Fujizakura Yoshimori (富士櫻栄守) (born 9 February 1948 as Hideo Nakasawa) 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 Kōfu, Yamanashi,

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 ...

. His highest rank was ''

sekiwake , 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 ...

''. He wrestled for

Takasago stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It is correctly written in Japanese as "髙砂部屋", but the first of these ''kanji'' is rare, and is more commonly written as "高砂部屋". History The stable was establi ...

. He made his debut in 1963 and had one of the longest professional careers of any wrestler, fighting 1613 bouts in total, of which 1543 were consecutive. This latter record is second only to Aobajō. After his retirement in 1985 he was an elder of 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 ...

and the head coach of

Nakamura stable was a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It was established in its modern incarnation in May 1986 by Fujizakura of the Takasago stable. The stable's first ''sekitori'' was in November 1995. It did not produce any ''ma ...

Career

He was the eldest son of a farmer, and was enrolled in the

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

club at junior high school. He made his professional debut in March 1963. He was given 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 ...

'' of Fujizakura, meaning "cherry of Fuji", a reference to the prefectural flower of Yamanashi, a small pale red and white flower that blooms only around

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

. He reached ''

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 fract ...

'' status in January 1970 and was 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 in September 1971. He was a runner-up in only his second ''

honbasho A is an official professional sumo tournament. The number of ''honbasho'' every year has varied along the years; since 1958 there are six tournaments every year. Only ''honbasho'' results matter in determining promotion and relegation for ''riki ...

'' or tournament in the division and was awarded the Fighting Spirit Prize. He fought in ''makuuchi'' for 73 tournaments in total, winning eight special prizes, and nine gold stars for defeating ''

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 ...

''. His highest rank was ''

,'' which he reached in March 1974. He was demoted to 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. For ...

'' division on two occasions in 1979 and 1980, but each time made an immediate comeback to ''makuuchi''. His final top division tournament was in January 1984, where he had to withdraw through injury – coincidentally, his long-time stablemate Takamiyama withdrew from the same tournament and this was also his final ''makuuchi'' appearance. This brought to an end Fujizakura's run of 1543 consecutive appearances from his professional debut, which was the most in sumo history at the time. As of 2017 it is second only to Aobajō's 1630 consecutive bouts. He was a favourite of

Emperor Shōwa Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

, a noted fan of sumo. His May 1975 bout with Kirinji in which he thrust at his opponent over 50 times but lost, was named one of the "Best 10 All Time Battles in Ozumo" by the '' Nikkei'' newspaper.

Retirement from sumo

Fujizakura retired in March 1985, after facing demotion to 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. He became an elder of the

, opening up

in 1986, taking four ''

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 ...

'' ranked wrestlers from Takasago stable. He had a policy of not accepting foreign-born wrestlers or ''

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

'' entrants with a college sumo background, and encouraged his wrestlers to obtain high school diplomas by

correspondence courses Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

over the internet. He produced a handful of ''jūryō'' ranked wrestlers but none reached the top division. He also served as a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of tournament bouts for over 20 years, and held the post of Deputy Director of Judging. Nakamura stable closed at the end of 2012, and he retired from the Sumo Association upon turning 65 in February 2013.

Fighting style

Fujizakura was a pusher-thruster who preferred ''oshi-sumo'' techniques to fighting on the ''

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 (''yotsu-sumo''). His speciality was ''tsuppari'', a series of rapid thrusts to the opponent's chest. He was small by sumo standards, but was such an enthusiastic trainer in his younger days that he even had to be warned by his stablemaster at the time, former ''yokozuna'' Maedayama, not to over-train.

Personal life

His eldest son , born in 1976, is a

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...

Career record

References