Yōtsukasa Dai (born 23 September 1973, as Daishi Suzuki) 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 t ...

wrestler from Matsusaka, Mie,

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 n ...

. He made his professional debut in January 1996, and reached the top division in May 1999. 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 o ...

'' 11. He retired in November 2005. He became an

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and ...

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 worked as a coach at Irumagawa stable, leaving in 2012.

Career

He began doing sumo from the fourth grade of elementary school. At

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

he was a member of the Nichi-Dai Sumo Club and was in the same year as Kaihō. Because of his amateur achievements he was given special dispensation to begin his professional career at the bottom of the third highest ''

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. Fo ...

'' division. He joined Irumagawa stable, run by another Nihon University graduate, ex-''

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 o ...

'' Tochitsukasa. He made his debut in January 1996, fighting under his own surname of Suzuki. Upon reaching ''

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 fra ...

'' status in May 1998 he switched to 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'' ...

'' of Yōtsukasa, the ''tsukasa'' suffix being a common one at his stable. His stablemaster liked the combination of the "fire" and "flower"

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

, hoping that his sumo would "ignite fire and transform himself as a brilliant flower". He reached 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 o ...

'' division a year later in May 1999. He withdrew injured from his third top division tournament and was demoted back 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. F ...

'' division as a result. In November 2001 he lost ''sekitori'' status altogether after a 3–12 record at Jūryō 11 but he returned to the ''jūryō'' division in November 2002 and was promoted back to the ''makuuchi'' division in May 2003 after an absence of 22 tournaments. His last appearance in the top division was in March 2004.

Retirement

Yōksukaza's final tournament was in November 2005. Ranked right at the bottom of the ''jūryō'' division at no. 14 East, he lost every one of his first fourteen matches, defaulting on the final day to end with a rare 0–15 record. He was the first ''sekitori'' to suffer this embarrassing score since Hoshitango in 2000. He immediately announced his retirement rather than face demotion to ''makushita''. Yōtsukasa was unable to acquire permanent elder stock in the

and so had to borrow elder names owned by active wrestlers or stable-masters. He was variously known as Yōtsukasa (jun-toshiyori), Hatachiyama (owned by

Tochinohana is a former Japanese sumo wrestler from Yamagata, Iwate. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1995, reaching the top '' makuuchi'' division in 2000. His highest rank was '' komusubi''. He retired in 2008 and is now a sumo coach. ...

), Wakafuji ( Otsukasa), Sekinoto ( Iwakiyama), Onogawa (

Kitanoumi , born , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the dominant wrestler in the sport during the 1970s. Kitanoumi was promoted to '' yokozuna'' at the age of 21, becoming the youngest ever to achieve sumo's top rank. He won 24 tournament ...

), Sendagawa, ( Maenoyama) and Takenawa ( Tochinonada). He was finally forced to leave the Sumo Association in January 2012 when Tochinonada retired and no other elder names were available. He later worked for a cleaning company in Tokyo.

Fighting style

Yōtsukasa was an ''oshi-sumo'' specialist, preferring ''tsuki-oshi'' (pushing and thrusting) 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 v ...

'' or belt. He won most of his bouts by a straightforward ''oshi-dashi'', or push out, although his personal favourite was ''tsuki-otoshi'', or thrust over.

Career record

References

External links