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Tomokaze Sōdai
, born December 2, 1994, as is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kawasaki, Kanagawa. He debuted in sumo wrestling in May 2017 and made his ''makuuchi'' debut in March 2019. His highest rank has been ''maegashira'' 3. Originally a member of Oguruma stable, he moved to Nishonoseki stable in 2022. In June 2024 he moved to the newly-established Nakamura stable. He has one special prize and two ''kinboshi'' for defeating a ''yokozuna''. After suffering a joint dislocation in his right knee in 2019, he was forced to withdraw from all competitions and did not return until March 2021. Following his injury, Tomokaze admitted in an interview given to the '' Tokyo Shimbun'' that he was certified as Level 5 disabled and issued a disability certificate in February 2021. Early life and background Yūta grew up in a single-mother household. He is an accomplished pianist, his mother being a pianist herself and having taught him the instrument, and Yūta wanting to join a music col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 disciple, this pseudonym doesn't follow any fixed rules, but is chosen in accordance with numerous influences, drawing its kanji, characters from the wrestler's inspiration or family, from the history of his stable or even from the master's own name. History Sources attesting to the use of pseudonyms by wrestlers and other martial artists date back to the mid-1500s, during the Muromachi period. During the period of peace established under the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan experienced an unprecedented period of vagrancy for many samurai who had lost their social standing with their previous masters, who had been deposed or killed so that the shogunate could assert itself. These masterless samurai, called , could not engage in any activity under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kisenosato Yutaka
is a Japanese sumo elder from Ibaraki. As a wrestler, he made his professional debut in 2002 and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in 2004 at the age of just 18. After many years in the junior ''san'yaku'' ranks, he reached the second highest rank of '' ōzeki'' in January 2012. He earned three ''kinboshi'' or gold stars by defeating ''yokozuna'' in his career leading up to ''ōzeki'' and nine special prizes. He scored more than 20 double-digit winning records at the ''ōzeki'' rank. In 2016, he secured the most wins in the calendar year, the first wrestler to do so without winning a tournament in that year. After being a runner-up in a tournament on twelve occasions, he broke through at the January 2017 tournament, winning his first top division championship or ''yūshō'' with a record and subsequently was promoted to ''yokozuna'', the first Japanese-born wrestler to reach sumo's highest rank since Wakanohana in 1998. He had been a candidate four times previously (Jul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yūshō
is the term for a championship in Japanese. This article focuses on championships in the sport of professional sumo. It is awarded in each of the six annual '' honbasho'' or official tournaments, to the wrestler who wins the most bouts. ''Yūshō'' are awarded in all six professional sumo divisions. The prize money for a top ''makuuchi'' division championship is currently 10 million yen, while for the lowest '' jonokuchi'' division the prize is 100,000 yen. A runner-up is referred to as a ''jun-yūshō.'' Perhaps surprisingly, considering that most of the interest in tournaments today revolves around who will win the ''yūshō'', the concept of a prize for a wrestler's individual performance is a relatively recent one. Legendary wrestlers such as Tanikaze and Raiden are credited today with winning many championships, but they are all unofficial and are really nothing more than a "best tournament record." The individual ''yūshō'' idea evolved gradually, from wrestlers sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonokuchi
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. For more information, see ''kachi-koshi'' and ''make-koshi''. Wrestlers are also ranked within each division. The higher a wrestler's rank within a division is, the general level of opponents he will have to face becomes stronger. According to tradition, each rank is further subdivided into East and West, with East being slightly more prestigious, and ranked slightly higher than its West counterpart. The divisions, ranked in order of hierarchy from highest to lowest, are as follows: ''Makuuchi'' , or , is the top division. It is fixed at 42 wrestlers who are ranked according to their performance in previous tournaments. At the top of the division are the four ranks of "titleholders", or "champions" called the ''san'yaku'', comprising '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honbasho
A , or Grand Sumo Tournament in English, is an official professional sumo tournament. Only ''honbasho'' results matter in determining promotion and relegation for '' rikishi'' (sumo wrestlers) on the '' banzuke'' ranking. The number of ''honbasho'' held every year and their length has varied; since 1958 there are six tournaments held over 15 consecutive days in four locations every year. Since 1926 the ''honbasho'' are organized by the Japan Sumo Association, after the merger of the Tokyo and Osaka sumo associations. Etymology The term ''honbasho'' means "main (or real) tournament" and is used to distinguish these tournaments from unofficial tournaments which are held as part of sumo tours, between the six major tournaments. Such display tournaments may have prize money attached but a wrestler's performance has no effect on his ranking. This type of sumo is often called ''hana-sumo'' ( flower-sumo) as it is not taken as seriously by the wrestlers. History In the Edo period, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Takekaze Akira
Takekaze Akira (born June 21, 1979 as Akira Narita) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Akita Prefecture, Japan. A former amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 2002, reaching the top ''makuuchi'' division the following year. He was a runner-up in one tournament, earned two special prizes for Fighting Spirit, and one gold star for defeating a ''yokozuna.'' Takekaze is in first place for the slowest promotion from ''makuuchi'' debut to the third highest '' sekiwake'' rank in history. Aged 35 years and two months, he is in first place for the eldest to make his ''sekiwake'' debut post World War II. He was a member of Oguruma stable. He retired in January 2019 to become an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Oshiogawa-''oyakata''. Early life and sumo background Born in Moriyoshi, Kitaakita District, Narita practised sumo in college and was a very dominant player, having achieved the student equivalent of ''yokozuna'' after winning the Kokutai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yoshikaze Masatsugu
