Fujinoshin Tsukasa (born 6 November 1960 as Tetsuya Yagi) is a former

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

Funabashi is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 644,668 in 309,238 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . It is the Greater Tokyo Area's 7th most populated city (after p ...

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He made his professional debut in March 1976, and reached the top division in September 1986. His highest rank was ''

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. He retired in September 1990 after injury problems and became an elder in the

Japan Sumo Association The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling (called ''Ōzumō'', 大相撲) in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). ''Rikishi'' (active ...

Career

He was born in Funabashi, Chiba, not far from the

Kuramae Kokugikan was a building situated in the Kuramae neighborhood of Taitō, Tokyo which was built by the Japan Sumo Association and opened in 1954. Its construction was decided to replace the old bomb-damaged Ryogoku Kokugikan. It closed its doors in 1984 ...

. At the age of 15 in March 1976 he joined Izutsu stable (later renamed

Kokonoe stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It was formed in 1967 and until 2021 was located in Ishiwara, Sumida, Tokyo. As of November 2022 it had 27 sumo wrestlers, four of whom are of ''sekitori'' rank. It is the most s ...

), recruited by former ''

yokozuna , 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 ...

Kitanofuji is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Asahikawa, Hokkaidō. He made his professional debut in 1957, reaching the top ''makuuchi'' division in 1964. He was the sport's 52nd ''yokozuna'', a rank he attained in 1970. He won ten tourn ...

. He switched from his family name of Yagi to the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name 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, or projecting ...

of Fujihikari in 1978. After several years in the lower divisions he broke into ''

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. For ...

'' division in January 1985, but only stayed there for two tournaments. He returned to ''jūryō'' in January 1986 and made 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 on ...

'' division in September of that year, before falling back to ''jūryō''. In November 1987 he returned to the top division and stayed there for two years, reaching a highest rank of ''

'' 1 in January 1988, although he was unable to defeat a ''yokozuna'' or win a special prize. During this period he was part of a stable that included two ''yokozuna'',

Chiyonofuji , born , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler and the 58th ''yokozuna'' of the sport. Following his retirement as a wrestler, he was the stable master of Kokonoe stable until the time of his death. Chiyonofuji was considered one of the gr ...

and

Hokutoumi is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Hokkaidō. He was the sport's 61st ''yokozuna'' and won eight top division championships. He wrestled for Kokonoe stable, as did Chiyonofuji, and the two were the first ''yokozuna'' stablemat ...

, as well as fellow ''maegashira'' Takanofuji. The beginning of the end of Fujinoshin′s career came on Day 12 of the Aki basho in September 1989 when he had his ankle broken by a wrestler ( Misugisato) who fell on it while Fujinoshin was sitting by the ''

dohyō A ''dohyō'' (, ) is the space in which a sumo wrestling bout occurs. A typical ''dohyō'' is a circle made of partially buried rice- straw bales 4.55 meters in diameter. In official professional tournaments (''honbasho''), it is mounted on a squ ...

'' waiting for his match. He was unable to compete and had to default and withdraw from the tournament. The ''kosho'' or public injury system which protected a wrestler′s rank for one tournament did not apply in his case as the injury did not occur in a tournament bout itself, and as a result he fell back to the ''jūryō'' division. He returned to sumo in January 1990 but was unable to win promotion back to ''makuuchi'' and announced his retirement in September 1990 having fallen into the ''

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 ...

'' division after another enforced absence.

Retirement from sumo

Fujinoshin has remained in the sumo world as a ''

toshiyori A is a sumo elder of the Japan Sumo Association (JSA). Also known as , former wrestlers who reached a sufficiently high rank are the only people eligible. The benefits are considerable, as only ''toshiyori'' are allowed to run and coach in su ...

'' or elder of the

and has worked as a coach at Kokonoe stable and

Hakkaku stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Takasago ''ichimon'' or group of stables. It was established in September 1993 by former ''yokozuna'' Hokutoumi, who took with him four wrestlers from Kokonoe stable. The stable has so far produced nine ...

. Until 1998 he was known as Nishikido Oyakata, but when his old boss Kitanofuji quit the Sumo Association that year he switched to the Jinmaku elder name.

Fighting style

Fujinoshin employed a wide variety of techniques but was regarded by some commentators as a

jack of all trades, master of none "Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person who has dabbled in many skills, rather than gaining expertise by focusing on only one. The original version "a jack of all trades" is often used as a comp ...

. He favoured a right hand outside, left hand inside grip (hidari-yotsu) 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 . For top ranked professional , it is made of silk and comes in a var ...

'' or belt. His most common winning technique was ''yori-kiri'' (force out) but he also tried ''oshi–dashi'' (push out), ''hataki–komi'' (slap down), ''yori–taoshi'' (force out and down), ''uwate–nage'' (overarm throw), ''shitate–nage'' (underarm throw), ''uwatedashi–nage'' (pulling overarm throw) and ''katasukashi'' (armlock throw).

Career record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujinoshin, Tsukasa 1960 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Chiba Prefecture Kokonoe stable sumo wrestlers

Career

Retirement from sumo

Fighting style

Career record

See also

References