Ōga Atsushi (born 22 October 1977 as Atsushi Moriyasu) is a former

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler from Nogata,

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

, Japan. His highest rank was ''

jūryō Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' 6. He was well known to sumo audiences for his performance of the bow twirling ceremony ''( yumitori-shiki)'' which takes place at the end of every tournament day, a role he began in 2004. It is normally performed by an apprentice ranked in the ''

makushita Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' division or below, but Ōga continued to do it even after promotion to the ''jūryō'' division.

Career

He was born Atushi Moriyasu in

Nōgata, Fukuoka is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 55,151 in 27684 households, and a population density of 890 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Nōgata is locat ...

, the same city that '' ōzeki'' Kaiō came from, and they went to the same middle school. Moriyasu admired Kaiō greatly and when he joined professional sumo he deliberately avoided Kaiō's Tomozuna stable, hoping to one day face him in a tournament. He chose

Takasago stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It is correctly written in Japanese as "髙砂部屋", but the first of these ''kanji'' is rare, and is more commonly written as "高砂部屋". History The stable was establ ...

instead and made his first appearance at the March tournament of 1993, fighting under his family name of Moriyasu. He was just tall and weighed only in his debut tournament. In the lower divisions he served as a '' tsukebito'' or personal attendant to a number of senior wrestlers in Takasago stable such as

Mitoizumi Mitoizumi Masayuki (born 2 September 1962 as Masato Koizumi) is a former sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki, Japan. His professional career spanned 22 years, from 1978 until 2000. The highest rank he reached was ''sekiwake''. He won over 800 caree ...

and Toki. In May 2001 he changed his ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Muromachi period and established itself during the Edo period, where they were used as a means to hide the identities of the . Given by the master to his di ...

'' to Ōga, with the "ō" character taken from his idol Kaiō and second "ki" from Toki, which can also be read as "ga." He changed the second part of his ''shikona'' from Atsushi to Akitoshi at the same time. He was to change this again to Tosa and then finally Atsushi once more, his real given name. He took over the '' yumitori-shiki'' role from Musashifuji in January 2004, as it is normally done by a low-ranking wrestler from the same stable as a ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'', and Musashigawa stable's Musashimaru had recently retired, leaving Asashōryū of Takasago stable as the only ''yokozuna''. Ōga went on to perform the ceremony 300 times over 20 tournaments. In March 2006 he was promoted to the ''

'' division. He was the first ''yumitori-shiki'' performer to reach ''

sekitori A ''sekitori'' (関取) is a '' rikishi'' (力士, sumo wrestler) who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: '' makuuchi'' and '' jūryō''. The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fr ...

'' status since Tomoefuji in July 1990. Tomoefuji stopped doing the ceremony upon reaching ''jūryō'', but Ōga was happy to keep doing it, the first time a ''sekitori'' had done so since Hanakago stable's

Itakura is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,323 in 5717 households and a population density of 340 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Itakura's animal mascot ...

performed it for one tournament in March 1975. He scored 10–5 in his ''jūryō'' debut and took part in a three way playoff for the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

with Hōchiyama and Toyozakura. He fought in the ''jūryō'' division for six tournaments in total, with a 42–48 record.

Retirement from sumo

Ōga announced his intention to retire on 25 March 2007, after it was clear that a 5–10 record in the Osaka tournament would see him demoted to the ''makushita'' division. He commented, "I performed the ''yumitori'' ceremony today as if it was just like any other day. When I was promoted to ''jūryō'', I decided I'd retire if I fall down to'' makushita''. Since there is nothing wrong with me physically, there is not much I can do as I can no longer win. I have been able to see the ''yokozuna'' win ''yusho'' from a close vantage point. It's been a great experience. I have no regrets whatsoever on my 15 years of ''rikishi'' life." However, he did not immediately submit retirement papers, in order to collect a salary for April and also take part in the regional tour that month. He officially retired in May, and his ''

danpatsu-shiki A , or, more colloquially, , is a sumo wrestler. Although used to define all wrestlers participating in sumo wrestling matches, the term is more commonly used to refer to professional wrestlers, employed by the Japan Sumo Association, who part ...

'' or retirement ceremony was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 3, 2007. After leaving sumo he opened a chanko restaurant in Nakama and took part in some

pro wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

competitions in Fukuoka.

Personal life

He married in 2006 and has a son.

Fighting style

Ōga liked a ' (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip on his opponent's ''

mawashi In sumo, a is the loincloth that (sumo wrestlers) wear during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a as part of the ring entry ceremony or . ''Mawashi'' ''Sekitori'' During competition For top ranked profess ...

.'' He specialized in ', a tactic used by smaller wrestlers which involved pushing his head against the opponent's chest while pushing on the front part of the ''mawashi''. His most common winning ''

kimarite is the technique used in sumo by a (wrestler) to win a match. It is officially decided or announced by the (referee) at the end of the match, though judge (sumo), judges can modify this decision. The records of are then kept for statistical ...

'' were ' (force out), ' (push out), ' (slap down) and ' (overarm throw).

Career record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oga, Atsushi 1977 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers People from Nōgata, Fukuoka Sumo people from Fukuoka Prefecture