Yoshikaze Masatsugu (born March 19, 1982, as Masatsugu Ōnishi) is a former sumo wrestler from Saiki, Oita Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was ''sekiwake''. A former amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 2004, reaching the top division two years later. Until his promotion to ''komusubi'' in May 2014 he had the active record for the longest serving ''makuuchi'' wrestler who had never reached a titled rank. His best performance in a tournament came in July 2015 when he was the runner-up and scored twelve wins against three losses. In the following tournament in September 2015 he defeated two ''yokozuna'' and won special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. Yoshikaze is in second place for the slowest promotion from ''makuuchi'' debut to the third highest ''sekiwake'' rank in history, behind only his stablemate Takekaze. He won ten special prizes in total, and eight gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna.'' He retired in September 2019 and is now an eld ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanji
are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequently-derived Syllabary, syllabic scripts of and . The characters have Japanese pronunciations; most have two, with one based on the Chinese sound. A few characters were invented in Japan by constructing character components derived from other Chinese characters. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan made its own efforts to simplify the characters, now known as , by a process similar to China's simplified Chinese characters, simplification efforts, with the intention to increase literacy among the general public. Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has published character lists periodically to help direct the education of its citizenry through the myriad Chinese characters that exist. There are nearly 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yago Takanori
is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Memuro, Hokkaido. He was an amateur champion at Chuo University and won the Amateur Yokozuna title at the All-Japan Sumo Championships in December 2016. He made his professional debut in May 2017, joining Oguruma stable. He reached the ''jūryō'' division in September 2017 and the top ''makuuchi'' division in January 2019. His highest rank has been ''maegashira'' 10. Early life He was born in Memuro, Kasai District, Hokkaido, the second of three children. This was also the hometown of ''yokozuna'' Ōnokuni. He started swimming from kindergarten, and also did judo. He began participating in local sumo tournaments from the fifth grade of elementary school. He was already and upon graduation from elementary school. At Memuro junior high he won the Hokkaido Junior High School Championships three years running, he suffered major cruciate ligament injuries in his knee, and was praised by the director of his high school sumo club for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kotokaze Kōki
Kotokaze Kōki (born 26 April 1957 as Koichi Nakayama) is a former sumo wrestler from Tsu, Mie, Japan. Beginning his career in 1971, he reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in 1977 but after a serious injury in 1979 he fell greatly in rank before staging a comeback. His highest rank was ''Makuuchi#Ōzeki, ōzeki,'' which he reached in 1981. He won two tournament championships and was a runner-up in two others. He won six sansho (sumo), special prizes and six kinboshi, gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He retired in 1985 and became an toshiyori, elder of the Japan Sumo Association and the head coach of Oguruma stable. Career Scouted by the 53rd ''Yokozuna (sumo), Yokozuna'' Kotozakura Masakatsu I, Kotozakura, he joined Sadogatake stable in July 1971. He was only 14 years old and still at junior high school, and in his early days in the ''jonidan'' division he was excused from fighting some matches to attend school, not travelling to the regional tournaments and fighting only on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Makuuchi
, or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, 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 only division that is featured on NHK's standard live coverage of sumo tournaments. The lower divisions are shown on their satellite coverage, with only the ''makuuchi'' broadcast having bilingual English commentary. ''Makuuchi'' literally means "inside the curtain", a reference to the early period of professional sumo, when there was a curtained-off area reserved for the top ranked wrestlers, to sit before appearing for their bouts. Wrestlers are considered for Promotion and relegation, promotion or demotion in rank before each grand tournament according to their performance in the one previous. Generally, a greater number of wins than losses (''kachi-koshi'') results in a promotion, and the reverse (''makekoshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ichinojō Takashi
is a former professional sumo wrestler from Arkhangai, Mongolia. He was the second foreign-born wrestler, and the first of non-Japanese descent allowed to debut at an elevated rank in the third ''makushita'' division of professional sumo due to his amateur sumo success. Wrestling for Minato stable, he took the second division ''jūryō'' championship in only his third professional tournament. In his fifth tournament, his first in the top ''makuuchi'' division, he was the runner-up and promoted all the way to ''sekiwake'', his highest rank to date. Ichinojō acquired Japanese citizenship in September 2021, taking the name . He won the top division championship in July 2022. He was one of the heaviest ''rikishi'' in the top division as of September 2020. He retired from active competition in May 2023. Early life and sumo background Ichinnorov is the first of all Mongolian wrestlers who have gone on to join Japanese professional sumo to come from a nomadic clan, as most of the Mon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
