Kakureizan Hoichi

Kakureizan Hoichi - 鶴嶺山宝一 (born November 24, 1959 - March 28, 2020) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kajiki, Kagoshima. He made his debut in March 1975 and last wrestled for Izutsu stable. He reached the juryo division in July 1981. His highest rank was juryo 2 and he retired in January 1990.

Early Life[]

Fukuzono was born and raised in Sumida, Tokyo. His father, Tsurugamine, was a successful sumo wrestler who had opened up Kimigahama stable by the time the young Fukuzono was born. Even though Fukuzono was born and raised in Sumida, Tokyo, he would use his father's hometown of Kajiki, Kagoshima, as his official birthplace when entering professional sumo. After graduating from junior high school, he joined his father's Kimigahama stable (later renamed Izutsu stable).

Career[]

He made his professional debut in March 1975 alongside stablemate and future ozeki Kirishima. He initially wrestled under his surname before switching to "Kakureizan" (鶴嶺山) in March 1976. He was promoted to sandanme in July 1976 and makushita in January 1978. He was promoted to juryo alongside his younger brother Sakahoko in July 1981.

Kakureizan struggled in his first tournament as a sekitori and finished with a 5-10 record. He returned to juryo in November 1982 and rose as high as juryo 2 in July 1983. He was expected to reach makuuchi, however, he suffered a serious right shoulder injury after dislocating it during training and was forced to miss the September 1983 tournament which sent him back down to makushita.

His shoulder never fully recovered and he would sit out of consecutive tournaments on many different occasions, Because of this, he fell down to jonidan and sandanme on multiple occasions and would win the yusho in those divisions. However, he never came close to returning to juryo and announced his retirement after the January 1990 tournament. At the time of his retirement, his shikona was "Tsurunofuji" (鶴ノ富士), which would be used by his cousin Yoichiro Fukuzono.

Retirement from Sumo[]

After retiring, he opened up a chanko restaurant, named after his popular younger brother Terao, called "Sumo Chaya Terao" (相撲茶屋寺尾) in Ryogoku, Tokyo. The chankonabe in the restaurant is based off the chankonabe used in his Izutsu stable.

Death[]

He died at his home in Tokyo on March 28, 2020 due to acute heart failure. He was 60 years old. His death was only half a year after the death of his brother Sakahoko. According to his youngest brother, Terao, he was serving customers at his restaurants the day before his death. His death was not published until after 49 days.

Personal Life[]

Kakureizan would have inherited the "Tsurugamine" shikona after his father if he rose to makuuchi.

Kakureizan, Terao, and Sakahoko are the first three brothers to become sekitori. However, Kakureizan and Terao were never ranked in the top two divisions simultaneously. Kakureizan's last juryo appearance was in September 1983 and Terao's first juryo appearance was in July 1984.

Family[]

Kakureizan has a long sumo pedigree. He is the first son of former sekiwake Tsurugamine, and older brother of Terao (former sekiwake) and Sakahoko (former sekiwake). His paternal grandfather was a cousin of Satsumanishiki (former makushita). His father married the adopted daughter of former makushita Kaganishiki, who was adopted by Nishinoumi, the 25th yokozuna.

Fighting Style[]

Kakureizan employed techniques that were also used by his brothers. He performed rapid series of thrusts to the chest (tsuppari) of his opponents, like his brother Terao. He also favored the grip on the mawashi with both arms inside the opponent's, called morozashi, like his brother Sakahoko. His most common winning kimarite was overwhelmingly yorikiri or force out, which accounted for over half his victories at sekitori level.