Yoshikaze Masatsugu

Yoshikaze Masatsugu (born March 19, 1982 as Masatsugu Ōnishi) is a former sumo wrestler from Saiki, Oita Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was ''sekiwake''. A former amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 2004, reaching the top division two years later. Until his promotion to ''komusubi'' in May 2014 he had the active record for the longest serving ''makuuchi'' wrestler who had never reached a titled rank. His best performance in a tournament came in July 2015 when he was the runner-up and scored twelve wins against three losses. In the following tournament in September 2015 he defeated two ''yokozuna'' and won special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. Yoshikaze is in second place for the slowest promotion from ''makuuchi'' debut to the third highest ''sekiwake'' rank in history, behind only his stablemate Takekaze. He won ten special prizes in total, and eight gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna.'' He retired in September 2019 and is now an elder of the Japan Sumo Association, known as Nakamura Oyakata.

Early life and sumo background

He was an amateur sumo champion at Nippon Sport Science University, and won the college equivalent of the ''yokozuna'' title in his third year. Because he wanted to wait until after his graduation from university before joining professional sumo, he missed out on the chance to enter at the level of the third ''makushita'' division. He joined Oguruma stable and made his debut at ''maezumo'' level in January 2004, the first former amateur ''yokozuna'' to do so.

Career

At the start of his career he was considerably older and more experienced than most of the competition there and quickly worked his way up the ranks, winning two tournament titles in the ''jonokuchi'' and ''sandanme'' divisions with perfect 7–0 records. He initially competed under his own surname of Ōnishi, but upon reaching the second highest ''jūryō'' division in July 2005 he changed his ''shikona'' to Yoshikaze. The ''Yoshi'' character came from his grandfather, Yoshio, who had died the previous year, and the ''kaze'' character was from his stablemaster and used by many of his stablemates.

He was promoted to the top ''makuuchi'' division in January 2006. It took him only 12 tournaments to make the top division from his professional debut, equal to the second fastest rise ever since the six tournaments per year system was introduced in 1958. However, until January 2009 he did not manage to rise above the mid ''maegashira'' ranks and twice fell back to the second division.

In the November 2007 tournament he defeated fan favourite Takamisakari with the rare but spectacular technique of '' utchari'', or spin throw from the edge of the ring. However he was able to win only three other bouts in that tournament and fell to the bottom of the division. An 8–7 record in January 2008 kept him in ''makuuchi''.

One of his best performance in the top division came in November 2008 when he won 11 bouts and was awarded his first '' sanshō'' or special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He was promoted to a new high of '' maegashira'' 2 for the January 2009 tournament. Although he was not able to come through with a winning record his score of 6–9 was creditable, and he scored a memorable win over new '' ōzeki'' Harumafuji on the opening day of the tournament. However, he gradually slipped back down the rankings with three more losing scores in the next three tournaments. The November 2009 tournament was one of his most successful, as he won nine of his first ten bouts before slowing down somewhat to finish on 10–5. In September 2010 he won his second Fighting Spirit prize, which was shared with his stablemate Takekaze, after producing a fine 11–4 score, having been 7–0. He followed up with a solid 8–7 record in November, which saw him return to ''maegashira'' 2 in January 2011, and he reached ''maegashira'' 1 that July.

In March 2014 Yoshikaze scored 10–5 from ''maegashira'' 4. This not only saw him win his third Fighting Spirit Prize, but also guaranteed him promotion to the ''san'yaku'' ranks for the first time, as all the ''maegashira'' above him on the ''banzuke'' had losing scores. His promotion to ''komusubi'' in the May 2014 tournament ended his record as the active wrestler with the longest career in ''makuuchi'' without ever making a ''san'yaku'' appearance (47 tournaments). He managed a 6–9 at this rank, and though this would lead to a demotion, it is considered relatively strong showing for a wrestler debuting at this challenging rank. In the following July tournament in Nagoya, he defeated ''yokozuna'' Harumafuji for the second tournament in a row, this time earning his first ''kinboshi'' as he was back in the ''maegashira'' ranks. He added a second ''kinboshi'' in September by beating Kakuryū but ended the tournament with a losing record and withdrew from the November tournament after winning only four of his first twelve matches.

