Takamisugi Takakatsu

Takamisugi Takakatsu - 隆三杉太一 (born March 1, 1961) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kawasaki, Kanagawa. He made his debut in March 1976 and wrestled for Futagoyama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1981 and has one kinboshi. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in November 1995.

Early Life[]

Kanao practised judo in elementary and junior school, where he also excelled at painting and artwork. Because of his large size he also took part in team sumo competitions at school and regularly placed the team in the top three. Upon his graduation he joined Futagoyama stable in March 1976. It was a prestigious heya to join, as it was run by former yokozuna Wakanohana Kanji I and contained a number of top division stars including popular ozeki Takanohana Kenshi.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Initially fighting under his own surname, Kanao adopted the shikona of Futagonishiki in 1977 but switched to Takamisugi two years later. In November 1978, he produced a 6-1 record and won a four-man playoff to claim the jonidan yusho. He was promoted to makushita in May 1979. In November 1980, Takamisugi produced a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 4 and was promoted to juryo in the following January 1981 tournament at the young age of 19.

Juryo Career[]

Takamisugi posted a strong 10-5 record in his first juryo tournament and followed with an 8-7 record in March which earned him a spot in the top of the division. There he finished with another winning record and was promoted to makuuchi after three tournaments in juryo.

Makuuchi Career[]

He made his makuuchi debut in July 1981. He initially struggled with injuries and after a number of setbacks, including a short spell back in the third makushita division, he made a top division kachi-koshi at the third attempt in January 1984, and established himself in makuuchi. He dropped back to juryo in January 1987 but was re-promoted after winning the juryo championship or yusho in March with a 13–2 record. In November 1987 he defeated Onokuni in the latter's debut tournament as a yokozuna to earn his only kinboshi or gold star.

Takamisugi remained a rank-and file maegashira for nearly all his top division career. Although he reached komusubi twice, in January 1991 and January 1993, he recorded a losing score on both occasions. He holds the record for the most top division tournaments without ever winning a special prize, at 71. In 1993 his stable merged with Fujishima stable and he became a stablemate of ozeki (later yokozuna) Takanohana Koji, whom he had fought eight times previously without beating. In November 1995 he fell into juryo once more and announced his retirement at the age of 34 after losing his first three matches.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Chiganoura2017 — Chiganoura Oyakata (c. 2017)

He remained in sumo as a coach at Futagoyama stable (later renamed Takanohana stable). Unable to purchase toshiyori kabu or elder stock, he borrowed elder names instead. He was known as Fujishima (until the retirement of stablemate Wakanohana Masaru), then Otowayama (until the retirement of Takanonami) and then Tokiwayama Oyakata. Along with five other oyakata (Magaki, Onomatsu, Otowayama, Otake and Futagoyama), he was forced to leave the Nishonoseki ichimon or group of stables in January 2010 after declaring his support for his former stablemate Takanohana's unsanctioned bid to be elected to the board of directors of the Sumo Association. In April 2016 he took over the running of the Chiganoura stable upon the retirement of the previous head, ex-sekiwake Masudayama, and is now known as Chiganoura Oyakata. In October 2018 he became the head coach of Takakeisho and other wrestlers formerly of the defunct Takanohana stable. Takakeisho won the tournament championship in November 2018 and was promoted to ozeki the following year, although he had to pull out of his ozeki debut tournament in May 2019 with an injury. Chiganoura apologized to the Sumo Association for Takakeisho's decision to re-enter the tournament only to have to withdraw once again, and made sure Takakeisho did not appear at the stable's end of tournament party. In November 2020, as former Chiganoura owner, Masudayama's retirement approached, as part of a previous agreement, former Takamisugi and former Masudayama swapped back their elder names, and former Takamisugi changed the name of the stable to his original elder name, Tokiwayama.

In July 2021 he was demoted to the lowest rung in the Sumo Association's hierarchy of toshiyori after his wrestler Takagenji was dismissed from sumo for cannabis use.

Personal Life[]

He has a fine singing voice and is often called upon to display his talents at sumo functions. His nickname when active was Doraemon because of his facial resemblance to the popular manga/anime character. His wife is a former disc jockey.

Fighting Style[]

Takamisugi liked a solid frontal pushing attack, and relied almost exclusively on oshi-sumo and tsuppari (thrusting). The push out or oshidashi was the winning kimarite in nearly half his sekitori matches. He usually lost if his opponents were able to grab hold of his mawashi or belt. He very rarely employed throwing moves; his most common throw was the beltless kotenage, or armlock throw.