Ōikari Tsuyoshi (born 16 June 1972 as Tsuyoshi Saito) 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 th ...

wrestler from Nishikyō,

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He made his professional debut in March 1995, and reached the top division in November 1998. 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 on ...

'' 11. He retired in November 2004, and as of 2016 he is an elder in the

Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...

under the name Kabutoyama.

Career

He was an amateur sumo wrestler at

Doshisha University , also referred to as , is a private university in Kyoto, Japan. Established in 1875, it is one of Japan's oldest private institutions of higher learning, and has approximately 30,000 students enrolled on four campuses in Kyoto. It is one of Japa ...

and upon turning professional in 1995 was given ''

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

'' status, allowing him to begin in the third ''

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

Isenoumi stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze '' ichimon'' or group of stables. Its current head coach is former '' maegashira'' Kitakachidoki. As of January 2023 it had 12 wrestlers. History The name of Isenoumi stable relates to one ...

, where another Doshisha University graduate, Tosanoumi, had joined the previous year. He was given the ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Muromachi period and established itself during the Edo period, where they were used as a means to hide the identities of the . Given by the master to his di ...

'' of Ōikari (literally "large anchor") to potentially evoke the former

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

Ōzeki Ozeki or Ōzeki may refer to: * Ōzeki, a rank in ''Makuuchi'', the top division of professional sumo ** List of ōzeki 53 sumo wrestlers have reached the second highest in the sport, the rank of '' ōzeki'', but have failed to rise to the top r ...

'', Ōikari Montarō, who also wrestled in an older incarnation of Isenoumi stable. He was promoted 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. Fo ...

'' division in May 1997, becoming the first ''

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 fr ...

'' from

Kyoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Kyoto Prefecture has a population of 2,561,358 () and has a geographic area of . Kyoto Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the northeast, Shiga Prefecture ...

since the retirement of Daimonji in July 1973, and he was to win two ''jūryō'' division championships or ''

yūshō is the term for a championship in Japanese. This article focuses on championships in the sport of professional sumo. It is awarded in each of the six annual '' honbasho'' or official tournaments, to the wrestler who wins the most bouts. ''Yūs ...

'' in 1998 and 2001. He first reached the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, 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 ...

'' division in November 1998 but was demoted after only one tournament. He had two further stints the top division, a two tournament run in January and March 2000, and four tournaments from January until July 2002. His highest rank was ''

'' 11 and he had an overall win/loss record in ''makuuchi'' of 45–60. He was demoted back to the ''makushita'' division in September 2004 and announced his retirement after the following tournament in November.

Retirement from sumo

Ōikari's ''

danpatsu-shiki A , or, more colloquially, , is a sumo wrestler. Although used to define all wrestlers participating in sumo wrestling matches, the term is more commonly used to refer to professional wrestlers, employed by the Japan Sumo Association, who part ...

'' or official retirement ceremony was held in the ground floor of the

Ryōgoku Kokugikan , also known as Ryōgoku Sumo Hall or Kokugikan Arena, is the name bestowed to two different indoor sporting arenas located in Tokyo. The first ''Ryōgoku Kokugikan'' opened its doors in 1909 and was located on the premises of the Ekōin temple i ...

on May 28, 2005 with 230 invited guests including former '' ōzeki'' Musōyama. He has remained in sumo as a coach at Isenoumi stable under the elder name of Kabutoyama Oyakata. He has worked as a trainer and instructor in the sumo school for new recruits.

Fighting style

Ōikari was a pusher/thruster (''tsuki/oshi'') whose favourite techniques were ''oshi dashi'' (push out), ''tsuki otoshi'' (thrust over) and ''hiki otoshi'' (pull down).

Personal life

Ōikari was married in March 2004. His elder son Seigō Saito (born 2005) joined Isenoumi stable in January 2023 under the of and reached the division in November 2024. Ōikari's younger son, Chūgō Saito (born 2006), won a gold medal in Junior Sumo World Championships in 2023 as part of the Japan team. After a successful amateur career, Chūgō qualified as a , becoming the first professional sumo recruit to be able to access the revised form of this status since its reform in September 2023. Chūgō turned professional in December 2024, joining Isenoumi stable. After passing sumo's physical examination the following month it was decided that Chūgō's would be Ikarigata, taking the

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

characters from both his father and brother.

Career record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oikari, Tsuyoshi 1972 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers People from Nishikyō, Kyoto Sumo people from Kyoto Prefecture