Azumao Yasuhito - 東旺 泰人 (born March 3, 1978) is a former Brazilian professional sumo wrestler from Sao Paulo. He made his debut in July 1994 and wrestled for Tamanoi stable. His highest rank was makushita 36 and he retired in March 2005.
Early Life[]
Yasuhito Marcio Morita, a second generation Japanese-Brazilian, was born on March 3rd, 1978, to Yasue and Taiji Morita in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He began practicing judo at the age of five, before switching to sumo at the age of 12. He trained at a sumo club in Bom Retiro, Sao Paulo. At the age of 16 he decided to join professional sumo and was recruited into Tamanoi stable which was home to five Brazilians at the time. However, there was an unofficial ban on foreigners joining sumo from 1992 to 1998. As a result, Morita used Sumida, Tokyo, as his shusshin (birth-place). He would eventually revert back to his Brazil shusshin in July 1999.
Career[]
Morita made his professional debut on July 1994, and in first first tournament he produced a 6-1 record and was placed in a seven man playoff for the jonokuchi yusho, however, he lost in the second round to Tochimiyama. In the November 1994 tournament, he changed his shikona from his family name to "Azumao" (東旺). Even though he produced a strong record in his first tournament, Azumao struggled for the next three years and was not promoted to the sandanme division until January 1998. Azumao remained in sandanme for the next six years where he produced mixed results. In May 2004, Azumao surprisingly won the sandanme yusho after defeating Bungonishiki on the 13th day. As a result, he was promoted to makushita in July 2004 after ten years in the lower three division. In his lone makushita tournament, Azumao could only record two wins and was demoted back down to sandanme.
Retirement from Sumo[]
After demotion from makushita, Azumao remained in sandanme for four more tournaments where he produced three losing records out of the four tournaments. His retirement from sumo was announced after the March 2005 tournament.
After retirement, according to his Facebook, Morita worked as a cook in Barikote Hakata Ramen (located in Suginami, Tokyo) from 2012 to 2014.
Fighting Style[]
Azumao defeats Kitamura by uwatenage (overarm throw)
Azumao was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His most common techniques were oshidashi (push-out), yorikiri (force-out), uwatenage (overarm-throw), and hatakikomi (slap-down).
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 226-219-3/445 (65 basho)
- Makushita: 2-5/7 (1 basho)
- Sandanme: 130-140-3/270 (39 basho)
- Jonidan: 88-73/161 (23 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 6-1/7 (1 basho)
Championships[]
- 1 Sandanme Championship (May 2004)
Shikona History[]
- Morita Yasuhito (1994.07 - 1994.09)
- Azumao Yasuhito (1994.11 - 2005.03)
Gallery[]
