is a Japanese professional
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
Kashima, Kumamoto
is a town located in Kamimashiki District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 10,203 in 4135 households, and a population density of 24 persons per km2. The total area of the town is .
Geography
Kashima is loc ...
. He made his professional debut in January 1996 and reached the
top division in September 2011. His highest rank has been ''
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 ...
'' 12. The fifteen years it took him to reach the top division is the
third-slowest progress ever, in the history of professional sumo wrestling. He has not missed a bout in his career to date, and in September 2023 moved into the top ten
record holders for most consecutive bouts.
Early life and sumo background
In his early years Ishihara was more interested in soccer, and was a member of the
kendō
is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship exerc ...
team in middle school. He started sumo in high school, and in his third year contributed to his team taking the championship in a national tournament. He chose to join Tamanoi stable when he graduated high school.
Career
Upon joining professional sumo in March 1996, he took the
ring name
A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...
of Yoshiazuma, taking the first character from a benefactor's name and the second character following the convention of taking the character of ''azuma'' from the current and previous stable owners, former
Tochiazuma II, and
Tochiazuma I. Yoshiazuma's career started out very successfully and in only his second tournament he almost took the ''
jonidan
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 championship, losing a three-man playoff to Akiyama. He actually beat Akiyama in the second round, but lost to him in the fourth and final round. His career after this was lackluster however, and for the next fifteen years he would struggle in the unsalaried ranks, through a series of setbacks, ever so slowly working his way up through the ranks.
He finally achieved promotion to the salaried ranks of ''
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 ...
'' in January 2011. He scored only 6–9 in his ''jūryō'' debut, but after the cancellation of the March tournament he enjoyed a big promotion up the division from ''jūryō'' 13 to ''jūryō'' 2 despite only scoring a bare majority of 8–7 in the May 2011 "technical examination" tournament. He benefitted from a large number of retirements in the ''jūryō'' division following a
match-fixing scandal, with the
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 sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Ed ...
needing to over-promote to fill the gaps. However he took advantage of his good fortune by putting in a strong 9–6 score in July and was promoted to the top division for the September 2011 tournament. This feat took him fifteen years and 93 tournaments from his professional debut, the third slowest rise to the top division in the history of sumo. He was also the second oldest wrestler since World War II to earn promotion to ''makuuchi'' for the first time at 34 years, 3 months.
However, he only lasted this one tournament, being relegated after a 5–10 record. His second tournament in ''makuuchi'' was also unsuccessful, a 3–12 in January 2012. After three winning records in the next four tournaments he earned promotion to ''makuuchi'' for a third time in November 2012, but was again demoted straightaway, after another 3–12 score. Yoshiazuma lost ''sekitori'' status altogether after the September 2014 tournament. He earned his 500th career win in the March 2016 tournament, and he has a career winning record of just under 50 percent, having fought 1008 matches up to that time. He was demoted to the ''
sandanme
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 after this tournament, but was still active as of March 2022 at the age of 44, and he is the oldest active former ''sekitori''.
He has not missed a bout through injury since his debut. July 2018 was his 135th career tournament with no absences over a period of 22 years, equal to
Aobajo, although Yoshiazuma has fought around 500 bouts fewer than Aobajo's record of 1630 consecutive bouts, having spent only 21 of those tournaments in the ''sekitori'' ranks fighting a full 15 days.
In September 2020 nineteen members of Tamanoi stable tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
, after a lower ranked wrestler became ill. Every wrestler at the stable, including Yoshiazuma was prevented from participating in the September tournament. However, this was not considered an interruption to his streak of consecutive appearances, and in September 2023 he moved into the
top ten all-time.
He became the current oldest active rikishi in professional sumo after
Satonofuji's retirement at the end of the May 2025 tournament.
Fighting style
Yoshiazuma is a solidly ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. His favoured 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 ...
'' or belt is ''migi-yotsu'', a left hand outside, right hand inside position. He wins about half of his bouts with a straightforward ''yori-kiri'', or force out. Another ''
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 ...
'' he regularly uses is ''hataki-komi'', the slap down.
Career record
See also
*
List of sumo record holders
This is a list of records held by wrestlers of professional sumo. Only performances in official tournaments or '' honbasho'' are included here. Since 1958, six ''honbasho'' have been held every year, giving wrestlers from the modern era more oppor ...
*
*
List of active sumo wrestlers
The following is an alphabetical list of all active professional sumo wrestlers in the top ''makuuchi'' division, and all those currently in lower divisions who have a Wikipedia article. Please refer to professional sumo divisions for more informa ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshiazuma, Hiroshi
1977 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Kumamoto Prefecture