ayumi Fukuoka on the Western Japanese island of Okinoshima, he saw his future out on the sea rather than atop the Dohyo. While studying to be a licensed mariner, Ayumi was introduced to former Yokozuna Hokutoumi Nobuyoshi. Now oyakata of Hakkaku beya, Hokutoumi convinced Ayumi to join his stable and pursue a career in sumo. In 2005, Ayumi made his professional debut in Osaka, fighting under his family name of Fukuoka. After three years of hard work and steady progress, Fukuoka experienced his first taste of success when he won the Makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record at the Hatsu basho of 2009. This victory earned him his first promotion to the Juryo division. Before his Juryo debut, he addopted his new shikona of Okinoumi to pay homage to his home island. Back-to-back poor performances of 4-11 and 5-10 would see the newly named Okinoumi relegated back to Makushita for Nagoya. This demotion prompted him to adopt the name Fukuoka again, which seemed to have a positive effect on the young rikishi as he earned another Juryo promotion at the 2009 Aki basho.

The re-christened Okinoumi made his Makuuchi debut at the 2010 Haru basho, becoming the first rikishi from Shimane prefecture in 88 years. In early 2010 the sumo world was rocked by the baseball gambling scandal, and as a result of his involvement in illegal betting, Okinoumi was suspended for the Nagoya basho and demoted to Juryo for the following tournament. A strong performance in September saw him back in Makuuchi by the 2010 November tournament. Okinoumi’s 2011 started with an impressive 11-4 at the New Year tournament, where he finished second place in the yusho race and picked up his first special prize. After two years of being a rank and filer, Okinoumi recorded his second career jun-yusho at the 2013 basho in Osaka. His performance also earned him a promotion to Komusubi, but a 4-11 record at the Natsu basho would land him back in the Maegashira once more.

March 2015 would see Okinoumi receive a significant bump up the banzuke from Maegashira 6 to Sekiwake, his highest rank to date, due to the underperformance of several rikishi above him. An injury forced him to cut his first tournament at Sekiwake short, however, and he droped back down to the lower Maegashira for the 2015 Natsu basho. Except for two brief appearances at Komusubi, nagging health issue would keep Okinoumi floating around the mid to high Maegashira throughout the rest of 2015 and much of 2016. A respectable 9-6 showing at the 2016 Aki basho, which also saw him take home the outstanding performance prize and two kinboshi victories, resulted in another promotion to Sekiwake for the November competition. Much like before he would not hold on to this position for long, and was soon back amongst the rank and filers where he has remained to the present. Preferring to fight on the mawashi, Okinoumi uses a variety of yotsu-zumo techniques to win his matches. His favorite kimarite winning move is a yorikiri, and he prefers a migi-yotsu left hand outside right hand inside grip. Much like fellow rikishi Endo, Okinoumi is also very popular with sumo’s female fans due to his handsome appearance.

Endo (left) vs. Okinoumi (right), Kyushu basho 2017.

Links:
http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=6463
http://www.sumo.or.jp/EnSumoDataRikishi/profile?id=2759
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinoumi_Ayumi

Who’s That Rikishi #4: Chiyomaru Kazuki

Liam R Kyushu Basho 2017 , ,

Chiyomaru

Age: 26
Birth Name: Kazuki Kinoshita
Home Town: Shibushi, Japan
Stable: Kokonoe
Highest Rank: Maegashira 11

With his rotund physique and jolly personality, one would be hard-pressed to miss Chiyomaru Kazuki. Born in Shibushi city in 1991, Chiyomaru practiced judo throughout much of his youth before entering Kokonoe beya after high school. His younger brother Chiyootori Yuki joined him a year later, and together the two trained under former Yokozuna Chiyonofuji. In 2007 Chiyomaru made his professional debut and made steady progress through sumo’s lower ranks over the next few years. Tragedy would strike his family in 2011 when a fire burned down his parents’ home. Chiyomaru and his brother, now an active rikishi as well, decided to turn their tragedy into motivation and vowed to become more successful to help their parents rebuild their home.

