Tamakasuga Ryōji (born January 7, 1972, as Ryōji Matsumoto) 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 Seiyo,

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

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 ...

. A former amateur sumo champion, he made his professional debut in 1994 and reached a highest rank of '' sekiwake'' in 1997. He fought in 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 for twelve years, won five special prizes and earned seven 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 o ...

''. He retired in 2008 and is now a sumo coach. In February 2010 he took over the running of Kataonami stable.

Career

He entered professional sumo in January 1994, after having practiced sumo at

Chuo University , commonly referred to as or , is a private research university in Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. The university finds its roots in a school called Igirisu Hōritsu Gakkō (English Law School), which was founded in 1885, and became a university in 1 ...

. He joined Kataonami stable, adopting 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 ...

'' (fighting name) of Tamakasuga ("Tama", meaning "jewel", being a common prefix at his stable). Because of his achievements in amateur sumo he was allowed to enter at the bottom of the third '' makushita'' division, skipping the lower divisions. After steady but unspectacular progress he reached the '' jūryō'' division in March 1995 and was promoted to the top division five tournaments after that, in January 1996. He scored ten wins in his top division debut and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. Tamakasuga had a long career in the top ''

'' division of sumo, earning seven gold stars for defeating ''

.'' He upset ''yokozuna'' Akebono, Wakanohana and Takanohana in three successive tournaments from September 1998 to January 1999. The highest rank he achieved was '' sekiwake'', but he never achieved a '' kachi-koshi'' win–loss ratio as a '' san'yaku'' wrestler, managing only a 7–8 score in his ''sekiwake'' debut, and then a 6–9 as '' komusubi'' in the next tournament. Subsequently, he spent his career either as a rank and file '' maegashira'', or fighting his way back into the top division, as he was demoted to '' jūryō'' a number of times. Tamakasuga made something of a comeback in 2006, and was awarded the Technique Prize in July of that year, following his 11–4 performance which gave him his best ever top division score and a share of third place. His previous special prize, for Outstanding Performance, was in May 1997, 55 tournaments earlier. This is the longest ever gap between awards. He was promoted all the way up to ''maegashira'' 4 in September 2007, fighting the top rankers for the first time in several years. He remained in ''makuuchi'' until July 2008, where he was the oldest man in the top division, but could only manage three wins in that tournament and withdrew on the final day, citing a neck injury.

Fighting style

Tamakasuga was a solidly ''oshi-sumo'' wrestler, relying on pushes to the opponent's chest as opposed to grabbing the '' mawashi''. His most popular winning

technique Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s * Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by ...

was ''oshi-dashi'', a simple push-out. He also frequently employed pull-down moves such as ''hataki-komi'' and ''hiki-otoshi''.

Retirement from sumo

He announced his retirement in September 2008, at the age of 36, after posting a losing record in that tournament. He remained in the sumo world as a coach at Kataonami stable, under the ''

toshiyori A , also known as an , is a sumo Elder (administrative title), elder exercising both Coach (sport), coaching functions with rikishi, active wrestlers and Management, responsibilities within the Japan Sumo Association (JSA). All are former wrest ...

'' (elder) name Tateyama-'' oyakata''. His '' danpatsu-shiki'', or official retirement ceremony, was held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on 30 May 2009. In February 2010 he swapped elder names with his old head coach (former ''sekiwake'' Tamanofuji) and took charge of the stable. Tamakasuga has an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

named after him. Known as 8432 Tamakasuga, it was named by astronomers at an observatory in his home prefecture.

Career record

References

External links