Asahiyutaka Katsuteru

Asahiyutaka Katsuteru - 旭豊勝照 (born September 10, 1968) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kasugai, Aichi. He made his debut in March 1987 and last wrestled for Oshima stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1995 and has 2 special prizes as well as 4 kinboshi. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in January 1999.

Early Life[]

In junior high school, Ichikawa was a member of the swimming team and won many competitions. He continued to swim in high school, but when he graduated high school, he joined Oshima stable because his father and Oshima Oyakata were acquaintances.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his debut in March 1987 and was given the shikona "Asahiyutaka" (旭豊). However, due to rheumatic fever and an injury on his left leg caused him to fall down the banzuke once and repeat maezumo (pre-sumo) twice. At this time he returned back to his parent's home with the intention to retire, but decided to return back to the stable. He wrestled his first full tournament in May 1988 and produced a 5-2 record. He was promoted to sandanme in November 1988 and makushita in May 1990. In November 1992 he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and in September 1993 he won his second makushita yusho which earned him a direct promotion to the juryo division.

Juryo Career[]

Asahiyutaka immediately established himself in juryo. After a series of consistent, but unspectacular results, he was ranked in juryo 2 in January 1995. In this tournament he won the juryo yusho with a strong 11-4 record and he won a three-man playoff as well. He was promoted to makuuchi in the following March tournament.

Makuuchi Career[]

Asahiyutaka was ranked in the top division for 24 tournaments, winning two special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. He also earned four kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozuna. He reached his highest rank of komusubi in 1996 and held it for three tournaments, but he lacked the weight to regularly beat the top men, and never managed to progress further.

Retirement from Sumo[]

In 1995 he had married the daughter of Osamu Annen, the head coach of the Tatsunami stable, and was legally adopted by him as his son, changing his real name from Taiji Ichikawa to Taiji Annen. This enabled him to take over the running of Tatsunami stable when Annen reached the mandatory retirement age of sixty five in February 1999. Asahiyutaka had in any case lost his top division status at the previous tournament in January, recording only four wins at maegashira 13, and had announced his retirement from active competition.

Screen Shot 2021-04-01 at 3.13.13 PM — Tatsunami Oyakata

Asahiyutaka's marriage allowed him to inherit the Tatsunami elder name and stable, but it eventually broke down with the couple being divorced in August 2001. In February 2003 Annen took Asahiyutaka to court, demanding that he be paid for the elder stock that Asahiyutaka had received for free as a result of his marriage. Annen was initially awarded 175 million yen, but Asahiyutaka appealed and the decision was overturned by a higher court in January 2004. Annen did succeed however, in evicting Asahiyutaka from the stable premises.

Asahiyutaka moved Tatsunami stable to a new site, and remarried in 2005. He recruited the Mongolian wrestler Mokonami who reached the top division in 2009, but Mokonami was forced to retire in 2011 after being found guilty of match-fixing. He voted against the Tatsunami-Isegahama group of stables preferred candidate for the head of the Sumo Association in the 2012 elections, and left the group as a result, aligning his stable with the Takanohana group instead. The group was dissolved by the sumo association after high profile scandals involving Takanohana and the stable went independent in 2018, but after the Sumo Association indicated that stables must belong to an ichimon, it aligned itself with the Dewanoumi group. After several years without any sekitori, Meisei reached the juryo division in 2016. His most successful apprentice is Hoshoryu, nephew of former yokozuna Asashoryu, who under his wing, became the 74th yokozuna in the sport's history.

Fighting Style[]

Asahiyutaka was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who specialised in grappling rather than pushing techniques. His preferred grip on the opponent's mawashi was hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His favorite kimarite were uwatenage (overarm throw) and katasukashi (under-shoulder swing down).