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Taihō Kōki was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He became the 48th yokozuna in 1961 at the age of 21, the youngest ever at the time.
Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, born Toshimitsu Obata, was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the dominant wrestler in the sport during the 1970s. Kitanoumi was promoted to yokozuna at the age of 21, becoming the youngest ever to achieve sumo's top rank. He won 24 tournament championships during his career and was one of a series of truly great yokozuna who came from Hokkaido, the largest and northernmost prefecture of Japan. At the time of his death he still held the records for most tournaments at yokozuna (63) and most bouts won as a yokozuna (670), but they have since been surpassed. Following his retirement in 1985 he established the Kitanoumi stable. He was chairman of the Japan Sumo Association from 2002 until 2008, and again from 2012 until his death.
Kaido Höövelson is an Estonian politician and former professional sumo wrestler. Making his debut in May 2004, he reached the top division after just two years in sumo in May 2006. After suffering a number of injury problems in 2007 which delayed his progress, he reached the third-highest rank of sekiwake in November 2008, and was promoted to ōzeki rank after finishing the March 2010 tournament with a score of 14–1. He was a tournament runner-up four times before recording a top division championship in the 2012 January tournament. During his career Baruto also earned five special prizes for Fighting Spirit, one for Outstanding Performance and one for Technique. He lost his ōzeki rank after more injury problems at the end of 2012, and having fallen greatly in rank after withdrawing from the May 2013 tournament, he announced his retirement in September of that year at the age of 28.
Kyokutenhō Masaru in Nalaikh, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolian People’s Republic is a former professional sumo wrestler. He fought out of Ōshima stable, with the first group of Mongolians ever to join the sport in Japan.
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Kotomitsuki Keiji is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Okazaki City. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1999. He reached the top makuuchi division in November 2000 and won one yūshō or tournament championship, in September 2001. He was a runner-up in eight other tournaments, and earned thirteen sanshō or special prizes. He is one of six wrestlers in the history of sumo to receive all three sanshō in the same tournament, accomplishing the feat in the November 2000 honbasho. After a record 22 tournaments at sekiwake, he achieved promotion to sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki in July 2007 upon winning 35 out of 45 bouts in three consecutive tournaments. This made him at 31 the oldest man to reach ōzeki in the modern era. He wrestled for Sadogatake stable. On July 4, 2010, he was expelled from professional sumo by the Japan Sumo Association for his involvement in an illegal gambling ring.
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Aminishiki Ryūji is a former Japanese sumo wrestler. He made his professional debut in 1997 and reached the top makuuchi division in 2000. He earned twelve special prizes and won eight kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He was twice runner-up in a tournament. The highest rank he reached was sekiwake. After more than 22 years as an active wrestler he retired in July 2019 at the age of 40. He is in the all-time top ten for a number of sumo records, including most career wins, most top division appearances and most tournaments ranked in the top division. He wrestled for Isegahama stable.
Harumafuji Kōhei, previously known as Ama Kōhei, is a Mongolian former professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 70th yokozuna from 2012 to 2017, making him the third Mongolian and fifth overall non-Japanese wrestler to attain sumo's highest rank.
Kashiwado Tsuyoshi was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yamagata Prefecture. He was the sport's 47th yokozuna, fighting at the sport's highest rank from 1961 to 1969. After his retirement he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and ran his own training stable from 1970 until his death.
Wakanohana Kanji was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ōwani, Aomori. He was the sport's 56th yokozuna. He was popular with sumo fans and was well-known for his rivalry with Kitanoumi. After retirement, he became the head coach of Magaki stable. Due to poor health, he left the Japan Sumo Association in December 2013. He died of lung cancer in July 2022 at the age of 69.
Tochinowaka Kiyotaka is a former sumo wrestler from Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1985, reaching the top makuuchi division in 1987. His highest rank was sekiwake. He was a runner-up in one tournament and earned six special prizes and four kinboshi. After 76 tournaments and 1114 bouts in the top division he retired in 1999. He is now an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and the head coach of Kasugano stable.
Fujinokawa Takeo is a former sumo wrestler from Otofuke, Hokkaido, Japan. He made his professional debut in May 1961 and reached a highest rank of sekiwake in May 1967. He was a runner-up in two top division (makuuchi) tournaments, finishing three wins behind Tamanoshima in May 1968 and losing a playoff to ozeki Kiyokuni in July 1969. He earned four kinboshi for defeating yokozuna and won seven special prizes. After his retirement in 1972 at the age of 26 he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and took over as head coach of Isenoumi stable in 1982. He left the Sumo Association in 2011 upon reaching 65 years of age.
Fujizakura Yoshimori (富士櫻栄守) is a former sumo wrestler from Kōfu, Yamanashi, Japan. His highest rank was sekiwake. He wrestled for Takasago stable. He made his debut in 1963 and had one of the longest professional careers of any wrestler, fighting 1613 bouts in total, of which 1543 were consecutive. This latter record is second only to Aobajō. After his retirement in 1985 he was an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and the head coach of Nakamura stable.
Tamawashi Ichirō is a Mongolian-Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. Wrestling for Kataonami stable, his highest rank has been sekiwake. He made his debut in January 2004 and reached the top makuuchi division in September 2008. He has a makushita, a jūryō and two makuuchi division championships. He has seven gold stars for defeating a yokozuna, and four special prizes, all of them coming after he turned 30 years of age. In January 2019, he won his first top-division championship, and his second in September 2022 at the age of 37, making him the oldest winner of the top division since the introduction of the six tournaments a year system in 1958.
Musashimaru Kōyō is an American-born Japanese-naturalized former professional sumo wrestler. He was born in American Samoa, before moving to Hawaii at the age of 10. At 18 he moved to Japan and made his professional sumo debut in 1989, reaching the top makuuchi division in 1991. After reaching the rank of ōzeki in 1994 his progress seemed to stall, but in 1999 he became only the second foreign-born wrestler in history to reach the sport's highest rank of yokozuna. Musashimaru won over 700 top division bouts and took twelve top division tournament championships during his career. His sheer 235 kg (518 lb) bulk combined with 1.92 m of height made him a formidable opponent, and he was remarkably consistent and injury-free for most of his career. An amiable personality, his fan base was helped by a surprising facial resemblance to Japanese warrior hero Saigō Takamori. After becoming a Japanese national in 1996 and retiring in 2003, he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and founded the Musashigawa stable in 2013.
Wakachichibu Komei was a sumo wrestler from Chichibu, Saitama, Japan. He made his professional debut in May 1954 and reached the top division in September 1958. His highest rank was sekiwake. Upon retirement from active competition he became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association, under the name Tokiwayama. He reached the Sumo Association's mandatory retirement age in March 2004.
References
- ↑ "Asasegawa Takeya Kabu History". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
- ↑ "Asasegawa Takeya Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
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