Terao Tsunefumi

Terao Tsunefumi - 寺尾常史 (born February 2, 1963 - December 17, 2023) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kajiki, Kagoshima. He made his debut in July 1979 and wrestled for Izutsu stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1985 and has 7 special prizes as well as 7 kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in September 2002.

Early Life[]

Fukuzono was born the third son of former sekiwake Tsurugamine. He was born and raised in Sumida, Tokyo, but would use his father's hometown of Kajiki, Kagoshima, as his official shusshin (birthplace) when joining sumo. He started sumo wrestling at Yasuda Gakuen Junior High School and became hooked to the sport.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He took up sumo shortly after his mother died of cancer. He joined Izutsu stable, which was run by his father, alongside his two brothers. He started competing under the name Terao Setsuo (寺尾節男) after his mother's maiden name Terao Setsuko (寺尾節子). He was promoted to sandanme in May 1980 and makushita in November 1981. In May 1984, he posted a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 1 and was promoted to juryo in the following tournament.

Juryo Career[]

He first entered the second juryo division in July 1984. To mark this promotion he changed his name to Genjiyama Rikisaburo, but reverted to Terao Setsuo after a single tournament. After winning the juryo championship in January 1985 he entered the top makuuchi division.

Makuuchi Career[]

Terao1993 — Terao prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1993)

Terao won only 6 bouts out of 15 in his top division debut and so returned to juryo. He won the juryo division the next tournament and so reentered makuuchi in July 1985. In September 1986 he earned nine wins and his first special prize, for Fighting Spirit. This advanced him to his then highest rank, maegashira 1. He changed his name to Terao Tsunefumi in November 1987, on the advice of a fortune-teller. In the following tournament in January 1988, he defeated yokozuna Onokuni to earn his first kinboshi. He defeated Chiyonofuji in the January 1989 tournament and won the Outstanding Performance Award. In the next basho in March 1989, he finally made his breakthrough into the titled san'yaku ranks at sekiwake after four years in the top division, joining his brother at sumo's third highest rank.

Although Terao fought several tournaments at sekiwake he never came close to ozeki, his best performance as sekiwake being 9–6. His last appearance in san'yaku was at komusubi rank in July 1994. In March 1995 he upset Takanohana for the only time as a yokozuna, earning his last special prize. In November 1999, at the age of 35, he defeated Musashimaru for his final kinboshi. He remained in makuuchi until May 2000 when he was finally demoted at age 37 after 90 consecutive top division tournaments. However, he managed to return to makuuchi for two tournaments in March and May 2001, becoming at 38 years and 24 days the oldest man post World War II to earn promotion to the top division. His last tournament was in September 2002, where he scored only five wins at the rank of juryo 11 and faced certain demotion to the makushita division.

Terao2001 — Terao prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2001)

Despite suffering from a heart condition, Terao enjoyed an exceptionally long and relatively injury-free career from his debut in 1979 aged 16 to his retirement in 2002 aged 39. He was referred to as the Tetsujin, or Iron Man, of sumo. Among his other nicknames were "The Eternal Typhoon," because of both his longevity and his tsuppari fighting style. After being defeated by the 18-year-old Takahanada in March 1991, which he regarded as the most disappointing loss of his career, he was determined to keep fighting for as long as possible.

His total number of bouts is 1795, the third highest ever, his total number of makuuchi bouts (1378) is the fourth highest ever. His 860 wins are the ninth highest ever; his 938 losses were the most ever recorded until Kyokutenho finished his career with 944 losses in 2015. When he had to sit out 1 day of the March 1997 tournament and the whole May 1997 tournament after breaking his big toe in a bout against Kyokushuzan it ended a run of 1359 bouts without absence, the sixth highest ever. 1063 of these were in makuuchi, the fourth highest ever. His 110 tournaments ranked as a sekitori (in the top two divisions) was an all-time record until it was broken by Kaio in 2010.

Retirement from Sumo[]

After retirement, he remained in the Sumo Association and was known as Shikoroyama Oyakata. In February 2004 he established Shikoroyama stable. He decided not to take any rikishi from Izutsu stable with him, recruiting all the new stable's rikishi himself. In January 2006 Homasho became his first rikishi to reach sekitori status. Homasho retired in January 2015, but later in that same year Seiro became the second wrestler coached by Shikoroyama to reach the top division. Shikoroyama has also produced the sekiwake Abi, who won the stable's first yusho in November 2022.

Death[]

Terao's health declined in 2022, and he was unable to see his top wrestler Abi win the championship in Kyushu in November as he was hospitalized with arrhythmia. Terao was admitted to the hospital again in September 2023 with heart issues. His health had been improving, but on 16 December 2023 his condition took a sudden turn for the worse. He died the next evening, on 17 December, at the age of 60.

Personal Life[]

F1423a2a8b1aedd26a3a6afadda49822 — Terao with his brothers, Kakureizan and Sakahoko, and father, Izutsu Oyakata (c. 1984)

While active Terao was friendly with fellow top division wrestlers Masurao and Kotogaume. He was a fan of J-pop. His eldest (adopted) son is actor Yuki Terao.

Terao's hobbies are pachinko, listening to music, and golf. Terao was also a fan of the baseball team Hanshin Tigers and he had a close friendship with professional wrestler Nobuhiko Takada.

Family[]

Terao has a long sumo pedigree. He is the third son of former sekiwake Tsurugamine, and younger brother of Kakureizan (former juryo) 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. His cousin is Tsurunofuji (former juryo). Terao and his brothers Kakureizan and Sakahoko together hold various sumo records: they are the first three brothers ever to reach sekitori status; in September 1986 Terao and Sakahoko were the first brothers to win prizes together; and in March 1989 they were the first brothers to hold sekiwake rank simultaneously. In November 1990 they appeared together in Chiyonofuji's ring-entering ceremony as sword-bearer and dew-sweeper.

Fighting Style[]

Terao was an oshi-sumo specialist, relying on pushing and thrusting techniques, keeping his opponent away from his mawashi. Throughout his career he consistently weighed around 115 kg (254 lb), a considerable disadvantage in an era when most of his opponents were over 150 kg (330 lb). He compensated by relying on his speed and agility, and was often able to use his quick reactions to outwit his heavier opponents. He was well known for his rapid series of thrusts to the chest (tsuppari), enabling him to win many of his matches by hatakikomi (the slap down), oshidashi (the push out) and tsukidashi (the thrust out). Due to his light weight he was vulnerable to defeat by yorikiri (force out) if his opponents managed to contain him.

Record[]

Division Results[]

Total: 858-937-58/1792 (140 basho)
Makuuchi: 626-753-16/1378 (93 basho)
Juryo: 113-100-42/211 (17 basho)
Makushita: 59-46/105 (15 basho)
Sandanme: 32-24/56 (8 basho)
Jonidan: 22-13/35 (5 basho)
Jonokuchi: 6-1/7 (1 basho)

Championships[]

2 Juryo Championships
- 1st (January 1985)
- 2nd (May 1985)

Achievements[]

Special Prizes: Fighting Spirit Prize (3), Outstanding Performance Prize (3), Technique Prize (1)
Kinboshi: 7: (3) Onokuni, (1) Chiyonofuji, (1) Takanohana, (1) Musashimaru, (1) Hokutoumi
Record: 4th most career bouts (1795 bouts)
Record: 4th most consecutive top division bouts (1063 bouts)
Record: 5th most top division bouts (1378 bouts)
Record: 6th most consecutive career bouts (1359 bouts)
Record: 6th most tournaments ranked in the top division (93 tournaments)
Record: 10th most career wins (860 wins)