Kasugafuji Akihiro (February 20, 1966 – March 9, 2017), born as Shoki Iwanaga, was a Japanese

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 and coach from Oshika, Miyagi. He was an active wrestler in professional sumo from 1981 until 1996, reaching a highest rank of ''

maegashira , 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 on ...

'' 1. After his retirement he re-established the

Kasugayama stable was a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Isegahama ''ichimon'' or group of stables. In its modern form it dates from 1954 when it was re-established by former '' ōzeki'' Nayoroiwa who led it until his death in 1971. It went out of existence ...

in 1997 and trained his own wrestlers. He left the

Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...

in 2012 after an expenses scandal, and was involved with a legal dispute in 2013 with his successor as head of Kasugayama stable which was not resolved until shortly before his death in 2017.

Career

He made his professional debut in March 1981, joining

. He rose slowly through the ranks, having to overcome the disadvantage of being much shorter than most of his competitors at just . He became a ''

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 ...

'' upon promotion to the second highest ''

juryo 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 in January 1988. He reached the top ''

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 ...

'' division in March 1989, reaching his highest rank of ''

'' 1 in January 1990. In the same year his stable closed when his stable-master, former ''maegashira'' Ōnobori, retired and he moved to Ajigawa stable. He had another change of coach in 1993 when the stablemaster of Ajigawa, ex-''sekiwake'' Mutsuarashi, retired due to ill-health. Unusually, Kasugafuji had previously fought his new stablemaster, ex-''yokozuna''

Asahifuji is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Aomori. He joined professional sumo in 1981, reaching the top ''makuuchi'' division just two years later. He reached the second highest rank of '' ōzeki'' in 1987 and became the 63rd ''yokoz ...

, in tournament competition. He earned a special prize for Fighting Spirit in July 1990. He fought in the top division for a total of 42 tournaments, making his final appearance in May 1996.

Retirement from sumo

He retired in September 1996, after more than 15 years in sumo and 1060 consecutive matches. He became an elder of the

under the name of Kasugayama Oyakata. He re-established the Kasugayama stable in 1997 and coached the Korean-born wrestler Kasugao to the top division in 2003. Kasugao was one of a number of wrestlers force to retire in 2011 because of a match-fixing scandal, and as a result his stable lost its only ''

.'' In February 2012 he was elected to the Sumo Association's board of directors, and as a result stood down from the day-to-day running of the stable. He passed control over to the former Hamanishiki and switched elder names with him, becoming Ikazuchi Oyakata. He was forced to resign from the Sumo Association in September 2012 in a scandal involving a bogus expense claim to cover up an affair with a female employee of the Association. In October 2013 he sued Kasugayama Oyakata (former ''maegashira'' Hamanishiki) for not paying the rent of Kasugayama stable. Kasugayama counter-sued over ex-Kasugafuji's failure to hand over control of the elder stock ''(

toshiyori-kabu A , also known as an , is a sumo elder exercising both coaching functions with active wrestlers and responsibilities within the Japan Sumo Association (JSA). All are former wrestlers who reached a sufficiently high rank to be eligible to thi ...

).'' The case went to trial in July 2014. Kasugafuji's legal team claimed that in 35 years as a coach (from his retirement as an active wrestler at age 30 to his mandatory retirement as a coach at age 65) he would have earned 430 million

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

from the Sumo Association. The two sides settled the stable rent issue in June 2015, with the current Kasugayama agreeing to move to new premises, but Kasugafuji continued to refuse to hand over the ''kabu'' certificate and the ongoing legal dispute led to Hamanishiki being forced to dissolve Kasugayama stable in October 2016 and resign from the Sumo Association altogether in January 2017. The remaining issues were settled in February 2017.

Fighting style

Kasugafuji favoured pushing and thrusting (''oshi-sumo'') techniques and 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 ...

'' was ''oshi-dashi''. Although not his preferred style he was also competent on the 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 ...

'' using grappling (''yotsu-sumo'') techniques.

Death

According to Sumo Association officials, he died on March 9, 2017. The cause of death was not disclosed at the request of his family, although it was reported to be heart failure.

Career record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kasugafuji, Akihiro 1966 births 2017 deaths Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Miyagi Prefecture