Okinoumi Ayumi

Okinoumi Ayumi - 隠岐の海歩 (born July 29, 1985) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Okinoshima, Shimane. He made his debut in January 2005 and wrestled for Hakkaku stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 2010 and has 5 special prizes as well as 4 kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in January 2023.

Early Life[]

Ayumi Fukuoka was born on July 29, 1985, in the small remote town of Okinoshima, located on Dogo Island in Shimane prefecture. He started practicing sumo in the fourth grade of elementary school, influenced by his older brother and friends. Fukuoka practiced at a local sumo club and partook in national competitions during his fourth and sixth year of elementary school.^[1]

Fukuoka attended Okinoshima Choritsu Saigo Junior High School and participated at the National High School Sumo Championship during his third year. He later attended Oki Fisheries High School and continued to practice sumo at the school's sumo club. He participated at the Inter-High School Sumo Championships for three consecutive years and even made it to the top 32 in one of the tournaments. However, Fukuoka never had the intention of trying out professional sumo as he dreamt of going to sea and taking examinations to become a licensed mariner. To become a licensed mariner, Fukuoka needed to take three months off and work as a navigator during a voyage, so he instead dropped out of high school.^[1]

He was a bit anxious after dropping out of high school and he later received a phone call from his high school sumo coach. His coach told him that Hakkaku Oyakata (the 61st Yokozuna Hokutoumi) and an acquaintance were visiting Okinoshima to scout Kazuya Takedani, a junior at the Oki Fisheries High School sumo club. Fukuoka's high school sumo coach recommended that he joined Hakkaku and his acquaintance for a meal to which he agreed. During the meal, he was persuaded to join Hakkaku stable and with the support of his father, Fukuoka traveled to Tokyo shortly after to embark in a career in professional sumo.^[2]

Career[]

Early Career[]

OkinoumiMaezumo — Fukuoka during his time in maezumo (c. 2005)

Fukuoka made his professional debut in January 2005. In his first official tournament in March 2005, he finished with an underwhelming 4-3 record. Nevertheless, in the following May 2005 tournament, Fukuoka was aiming for the jonidan yusho and he won his first six matches before losing to college-experienced Nakanishi in his final match. Nevertheless, he consistently produced winning records and was promoted to sandanme in September 2005 and makushita in March 2006.^[3]

At the time of his makushita debut, Fukuoka had never posted a losing record. He continued his winning form in the makushita division and rose to the upper half by July 2006. However, in that tournament, he recorded a 2–5 result—his first career make-koshi. In September 2008, Fukuoka achieved a 5–2 record and was promoted to West Makushita 1 for the November 2008 tournament. There, he again produced a solid 5–2 record, but was denied promotion to juryo due to the intense competitiveness of the division. This marked the first time in 42 years that a wrestler ranked at Makushita 1 was not promoted to juryo after earning five wins, a precedent not seen since Daikanyama in September 1966. In the following January 2009 tournament, Fukuoka was ranked at East Makushita 1 and responded by winning all seven of his matches to claim the makushita yusho. This dominant performance secured his promotion to juryo for the March 2009 tournament.^[3]

Juryo Career[]

He changed his shikona to Okinoumi, a reference to his birthplace of Okinoshima (a tiny and remote island in Western Japan) which had been suggested by his father.^[4] He became the first sekitori from the Oki Islands since 1960. Troubled by a shoulder injury, he was demoted from juryo after two losing records, but after reverting to the name Fukuoka he won immediate promotion back to juryo in July 2009. Fighting as Okinoumi once again, in January 2010 he won promotion to the top makuuchi division, becoming the first wrestler from Shimane Prefecture to do so in 88 years.^[5]

Makuuchi Career[]

He came through with a kachi-koshi or winning record in his debut makuuchi tournament in March, winning his last three bouts to score 8–7. This saw him promoted to maegashira 10 for May.^[3]

He was suspended from the July 2010 tournament, along with several other wrestlers, after admitting involvement in illegal gambling on baseball.^[6] As a result, he dropped back to juryo for September. Ranked at juryo 8, a 10–5 record was enough to return him to the top division for the November tournament, where he secured his majority of wins on the final day. His best performance to date came in the January 2011 tournament where he finished runner-up to yokozuna Hakuho and received his first sansho award, for Fighting Spirit. This saw him promoted to a new highest rank of maegashira 4 for the May 2011 "technical examination tournament." There he fought all the top-ranked men for the first time and defeated three ozeki: Kaio, Harumafuji and Kotooshu. He lost his last two bouts, to komusubi Kakuryu and Toyonoshima, to fall to a make-koshi 7–8 but remained at the same rank for the next tournament. Securing his majority of wins on the final day of the July tournament, he reached a new highest rank of maegashira 1 in September. He achieved his first gold star win against Harumafuji in November 2012, and his second Fighting Spirit award at maegashira 7 in March 2013.^[3]

