was a Japanese professional

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

Tokunoshima , also known in English as is an island in the Amami archipelago of the southern Satsunan Islands of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of approximately 27,000. The island is divided into three administrative t ...

in the

Amami Islands The The name ''Amami-guntō'' was standardized on February 15, 2010. Prior to that, another name, ''Amami shotō'' (奄美諸島), was also used. is a Japanese archipelago in the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Ryukyu Islands, and is sout ...

. He was the sport's 46th ''

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 o ...

''. He was also a sumo coach and head of

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 establ ...

Career

He was born on

in the

. Due to the Amami Islands being occupied by the United States, in 1948 he stowed away on a cargo ship and was supported by a relative in Hyogo Prefecture. Making his professional debut in October 1948, he at first fought under his real name. He was billed in sumo as being from

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

in Hyogo until the United States returned the Anami Islands to Japan in 1953, and was thereafter billed as being from

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

. In September 1950 he reached the second highest ''

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 and won the championship with a 14–1 record. This earned him immediate promotion to 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 January 1951. He adopted 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 ...

'' or ring name of Asashio Tarō in 1952. In his early career he earned seven ''

kinboshi is a notation used in professional 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 oth ...

'' or gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna'', three of them coming in one tournament in January 1955 when he beat Yoshibayama on Day 5 and then Chiyonoyama and

Tochinishiki was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tokyo. He was the sport's 44th ''makuuchi#Yokozuna, yokozuna''. He won ten top division ''yūshō'' or tournament championships and was a rival of fellow ''yokozuna'' Wakanohana Kanji I, Wakanohana ...

on Days 8 and 9.Asashio's January 1955 tournament record from Sumo Reference
/ref> In January 1956 he changed the spelling of his ring name to , but changed it back in July 1960. Asashio won five top division tournament championships, all but one of them in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

. He won this tournament three years in a row from 1956 to 1958. His first title was won at ''

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 ...

'' rank in a three way playoff that also involved future ''yokozuna''

Wakanohana Kanji I was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 45th ''yokozuna''. He was a popular wrestler and was nicknamed the due to his great fighting spirit and endurance. Wakanohana's younger brother (by twenty-two years) was the late f ...

and ''

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 ...

'' Wakahaguro. He earned promotion to '' ōzeki'' a year later after winning his second championship. In November 1958 he won the tournament in

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

with a 14–1 record. After runner-up honours in the next two tournaments he was finally promoted to ''yokozuna'' at nearly 30 years of age. His time at sumo's highest rank was difficult as he missed many bouts through injury. He had to sit out the three tournaments following his ''yokozuna'' debut and was only able to win one further tournament, in March 1961. He did not take part in the January 1962 tournament and announced his retirement at the age of 32. Asashio was known for his thick chest hair and eyebrows. In 1959, he appeared on the cover of the first issue of ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

'' and in

Hiroshi Inagaki was a Japanese filmmaker who worked on over 100 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed filmmakers in the history of Japanese cinema, having directed several ''jidaigeki'' epics s ...

's film ''

The Three Treasures is a 1959 Japanese epic film, epic List of religious films, religious fantasy film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced by Toho as their celebratory thousandth film, it was the most expensive Japanese fil ...

''.

Retirement from sumo

Asashio remained in the sumo world as an elder under the name of Furiwake, and became head coach of

in 1971 after the death of the previous stablemaster, former ''yokozuna'' Maedayama. As Takasago-'' oyakata'' he coached Asashio Tarō IV and

Konishiki Saleva'a Fuauli Atisano'e (born December 31, 1963), better known by his stage name, , is an American-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler. Franz LidzMeat Bomb, 05.18.92 - ''Sports Illustrated'' He was the first non-Japanese-born wrest ...

to the rank of ''ōzeki''. He predicted that Konishiki would reach the rank of ''yokozuna'' before his 25th birthday, but it did not happen. He also recruited the

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

n wrestler Nankairyū but after a heated argument with Takasago, Nankairyū ran away from the stable in September 1988. Takasago died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

a few weeks later.

Pre-modern top division record

*''The New Year tournament began and the Spring tournament returned to Osaka in 1953.''

Modern top division record

*''Since the addition of the Kyushu tournament in 1957 and the Nagoya tournament in 1958, the yearly schedule has remained unchanged.''

References

External links