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. He wrestles for
Takadagawa stable
is a Heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Nishonoseki ''ichimon'' or group of stables. It was formed in 1974 by former ''Makuuchi#Ōzeki, ōzeki'' Maenoyama, and was originally in the Takasago group of stables before joining the Nish ...
and made his professional debut in May 2010. Kagayaki reached the top division for the first time in 2016. His highest rank is ''
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 ...
'' 3.
Early life and sumo background
Tatsu Ryōya was born in
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was .
Overview Cityscape
...
and is the youngest of three children. His father was a
truck driver
A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...
. Tatsu is a distant relative of 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 ...
''
Wajima Hiroshi
was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nanao, Ishikawa. He was the sport's 54th ''yokozuna'' and remains the only wrestler with a collegiate background to reach its highest rank. Entering professional sumo in 1970, he won a total of 14 ...
. He was a normal-sized baby but grew quickly so that when attending kindergarten he had difficulty fitting into the uniform. He first began practicing sumo whilst in the first grade of
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
. By the age of thirteen, when he ended his first year at
junior high school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...
he stood , and weighed . After competing successfully in junior high school sumo he gave up formal education at the age of fifteen and entered the
Takadagawa stable
is a Heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Nishonoseki ''ichimon'' or group of stables. It was formed in 1974 by former ''Makuuchi#Ōzeki, ōzeki'' Maenoyama, and was originally in the Takasago group of stables before joining the Nish ...
to pursue a professional career.
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nikkansports.com 2010年3月7日9時44分 紙面から
nikkansports.com 2010年3月16日8時51分 紙面から
Career
Early career
In the early part of his sumo career the wrestler subsequently known as Kagayaki competed as "Tatsu", his family name. On entering the professional sport Tatsu revealed that his idol was
Hakuhō and that his aim was to become a ''yokozuna'' "in six or seven years".
He was still a month away from his sixteenth birthday when he made his professional debut in May 2010 but recorded six wins in the ''
jonokuchi
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 to earn an immediate promotion. Two months later another 6-1 result saw him being promoted from ''
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 ...
'' to ''
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 ...
'', the fourth-highest division. After five more tournaments he was promoted to ''
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 ...
'' (third division) after a 5–2 result at the
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
tournament in July 2011.
On his third tournament in the division, in January 2012, the seventeen-year-old Tatsu tied for the lead with six wins at the end of regular competition but was defeated in the first round of an eight-man play-off for the ''makushita'' championship. Tatsu spent the next two years performing consistently in the mid to upper ''makushita'' ranks before a run of eight consecutive winning records (''kachi-koshi'') saw him being promoted to ''jūryō'' (second division) for the November 2014 tournament. It was at this point that Tatsu announced that he had adopted the ''
shikona
A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Edo period, where they were used as a means to attract customers and hide the identities of the ''rikishi''.
Like standard Japanese names, a ''shikona'' co ...
'' Kagayaki Taishi. The surname comes from the
express train service which runs between
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 ...
and
Kanazawa
is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was .
Overview Cityscape
File:もてな ...
, his home town, while the given name is a different reading of the characters in Wajima Hiroshi's given name.
Kagayaki made an immediate impact in ''jūryō'', recording 11–4 and 10–5 records in his first two tournaments to reach the brink of another promotion but initially struggled when moved up to the division's higher ranks. A 10–5 record in September however, put him back in contention and an 8–7 in November 2015 (beating
Satoyama
is a Japanese term applied to the border zone or area between mountain foothills and arable flat land. Literally, ''sato'' () means village, and ''yama'' () means hill or mountain. Satoyama have been developed through centuries of small-scale ...
on the final day) saw him promoted to ''makuuchi'' (top division) for the first time.
Makuuchi career
![Kagayaki 2015 March](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Kagayaki_2015_March.JPG)
Kagayaki struggled in his top division debut: he won only two of his first thirteen matches, one of which was a walk-over when his scheduled opponent,
Endō, withdrew with an injury. He won his last two bouts to salvage a 4–11 record but he was relegated back to ''jūryō''. He recorded only seven wins in March but secured a second promotion with a 10–5 result in May. He barely avoided relegation with a 7–8 record in July but recorded his first ''kachi-koshi'' (winning record) in the top division with nine wins in September. Ranked at a new high of ''maegashira'' 9 he recorded six wins in November and was dropped to ''maegashira'' 11 for the January 2017 tournament when he posted an 8–7 record. He returned to ''maegashira'' 9 in March and retained his rank for the May tournament despite a 7–8 result. He continued to maintain his place in the top division for the rest of that year, reaching a new career-best rank of ''maegashira'' 4 in July.
After reaching as high as ''maegashira'' 3 for the November 2020 tournament, Kagayaki posted consecutive
losing records, eventually being relegated back to ''
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 ...
'' for the January 2022 ''basho''. However he returned to the top division for the March 2022 tournament. After spending July and September in ''jūryō'', he returned to ''makuuchi'' once again for the November 2022 tournament.
Fighting style
Kagayaki is an ''oshi'' and ''
tsuki
derives from the verb , meaning "to thrust". The second syllable is accented, with Japanese's unvoiced vowels making it pronounced almost like "ski" (but preceded by a "t" sound). In Japanese martial arts and Okinawan martial arts, ''tsuki'' is u ...
'' specialist, which means he relies on pushing and thrusting techniques to defeat his opponents rather than belt-wrestling. His most common
winning technique is ''
oshidashi'' (push-out) which accounts for 46% of his wins.
Career record
See also
*
:Glossary of sumo terms
*
:List of active sumo wrestlers
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kagayaki, Taishi
1994 births
Living people
People from Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Ishikawa Prefecture