Asagyokusei Taiko

Asagyokusei Taiko - 朝玉勢大幸 (born May 29, 1993) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ise, Mie. He made his debut in January 2016 and currently wrestles for Takasago stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2019. His highest rank as of 2025 is juryo 12.

Early Life[]

Kazuma Tamaki was born on May 29, 1993, in Ise, Mie. He began sumo wrestling in his first year at Ise City Hamago Elementary School. He also wrestled at a local sumo dojo (Shimokan Sumo Dojo). He later attended Shima City Isobe Junior High School and won the National Prefectural Junior High School Sumo Championship in his third year.^[1] Tamaki attended Kinki University High School which was directly related with the Kinki University sumo club director. Tamaki participated in the National Tournaments and finished in Top 8 in his second and third year.^[2]

Tamaki attended Kinki University and enrolled in the Department of Business Administration. In his first year at Kinki University, he won the West Japan Student Rookie Championship. After that, he won two titles in the West Japan Tournament. He participated in many national tournaments and served as the captain of the Kinki University Sumo Club during his fourth year. Although he achieved Top 16 at the All-Japan Sumo Championship and National Student Sumo Championship, he did not win any major titles and subsequently did not qualify for any special dispensation.^[3] After his college sumo career, Tamaki opted to turn professional and joined Takasago stable with his college teammate and close friend, the future Asanoyama.^[4]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Tamaki made his professional debut on January 2016 under the shikona of "Asatamaki" (朝玉木). "Asa" is a prefix used by every member in the Takasago stable, and "Tamaki" is his family name. He took the jonokuchi championship with a perfect 7-0 record in March 2016. The following tournament he changed his shikona to just his family name of "Tamaki". In May 2016, Tamaki took the jonidan yusho with another perfect 7-0 record. The following July 2016 tournament, Tamaki achieved a strong 6-1 record in sandanme which was earned him promotion to makushita for the September 2016 tournament.^[5]

In his first tournament in makushita, Tamaki was in the race for the yusho, but lost his last match against eventual yusho winner Yamaguchi. He was promoted to a then career-best rank of makushita 10, but posted his first make-koshi record of 3-4. He would subsequently stay in the upper levels of makushita for around three years. In November 2018, Tamaki was ranked at makushita 3 and even faced off against juryo ranked wrestler, Gokushindo, whom he beat on the last day to finish with a rare 2-6 record. In the July 2019 tournament, Tamaki scored a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 3 which secured him a promotion to the juryo division for the following September 2019 tournament.^[5]

Juryo Career[]

Upon promotion to juryo, he was given the shikona to "Asagyokusei" (朝玉勢). Asagyokusei struggled in his first tournament and finished with a 5-10 record. He was demoted back down to makushita in November 2019, but achieved a 5-2 record which secured re-promotion to the juryo division in the January 2020 tournament. In January 2020, Asagyokusei was on the verge of a kachi-koshi (winning record), however he lost on the last day to Hidenoumi which gave him a final record of 7-8. He followed with a 5-10 record and was demoted back down to makushita in July 2020.^[5]

Later Career[]

After demotion from juryo, Asagyokusei remained in the makushita division for around six years. He was demoted back down to sandanme in March 2025 for the first time since July 2016.^[5]

Fighting Style[]

Asagyokusei is an oshi-sumo specialist, which means he prefers thrusting and pushing techniques rather than fighting on the mawashi. The most common kimarite that he employs is oshidashi (force-out), hatakikomi (slap-down), tsukiotoshi (thrust-down), hikiotoshi (hand pull down) and tsukidashi (front thrust-out); all which don't employ the mawashi.^[6]