Ichiyamamoto Daiki

Ichiyamamoto Daiki - 一山本大生 (born October 1, 1993) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Iwanai, Hokkaido. He made his debut in January 2017 and currently wrestles for Hanaregoma stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2019 and has 1 special prize as well as 1 kinboshi. His highest rank as of 2025 is maegashira 4.

Early Life[]

Yamamoto was born the youngest of three siblings in Iwanai, Hokkaido. He started sumo wrestling at his second year of primary school after his mother recommended it to him.^[1] He continued to wrestle through junior high school and just missed out in the national tournament after losing to Yago in the qualifying tournament. He later attended Hokkaido Ono Agricultural High School and was a member of the sumo club.^[1]

IchiyamamotoYoung2 — Yamamoto during his time as a civil servant

His high school's sumo club had a joint partnership with Chuo University's sumo club and after graduating high school he entered Chuo University's Department of Commerce and Trade.^[2] In his 4th year, he made it to the top 16 at the National Student Sumo Championship^[3], however he was not considering joining professional sumo, because he did not have a remarkable track record in college.^[4] He decided to forgo professional sumo and got a job in the Fukushima Town Office in Hokkaido. He was a civil servant, a job he has always wanted to do since primary school, and was also employed at the town hall.^[5] He also taught sumo at the Yokozuna Chiyonoyama & Chiyonofuji Memorial Hall.^[2]

In 2016, he met with Mitsuaki Murakami, the president of the Chuo University sumo club, and was invited to watch a professional sumo tournament. His passion for sumo was reignited and he decided to join professional sumo.^[6] However, his entrance examination faced complications because he was over the age limit. The age requirement was 23 years for normal sumo wrestlers, and 25 for wrestlers who qualify for makushita tsukedashi. He did not qualify for makushita tsukedashi and at the time was 23 years and 2 months old; however, he was allowed in.^[7] His mother at first did not like the idea, and preferred him to stay as a civil servant, but he later persuaded his mother.^[8]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Yamamoto joined Nishonoseki stable (later renamed to Hanaregoma stable) and debuted in January 2017 under the ring name, or shikona, "Ichiyamamoto" (一山本). In his jonokuchi debut he won all seven matches and took the yusho. He continued to impress and in his jonidan, sandanme, and makushita debuts, he scored a strong 6-1 record.^[9]

In makushita, Ichiyamamoto continued his strong run, and did not suffer a losing record, or make-koshi, until reaching as high as makushita 3 in July 2018. He faced off and lost against juryo ranked wrestler Chiyonoumi in the tournament and finished with a 3-4 record. The following September 2018 tournament he produced a disappointing 1-6 record and was demoted all the way down to makushita 26 for the November 2018 tournament. After his drought, he bounced back with two 4-3 records and a 6-1 record. These records brought him back up to makushita 3 for the May 2019 tournament. He faced off against juryo wrestlers, Tobizaru and Akiseyama, and defeated them both. He finished with a 5-2 record and was promoted to juryo for the following July 2019 tournament.^[9]

Juryo Career[]

Ichiyamamoto2019 — Ichiyamamoto prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2019)

In the press conference for his juryo debut, he indicated that he did not want to change his shikona.^[10] He made his juryo debut in July 2019 and finished with an impressive 9-6 record. The following tournament he produced another 9-6 record and was promoted to juryo 6 for the November 2019 tournament. On the first day he faced off against Kyokutaisei and withdrew from the tournament on the second day due to a sprained left knee joint.^[11]

He was demoted from juryo to makushita in January 2020 as a result and continued to sit out. He fell all the way down to makushita 45 and returned in the March 2020 tournament. After a year in makushita he returned to juryo in March 2021 and produced two consecutive 10-5 records to earn a promotion to makuuchi for the July 2021 tournament.^[9]

Makuuchi Career[]

He began his top division career with a win over Ishiura with a rare backwards belt throw, or harimanage. Ichiyamamoto had as strong first half, finishing with the record of 7 wins and 2 losses by the end of the 9th day. However, he went on to lose his following five matches and was heading into the final day with a 7-7 record. He defeated Chiyonoo on the final day to finish with a winning record of 8-7. He followed with a poor 4-11 record and was demoted back to juryo in November 2021. Nevertheless, he returned to makuuchi in January 2022 after winning the juryo yusho in November 2021 with a strong 13-2 record.^[9]

Ichiyamamoto began the May 2022 tournament with five straight wins, and on Day 10 was the co-leader with Takanosho on eight wins and two losses. However he lost his last five matches to finish with an 8–7 record. Ichiyamamoto and his stable were forced to withdraw on Day 9 of the July 2022 tournament in Nagoya after stablemaster Hanaregoma tested positive for COVID-19.^[12] Ichiyamamoto stood at six wins and two losses at the time, and his ranking for the September tournament was once again East Maegashira 13 (although he was two spots closer to juryo because of the increased size of sanyaku).^[9]

IchiyamamotoSansho — Ichiyamamoto with his first Sansho (c. 2023)

Ichiyamamoto dropped to juryo for the July 2023 tournament, where he withdrew with left knee issues after suffering four defeats in his first four matches. He was set to reappear on Day 8 in a bid to prevent possible demotion from sekitori status.^[13]

On the 10th day of the September 2023 tournament in the juryo division, Ichiyamamoto, who was then one defeat behind Onosato, the competition leader halfway through the tournament, defeated him to lead the competition as co-leader. In doing so, he also ended Onosato's winning streak of 9 consecutive victories and prevented him from becoming the juryo wrestler with the most consecutive victories since the start of a competition in sumo history. Ichiyamamoto managed to maintain his status as tournament leader with Onosato, the two wrestlers recording twelve wins and two defeats on the final day of the tournament, which then became decisive in deciding the tie. While Onosato lost his match against Roga, Ichiyamamoto won his against Daiamami, winning his second juryo championship, the first since 2021.^[9]

During the November 2023 tournament, Ichiyamamoto recorded his best performance in the makuuchi division with a sixth straight victory since the start of the competition. Taking the lead in the title race, Ichiyamamoto lost his lead after suffering defeats at the hands of Sakaigawa stablemates Sadanoumi (on Day 7) and Hiradoumi (Day 10). Remaining in the lead group, Ichiyamamoto's title hopes came to an end when he recorded a fourth defeat against Midorifuji on the thirteenth day of the tournament, automatically eliminating him from the title race for good. On the final day of the tournament Ichiyamamoto secured his eleventh win, which earned him his first Fighting Spirit Prize.^[9]

Personal Life[]

Ichiyamamoto's hobbies include sleeping^[2] and Nanoblocks.^[14] His favorite food is edamame, his favorite manga is Space Brothers, and his favorite artist is Genie High.^[14]
Ichiyamamoto maintains the running gag of declaring himself Wakatakakage's number one fan in the various media he is invited to appear in. To this end, he maintains a collection of merchandise bearing the wrestler's image.^[15]

Fighting Style[]

Ichiyamamoto is a tsuki/oshi type wrestler, who prefers thrusting and pushing his opponents to fighting on the mawashi. He wins most of his bouts by oshidashi (push out), hatakikomi (slap down) or tsukidashi (thrust out).^[16]