Daiseiryu Yoshitomo

Daiseiryu Yoshitomo - 大成龍喜悌 (born December 30, 1992) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Hachinohe, Aomori. He made his debut in May 2011 and wrestled for Kise stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2017. His highest rank was juryo 12 and he retired in September 2024.

Early Life[]

Yoshitomo Sasayama was born on December 30, 1992, in Hachinohe, Aomori. He started sumo wrestling during his first year at Hachinohe City Minato Elementary School. He later attended Aomori Prefectural Hachinohe Fisheries High School and was a member of their sumo club. He finished Top 8 in the National Sports Festival of Japan sumo competition.^[1]

After graduation, he was scouted by former maegashira Higonoumi who was a coach at Kitanoumi stable. His older brother Kazuma was already a wrestler at the stable. He made his debut in the May Technical Examination Tournament, which was the tournament right after the 2011 match-fixing scandal. He made his debut alongside Chiyotairyu, Terunofuji and Meisei.^[1]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Sasayama made his debut in May 2011 under the shikona of "Sasanoyama" (笹ノ山). In his jonokuchi debut he won all seven matches and was put in a playoff with stablemate Sakumayama (future komusubi Jokoryu), however he lost by yoritaoshi or frontal crush out. Nevertheless, Sasanoyama continued to rise through the lower divisions. He achieved two consecutive 6-1 records and a 5-2 record which promoted him to makushita for the March 2012 tournament.^[2]

Sp-th-20110513-01-ns300 — Sasanoyama during the maezumo (pre-sumo) presentation (c. 2011)

Even in makushita, Sasanoyama still rose steadily without any make-koshi. On April 1, 2012, Sasanoyama transferred from Kitanoumi stable to Kise stable, because the stable was revived (due to a number scandals, Higonoumi was forced to close down his stable with all wrestlers transferring to Kitanoumi stable).^[3] Sasanoyama continued to post winning scores until November 2012 where Sasanoyama withdrew from the whole tournament due to a broken left toe and a backache.^[4]

After his demotion he recovered from his injury and continued to rise up the ranks. He rose to makushita 3 in the January 2015 tournament, but scored a poor 2-5 record. He started to go on slump and posted four consecutive make-koshi and was placed all the way down at makushita 50 in the May 2016 tournament. There was a period of time when Sasanoyama could not even jump due to a hernia, and his stablemaster decided to change his shikona to "Daiseido" (大成道) for a little boost in morale.^[5]

After this shikona change, Daiseido produced two consecutive shikona and was regulated back to the upper levels of makushita. After three consecutive kachi-koshi, including a 5-2 record at makushita 3 and a win over juryo wrestler Rikishin, Daiseido earned promotion to juryo for the September 2017 tournament.^[2]

Juryo Career[]

Daiseido was the first wrestler from Kise stable who was not a university graduate or a foreigner to achieve promotion to sekitori status.^[6] In his juryo debut, he posted an 8-7 record and was promoted to a career-best rank of juryo 12. Daiseido struggled this tournament and produced a disastrous 2-13 record which demoted him back down to the unsalaried makushita division.^[2]

In his return back to makushita he posted a 4-3 then a 1-6 make-koshi. After that he produced 5 consecutive kachi-koshi which promoted him back to juryo for the March 2019 tournament. In his first tournament back, he won his 3 out of the first 5 matches, however he went on to lose the next ten matches and finished with a poor 3-12 record. This would demote back down to makushita for the May 2019 tournament. He never managed to return back to juryo.^[2]

Later Career[]

After his demotion, Daiseido continued to produce mixed results in makushita. In September 2021, Daiseido was given the new shikona "Daiseiryu" (大成龍). In an unexpected turn of events, Daiseiryu won the makushita championship in September 2022 with a perfect record, as the favorite to win, Asanoyama, had lost on day 11 to Yuma.^[2]

Retirement from Sumo[]

Despite winning the makushita yusho in September 2022, Daiseiryu went on a slump and even went winless in May 2023, finishing with a 0-7 record. He was subsequently demoted to sandanme in July 2023, where he spent most of the remainder of his career. His retirement was announced after the September 2024 tournament and his danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held at the stable's senshuraku party on September 22, 2024.^[7] After retirement, he plans to work in Osaka in a job related to sumo merchandise and events.^[8]

Personal Life[]

Daiseiryu's older brother, Sasayama (birth name: Kazuma Sasayama), was also a professional sumo wrestler who belonged in the same stable. He is two years older than Daiseiryu and his highest rank was makushita 21. He retired from sumo in January 2019.^[1]
Daiseiryu's favorite talent/entertainer is Rei Okamoto who is a model and actress.^[9]

Fighting Style[]

Daiseiryu is an oshi-sumo specialist who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques to grabbing the opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite is oshi-dashi, or push out. In the September 2017 tournament, Daiseiryu won by the rare tokkurinage (two handed head twist down) against Terutsuyoshi.^[10]