Kiyoseumi Takayuki (born Takayuki Ichihara, 16 August 1984) 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

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 ...

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 ...

. An extremely successful amateur, his highest rank in the professional sport 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 ...

'' 13. He was forced to retire in April 2011 after an investigation by 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 ...

found him guilty of

match-fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

Career

Initially competing under his real surname of Ichihara, he was an amateur sumo champion at

Nihon University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Japan. Its predecessor, Nihon Law School (currently the Department of Law), was founded by Yamada Akiyoshi, the Minister of Justice (Japan), Minister of Justice, in 1889. ...

, where he won eleven national titles. At the

2005 World Games The 2005 World Games (german: Weltspiele 2005), the seventh World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Duisburg, Germany from 14 July 2005 until 24 July 2005. Three other cities, namely Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, and Oberhau ...

, he won silver in the men's heavyweight division and gold in the men's open division. He won the Japan Games and the National Amateur Championships and was runner-up in the Japanese university championship. He was crowned the "Amateur Yokozuna" of 2006. He joined

Kise stable , also known as Kimura Sehei stable, was a heya (sumo), heya or stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tatsunami ''ichimon'' or affiliated group of stables. History The original Kise stable (which had no connection to the current incarnation found ...

, run by another former Nihon University champion, the ex-''maegashira''

Higonoumi Higonoumi Naoya (born 23 September 1969 as Naoto Sakamoto) is a former sumo wrestler from Kumamoto, Japan. After his retirement he opened up Kise stable. Career A former amateur champion at Nihon University, he turned professional in 1992, joini ...

. Because of his amateur achievements, Ichihara was able to make his professional debut at the rank of ''

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 ...

'' 10, the first ''

makushita tsukedashi The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'' entrant to begin as high as the tenth rank. After steady scores of five wins to two losses in his first two tournaments in January and March 2007, followed by 4-3 in May and July, he was promoted to the second ''

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 November 2007 after a 6-1 at ''makushita'' 1 in September. He scored 13 wins to 2 losses, although he lost a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

for the championship on the final day, and was immediately promoted to 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 for January 2008. He was the first wrestler to make his ''makuuchi'' debut after spending only one tournament in ''jūryō'' since Daikiko in January 1991. In his top division debut Ichihara won five of his first seven bouts but tired in the second week of the tournament, finishing with an 8-7 score. He injured his right knee on the opening day of the March 2008 tournament after losing to Homasho and had to withdraw. As a result, he was demoted all the way down to the rank of ''jūryō'' 11 for the May tournament. He participated in the tournament with his knee heavily strapped, and struggled to a ''

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

'' 7-8 score. In July he recovered from 0-5 down to post eight wins but withdrew on the final day after a recurrence of the injury. He announced in December 2008 that he would be changing his ''

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 ...

'' from his family name to Kiyoseumi for the January 2009 tournament. He produced a 9-6 score in his first tournament under his new name, but only a poor 4-11 in March. He managed a bare majority of wins in his next two tournaments, and remained near the bottom of the ''jūryō'' division for the rest of 2009. He was suspended along with over a dozen other wrestlers from the July 2010 tournament after admitting involvement in illegal betting on baseball. As a result, he fell to the ''makushita'' division in September. After two 4-3 scores in ''makushita'' he returned to the ''jūryō'' division in January 2011.

Retirement from sumo

In February 2011, it was revealed that text-messages discovered on confiscated mobile phones implicated Kiyoseumi in

, as they appeared to show him agreeing to throw bouts in exchange for money. Unlike

Kasuganishiki Kasuganishiki Takahiro (born August 22, 1975 as Takahiro Suzuki) is a former sumo wrestler from Misaki, Isumi District, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He made his debut in 1991, reaching the top makuuchi division in 2002. His highest rank was ''maegas ...

(the wrestler with whom the texts were exchanged), Chiyohakuhō and Enatsukasa who admitted their involvement, Kiyoseumi denied the allegations. However, the independent panel investigating the match-fixing claims stated that it could not deny his involvement based on the evidence. Of the 46 text messages discovered by the Metropolitan Police Department that mention match-fixing, 19 were either sent or received by Kiyoseumi. After an investigation by the

, he was one of 23 wrestlers found guilty of fixing the result of bouts and he was forced to retire in April 2011. Following his retirement Ichihara opened a bar, Snack Ai, in Tokyo.

Fighting style

Kiyoseumi was an ''oshi-sumo'' specialist, preferring pushing and thrusting techniques (''tsuki/oshi''). 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 rec ...

'' was ''hatakikomi'', the slap down. He was one of the largest wrestlers in sumo, at 180 kg or 400 lb. Being so large, he lacked speed and mobility, and there were concerns that his knee injury further hampered his movement and held him back.

Career record

References

External links