In early 2015 Yoshikaze dropped to ''maegashira'' 14 after losing records in five of the last six tournaments. He recovered in May however, with a 10–5 result and then produced a career-best ''makuuchi'' score at Nagoya in July, finishing with 12–3 and earning a fourth Fighting Spirit prize. His excellent form continued in September 2015 when his eleven wins from ''maegashira'' 1 included victories over both competing ''yokozuna'', Hakuhō and Kakūryū. He was additionally awarded the special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. Yoshikaze returned to the rank of ''komusubi'' for the November 2015 tournament and defeated Kakūryū for the second time in a row on the opening day. He went on to post wins over both ''sekiwake'' and the ''ōzeki'' Gōeidō to end the tournament with an 8–7 record. He was awarded the special prize for Technique for the second consecutive tournament. His efforts saw him promoted to the rank of ''sekiwake'' for the first time, 59 tournaments after his top division debut. This is the second slowest in history, behind only fellow Oguruma stable member Takekaze, who took 68 tournaments to reach ''sekiwake''.

Yoshikaze achieved a majority of wins in his debut at ''sekiwake'', but lost the rank after the following tournament where he could only score 4–11. He earned his fifth career gold star in the July 2016 tournament by defeating Harumafuji for the eighth time in thirteen meetings. Despite suffering from facial injuries he ended the tournament with a 10–5 record and was awarded the special prize for Outstanding Performance. In the March 2017 tournament he earned his sixth ''kinboshi'' by defeating Kakuryū on Day 10. Returning to the ''sanyaku'' ranks at ''komusubi'' in May 2017, he defeated two ''yokozuna'', Kisenosato and Kakuryū, in the first four days, and received his third Technique Prize at the end of the tournament. He produced another good performance in July 2017, beating Harumafuji on the opening day and ending with a 9–6 record: he was in consideration for another Technique prize before losing to the in-form Aoiyama on the final day. This returned him to ''sekiwake'' rank for the first time since March 2016. He became the fifth oldest wrestler post World War II to earn promotion to ''sekiwake'' at 35 years, 5 months. He was demoted from ''sekiwake'' after the November 2017 tournament, but back in the ''maegashira'' ranks in January 2018 he defeated two ''yokozuna'' on consecutive days – Hakuhō on Day 4 and Kisenosato on Day 5. After having surgery on a knee injury in June 2019, he announced that he would miss the July 2019 tournament, resulting in a fall to ''jūryō'' for the first time since 2007.

Retirement from sumo

In February 2013 Yoshikaze acquired the Nakamura ''toshiyori kabu'' or elder stock from the former Fujizakura, indicating that he intended to stay in sumo as a coach upon his retirement. On the fifth day of the September 2019 tournament, with his continuing absence making demotion to the ''makushita'' division certain, he submitted his retirement papers to the Japan Sumo Association. It was reported in October 2019 that his career-ending knee injury was caused by a canyoning accident in his native Saiki, and that as he was unable to reach an amicable settlement with his hometown, he was suing Saiki for damages as he regarded the canyoning as a PR event for the town. In January 2022 it was announced that due to the imminent closure of Oguruma stable he would be transferring to the Nishonoseki stable.

His ''danpatsu-shiki'', or official retirement ceremony, was held on 5 February 2022. Around 250 people took part in the hair-cutting ceremony, including fellow Nippon Sport Science University graduates Hokutofuji and Myōgiryū, Ikazuchi ''oyakata'' (the former Kakizoe, also from Ōita Prefecture), Nishonoseki ''oyakata'' (former ''yokozuna'' Kisenosato) and Oshiogawa ''oyakata'' (former stablemate Takekaze).

Fighting style

Yoshikaze's favourite techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as ''tsuki/oshi'', meaning he preferred pushing and thrusting moves as opposed to fighting on the opponent's ''mawashi'' or belt. His most common winning techniques were ''oshidashi'', the push out, and ''yorikiri'', the force out.

Family

Yoshikaze was married in December 2008, and the wedding ceremony was held in October 2009. He has two children, a daughter and a son. It was reported in November 2020 that he had separated from his wife, a development that could impact his ability to run his own stable in the future. In March 2021 his ex-wife was arrested on charges of physical abuse of their daughter.

Career record

See also

*List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of sekiwake

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshikaze, Masatsugu
1982 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Nippon Sport Science University alumni
Sumo people from Ōita Prefecture
Sekiwake