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 thr ...

wrestler from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He entered sumo in March 2003, reaching the top ''

makuuchi , 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 ...

'' division in July 2011. His highest rank to date 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 o ...

'' 4, which he achieved in July 2013 after he put together five straight ''

kachi-koshi The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'' or winning records in the top division. He was last ranked in in 2015 and since then has been in the ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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. For ...

'' divisions. He wrestles for

Tamanoi stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ''ichimon'' or group of stables. It was set up in 1990 by former ''sekiwake'' Tochiazuma Tomoyori, who branched off from Kasugano stable. He coached his son, who also wrestled under the name T ...

Early life and sumo background

Kazuyoshi Shibuya went to primary school and junior high school in the

Adachi, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward located in Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It is located to the north of the heart of Tokyo. The ward consists of two separate areas: a small strip of land between the Sumida River and Arakawa River (K ...

. He began practicing sumo in his fifth year of primary school and in his sixth year came in a second in a national primary school sumo tournament. He had been going to

regularly for practice since primary school as his sumo club had an ongoing relationship with the stable, and this was the stable he ultimately chose to join after junior high school.

Career

He made his debut in March 2003, the same tournament as later ''

'' contemporary Sadanoumi. He rose gradually to the ranks of ''

'' and was working his way up, but would start to suffer from pain due to a neck injury and would eventually drop back down to the fourth tier ''

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. For ...

'' division. After two tournaments here he would slowly work his way through ''makushita'' again. He reached the elite

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 fra ...

ranks in January 2011, a little over seven years after his professional debut. His rise through ''jūryō'' and onto the top-tier ''

'' division was surprisingly smooth compared to his struggles in lower divisions, undoubtedly helped by the forced retiring of several ''jūryō'' and lower ''

'' wrestlers due to an unprecedented match-fixing scandal. In these circumstances, a relatively average record of 9–6 at ''jūryō'' #8 would allow him promotion to the

division in July of that year. A member of

, he is the first top division wrestler produced by Tamanoi's head coach, the former

ozeki Ozeki or Ōzeki may refer to: * Ōzeki, a rank in ''Makuuchi'', the top division of professional sumo ** List of ōzeki * Ōzeki station (disambiguation), the name of two railway stations in Japan * Ōzeki Masutoshi (1849–1905), 16th daimyō o ...

Tochiazuma Daisuke Tochiazuma Daisuke (born November 9, 1976 as Daisuke Shiga in Tokyo, Japan) is a retired sumo wrestler. He began his professional career in 1994, reaching the top division just two years later after winning a tournament championship in each of th ...

. This first ''makuuchi'' tournament would be a very successful 10–5 record which would allow him to rise higher through the ranks, but his following four efforts were all losing tournaments which saw him slide back to ''maegashira'' 15. A very disappointing 3–12 score in the May 2012 tournament saw him demoted back to the ''jūryō'' division, but upon his return to the top division he put together a string of five consecutive 8–7 records which eventually saw him promoted to his highest rank to date of ''maegashira'' 4. He sat out the March 2014 tournament, recuperating after a

detached retina Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina peels away from its underlying layer of support tissue. Initial detachment may be localized, but without rapid treatment the entire retina may detach, leading to vision loss and blin ...

operation. This led to his demotion back to ''jūryō'' for the following May 2014 tournament where he only managed a 7–8 record. He won the ''jūryō'' division championship in March 2015 and was promoted back to ''makuuchi'', but his return to the top division lasted only one tournament as he could only score 3–12. This has been his last ''makuuchi'' appearance to date. He was demoted to the ''makushita'' division after the September 2016 tournament, but promoted back to ''jūryō'' for March 2017 after a 5–2 score at ''makushita'' 3 in January. His stay in ''jūryō'' lasted only one tournament and he was back in the ''makushita'' division in May 2017. He reached the top rank of the ''makushita'' division, #1 East, in May 2019 but just failed to get the majority of wins that would have returned him to ''jūryō'', scoring 3–4. However, he remained near the top of the ''makushita'' division and he returned to ''jūryō'' after 18 tournaments away for the July 2020 tournament (originally scheduled for May). He maintained his position in ''jūryō'' for the September 2020 tournament, but was prevented from entering it due to a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak at his stable. Fujiazuma was one of the 19 wrestlers who tested positive. He and the other members of the stable were allowed to keep their ranks for the following tournament in November. In this tournament Fujiazuma lost every one of his fifteen matches, the second straight ''jūryō'' wrestler to suffer this fate after Oki in the previous tournament.

Fighting style

Fujiazuma wins most of his bouts by pushing and thrusting; his most common winning ''

kimarite ''Kimarite'' ( ja, 決まり手) is the technique used in sumo by a '' rikishi'' (wrestler) to win a match. It is officially decided or announced by the '' gyōji'' (referee) at the end of the match, though judges can modify this decision. The r ...

'' or technique is ''oshi dashi'' (push out).

Career record

References

External links