Okinoumi2014 — Okinoumi prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2014)

He managed two non-consecutive komusubi appearances in 2013, but he slid down the rankings after four consecutive losing tournaments in the following year. Following the January tournament in 2015 he was promoted to sekiwake from the relatively low rank of maegashira 6, benefiting from the failure of most of those ranked directly above him to get winning records. He was the first sekiwake from Shimane Prefecture in 121 years.^[7] He was injured in his sekiwake debut and had to withdraw from the tournament. Nine win in May and eleven in July saw him promoted to the san'yaku ranks for the fourth time (three at komusubi, and one at sekiwake). He was unable to hold the rank, scoring 6–9, and he also had a losing record in his fourth attempt at komusubi in May 2016. He picked up a kinboshi from maegashira 2 in July 2016, and had a very successful start to the September tournament, defeating ozeki Kisenosato on opening day, Kakuryu on Day 2 and Harumafuji on Day 3. By the sixth day he had defeated two yokozuna and three ozeki and was the undefeated tournament co-leader. However he began losing in the second week of the tournament and finished on 9–6. He was rewarded for this efforts with his first Outstanding Performance Prize, and promotion back to sekiwake. The November 2016 tournament did not go well for Okinoumi who had a lingering injury that had caused him to miss the autumn tour. He ended the tournament with only a 5–10 record and fell back to the maegashira ranks. In the November 2017 tournament Okinoumi was a runner-up to Hakuho with an 11–4 record, and was awarded his third Fighting Spirit prize, shared with Aminishiki. In July 2020 Okinoumi returned to the komusubi rank for the first time since 2016, and secured his first winning record in sanyaku with a 9–6 score.^[3]

Retirement from Sumo[]

Okinoumi withdrew from the January 2023 tournament after he was defeated in his first five matches. On the day of his withdrawal the Sanin Chuo Shimpo newspaper reported that Okinoumi had decided to retire.^[8] His retirement was confirmed by the Japan Sumo Association the next day, on 14 January 2023.^[9] At the time of his retirement he was the second-oldest active wrestler in the top two divisions behind Tamawashi.^[10] At his retirement press conference, Okinoumi said that for several years he had to rely on mental strength to overcome his inability to perform his style of sumo and that it had recently become too exhausting.^[7]

OkinofujiOkinoumi2023 — Okinoumi and Okinofuji engage in okikoten-zumo (c. 2023)

Okinoumi finished his career with a total of 75 tournaments ranked in the top division, eight of them in san'yaku. He had acquired toshiyori kabu, or elder stock, in the Sumo Association prior to his retirement. He is now a coach under the name of Kimigahama Oyakata.^[7] He opened his own Twitter account on the day of his retirement, as he was no longer subject to the Sumo Association's SNS ban.

On 30 September 2023 Okinoumi's danpatsu-shiki (retirement ceremony) was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. About 300 people took turns in the ceremonial snipping of Okinoumi's oichomage before the final cut was made by his stablemaster and Sumo Association chairman Hakkaku.^[11] During the ceremony, Okinoumi's final match was held against his sandanme-ranked stablemate Okinofuji, who is also from Okinoumi's home town of Okinoshima. The matches were held in a traditional sumo style unique to Okinoshima called okikoten-zumo, which involved ringside spectators throwing generous amounts of salt toward the competitors as a method of encouragement.^[12]

Controversy[]

Gambling Scandal[]

Okinoumi was suspended from the July 2010 tournament, along with several other wrestlers, after admitting involvement in illegal gambling on baseball. As a result, he dropped back to juryo for September. This was a major scandal which involved 29 other wrestlers he admitted involvements and some were also given suspensions as well.^[6]

Personal Life[]

Okinoumi is known for his good looks. His stablemaster joked at a press conference after Okinoumi's promotion to juryo that this made him envious.^[13]
Okinoumi's record was 7-7 on 14 different occasions and he won the final match 12 out of the 14 times which shows that Okinoumi performs well under pressure.^[3]
Okinoumi announced his marriage with a dietician on October 28, 2014.^[14]
Okinoumi's hobby is playing golf, his favorite food is fish, and his favorite artist is Chiharu Matsuyama.^[15]

Fighting Style[]

Okinoumi is a yotsu-sumo fighter, preferring grappling techniques to pushing or thrusting. His most common winning kimarite is yorikiri or force out, and he favors a migi-yotsu grip on the mawashi, with his left hand outside and right hand inside his opponent's arms.^[15] He also regularly uses uwatenage, or overarm throw.^[16]