It appeared that Chiyomaru’s younger brother was more serious about their vow, and in 2012 Chiyootori overtook his elder sibling and reached the salaried rank of Juryo. In an attempt to motivate him to train harder, Chiyonofuji assigned Chiyomaru to be a tsukebito for his brother. This assignment had the desired effect on Chiyomaru, who felt shame in being his little brother’s personal attendant. From this point on he applied himself full-heartedly to his training and eventually joined Chiyootori in Juryo at the 2013 Aki basho. In January of the following year, Chiyomaru won his first division championship, taking the Juryo yusho with a 13-2 record. This victory ensured his promotion to the Makuuchi division for the following tournament, where Chiyomaru  joined Chiyotoori and marked the tenth time in history two brothers had competed in the top division simultaneously. Another strong performance saw him promoted to Maegashira 11 for the 2014 Natsu basho, his highest rank to date. Chiyomaru remained in the lower Makuuchi for the next year until a disastrous 3-12 record in May of 2015 saw him relegated back to Juryo. Unable to put together a streak of winning records good enough to warrant a return to the top division, he remained in Juryo for another two years. In July of 2017, Chiyomaru was able to re-establish himself as a top rank rikishi, and he has remained in Makuuchi ever since. Chiyomaru mainly uses oshi-zumo on the dohyo, winning nearly 60% of his matches with either an oshidashi pushout or a yorikiri forceout. Chiyomaru has developed a large following of female fans who find him incredibly kawaii, and who affectionately nicknamed him 22, referencing his body fat percentage.

Kaisei (left) vs. Chiyomaru (right), Aki basho, 2017.

Links:
http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=7240
http://www.sumo.or.jp/EnSumoDataRikishi/profile?id=3040
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiyomaru_Kazuki

Legends of the Dohyo #3: The Peerless One

Liam R Kyushu Basho 2017 , ,

Raiden2

Throughout sumo’s long and storied history, there have emerged several men whose exceptional skill on the dohyo has led them to be considered the greatest of all time. Taiho, Chiyonofuji, Takanohana II, Asashoryu, Hakuho. These are all sekitori whose status as the best of the best has been hotly debated even to this day. Yet there is one man from sumo’s distant past who may overshadow them all. A rikishi whose sheer dominance elevated him to the status of legend. The mighty thunderbolt, Raiden Tameemon.

Like many legends, this story has humble beginnings. Born Seki Tarokichi in 1767, the man who would one day be known as Raiden Tameemon grew up in a small village in Shinano province. Even in his youth, Tarokichi’s strength was already considerable, and his father enrolled him in sumo classes in a nearby village when he was fourteen years old. During a 1784 jungyo tour of Shinano, the young Tarokichi impressed the visiting stablemaster of Urakaze beya with both his strength and extraordinary height. Standing over six feet tall he was considered a giant compared to his fellow countrymen. Tarokichi was invited to train at Urakaze stable in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) where he honed his sumo techniques. His time at Urakaze was short-lived, and he soon began training at Isenoumi beya under Tanikaze Kajinosuke, sumo’s fourth Yokozuna and the first to hold the position while still living.

In 1790, Tarokichi would make his professional debut at the winter tournament under his new shikona of Raiden, which roughly translates to “thunderbolt”. He finished his first basho with the best record of all rikishi who had participated, including his teacher Tanikaze and the fifth Yokozuna Onogawa Kisaburo. In 1795 Raiden attained the rank of Ozeki, a position he held for seventeen years. Of the thirty-five tournaments he entered, Raiden emerged victorious on twenty-eight occasions*. Of these victories, seven were won without a single loss**, giving the Thunderbolt a record winning percentage of 96%. His supremacy on the dohyo became so renowned that the Sumo Association began limiting the techniques he could use in an attempt to keep his matches more exciting and less one-sided.

Despite dominating sumo for two decades, Raiden would never attain the prestigious rank of Yokozuna, retiring as an Ozeki in 1811 at the age of 44. There have been many theories as to why he was never awarded the title, the most likely of which involving his strained relationship with the Yoshida clan. At the time, only the Yoshida clan held the authority to issue official Yokozuna licenses. It has been hypothesized that Raiden was denied a license due to his ties to the Tokugawa Shogun, whose regime was deeply opposed by the Yoshida. Despite never being granted the rank of Yokozuna, In 1900 his name was inscribed on the Yokozuna Stone at Tomioka Hachiman Shrine, with the only title befitting his tremendous impact on sumo: “Peerless Rikishi” Raiden Tameemon.

* These are not considered official victories as the current yusho system did not come into effect until 1909.
**Although Raiden did not suffer any defeats during these tournaments, several of his matches ended in draws where the winner could not be decided definitively.

Links
http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=3143
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiden_Tameemon
Sumo Matchup Centuries in the Making