Taikan Muneyuki - 大寛 宗之 (born October 20, 1944) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nakatane, Kagoshima. He made his debut in March 1962 and last wrestled for Michinoku stable. He reached the juryo division in March 1970. His highest rank was juryo 4 and he retired in January 1976.
Early Life[]
Fuchigami initially played baseball but after enrolling at Tanegashima High School, he joined the judo club. Since he was the biggest member of the judo club, he was recommended to try out sumo and at the Kagoshima Prefectural tournament, he finished second. He was subsequently recruited for professional sumo by a sewanin from Izutsu stable.
Career[]
He made his professional debut in March 1962 and wrestled under his surname Fuchigami before changing it to "Satsumanada" (薩摩洋 ) in September 1964 and "Taikan" (大寛) in November 1969. He was promoted to sandanme in January 1963 and makushita in March 1965. In November 1969, he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and was promoted to the top of makushita where he produced a 5-2 record to earn a promotion to juryo in March 1970.
In his first tournament as a sekitori, Taikan finished with a solid 9-6 record and was promoted to the rank of juryo 4. However, this was to be his highest rank as he never managed to reach the makuuchi division. He was ranked in juryo for a total of 21 tournaments. His last appearance as a sekitori was in November 1973. In 1974 he transferred to the recently established Michinoku stable and changed his shikona to "Nishinoshima" (西ノ島) before quickly reverting back to Taikan in 1975.
Taikan announced his retirement after the January 1976 tournament. At the time of his retirement he had never missed a match and wrestled 742 consecutive matches. He currently resides in Nerima, Tokyo.
Fighting Style[]
Taikan was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out.
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 380-362-7/742 (84 basho)
- Juryo: 143-172/315 (21 basho)
- Makushita: 160-127-7/287 (42 basho)
- Sandanme: 58-54/112 (16 basho)
- Jonidan: 13-8/21 (3 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 6-1/7 (1 basho)
Championships[]
- 1 Jonokuchi Championship (November 1969)
Shikona History[]
- Fuchigami (1962.03 - 1964.07)
- Satsumanada (1964.09 - 1969.09)
- Taikan Muneyuki (1969.11 - 1972.05)
- Taikan Rikiyoshi (1972.07 - 1974.03)
- Nishinoshima (1974.05 - 1974.09)
- Taikan (1974.11 - 1976.01)
Gallery[]
