Yoshikaze Masatsugu

Yoshikaze Masatsugu - 嘉風雅継 (born March 19, 1982) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Saiki, Oita. He made his debut in January 2004 and wrestled for Oguruma stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 2006 and has 10 special prizes as well as 8 kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in September 2019.

Early Life[]

Onishi began sumo wrestling in the fourth grade of elementary school after he saw Wakahanada (later yokozuna Wakanohana) on tour.

Screen Shot 2020-12-26 at 12.17.40 PM — Onishi (c. 2001)

He was known for his vigorous training and in junior high school, his sumo club was usually closed, but Onishi would still insist on training. He later enrolled at Nippon Sport Science University and was a member of their sumo club. He won the college equivalent of the yokozuna title in his third year. Because he wanted to wait until after his graduation from university before joining professional sumo, he missed out on the chance to enter at the level of the third makushita division. He joined Oguruma stable and made his debut at maezumo level in January 2004, the first former amateur yokozuna to do so.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Onishi was significantly older than his competition in the lower ranks and he breezed through the lower divisions. He claimed the jonokuchi yusho and after two consecutive 6-1 records he claimed the sandanme yusho with another perfect 7-0 record. As a result he was promoted to the high rank of makushita 11 in November 2004. In his first tournament he produced his first losing record of 3-4, but would bounce back and produce three winning records which bumped him up to the salaried juryo division.

Juryo Career[]

5967 — Yoshikaze during the dohyo-iri (c. 2007)

Upon his juryo promotion, he changed his shikona to "Yoshikaze". Yoshikaze's fist juryo tournament he finished with ten wins and followed this with eight wins at the rank of juryo 7 which sent him to juryo 5 in November 2005. In this tournament, he produced a 10-5 record and as a result was promoted to makuuchi in January 2006.

Makuuchi Career[]

He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 2006. It took him only 12 tournaments to make the top division from his professional debut, equal to the second fastest rise ever since the six tournaments per year system was introduced in 1958. However, until January 2009 he did not manage to rise above the mid maegashira ranks and twice fell back to the second division.

In the November 2007 tournament he defeated fan favorite Takamisakari with the rare but spectacular technique of utchari, or spin throw from the edge of the ring. However he was able to win only three other bouts in that tournament and fell to the bottom of the division. An 8–7 record in January 2008 kept him in makuuchi.

One of his best performance in the top division came in November 2008 when he won 11 bouts and was awarded his first sansho or special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He was promoted to a new high of maegashira 2 for the January 2009 tournament. Although he was not able to come through with a winning record his score of 6–9 was creditable, and he scored a memorable win over new ozeki Harumafuji on the opening day of the tournament. However, he gradually slipped back down the rankings with three more losing scores in the next three tournaments. The November 2009 tournament was one of his most successful, as he won nine of his first ten bouts before slowing down somewhat to finish on 10–5. In September 2010 he won his second Fighting Spirit prize, which was shared with his stablemate Takekaze, after producing a fine 11–4 score, having been 7–0. He followed up with a solid 8–7 record in November, which saw him return to maegashira 2 in January 2011, and he reached maegashira 1 that July.

In March 2014 Yoshikaze scored 10–5 from maegashira 4. This not only saw him win his third Fighting Spirit Prize, but also guaranteed him promotion to the san'yaku ranks for the first time, as all the maegashira above him on the banzuke had losing scores. His promotion to komusubi in the May 2014 tournament ended his record as the active wrestler with the longest career in makuuchi without ever making a san'yaku appearance (47 tournaments). He managed a 6–9 at this rank, and though this would lead to a demotion, it is considered relatively strong showing for a wrestler debuting at this challenging rank. In the following July tournament in Nagoya, he defeated yokozuna Harumafuji for the second tournament in a row, this time earning his first kinboshi as he was back in the maegashira ranks. He added a second kinboshi in September by beating Kakuryu but ended the tournament with a losing record and withdrew from the November tournament after winning only four of his first twelve matches.

201909140000189-w500 0 — Yoshikaze (c. 2019)

In early 2015 Yoshikaze dropped to maegashira 14 after losing records in five of the last six tournaments. He recovered in May however, with a 10–5 result and then produced a career-best makuuchi score at Nagoya in July, finishing with 12–3 and earning a fourth Fighting Spirit prize. His excellent form continued in September 2015 when his eleven wins from maegashira 1 included victories over both competing yokozuna, Hakuho and Kakuryu. He was additionally awarded the special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. Yoshikaze returned to the rank of komusubi for the November 2015 tournament and defeated Kakuryu for the second time in a row on the opening day. He went on to post wins over both sekiwake and the ozeki Goeido to end the tournament with an 8–7 record. He was awarded the special prize for Technique for the second consecutive tournament. His efforts saw him promoted to the rank of sekiwake for the first time, 59 tournaments after his top division debut. This is the second slowest in history, behind only fellow Oguruma stable member Takekaze, who took 68 tournaments to reach sekiwake.

Yoshikaze achieved a majority of wins in his debut at sekiwake, but lost the rank after the following tournament where he could only score 4–11. He earned his fifth career gold star in the July 2016 tournament by defeating Harumafuji for the eighth time in thirteen meetings. Despite suffering from facial injuries he ended the tournament with a 10–5 record and was awarded the special prize for Outstanding Performance. In the March 2017 tournament he earned his sixth kinboshi by defeating Kakuryu on Day 10. Returning to the sanyaku ranks at komusubi in May 2017, he defeated two yokozuna, Kisenosato and Kakuryu, in the first four days, and received his third Technique Prize at the end of the tournament. He produced another good performance in July 2017, beating Harumafuji on the opening day and ending with a 9–6 record: he was in consideration for another Technique prize before losing to the in-form Aoiyama on the final day. This returned him to sekiwake rank for the first time since March 2016. He became the fifth oldest wrestler post World War II to earn promotion to sekiwake at 35 years, 5 months. He was demoted from sekiwakeafter the November 2017 tournament, but back in the maegashira ranks in January 2018 he defeated two yokozuna on consecutive days – Hakuho on Day 4 and Kisenosato on Day 5. After having surgery on a knee injury in June 2019, he announced that he would miss the July 2019 tournament, resulting in a fall to juryo for the first time since 2007.

Retirement from Sumo[]

In February 2013 Yoshikaze acquired the Nakamura toshiyori kabu or elder stock from the former Fujizakura, indicating that he intended to stay in sumo as a coach upon his retirement. On the fifth day of the September 2019 tournament, with his continuing absence making demotion to the makushita division certain, he submitted his retirement papers to the Japan Sumo Association.It was reported in October that his career-ending knee injury was caused by a canyoning accident in his native Saiki, and that as he was unable to reach an amicable settlement with his hometown, he was suing Saiki for damages as he regarded the canyoning as a PR event for the town. In January 2022 it was announced that due to the imminent closure of Oguruma stable he would be transferring to the Nishonoseki stable.

His danpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, was held on 5 February 2022. Around 250 people took part in the hair-cutting ceremony, including fellow Nippon Sport Science University graduates Hokutofuji and Myogiryu, Ikazuchi Oyakata (ex-Kakizoe, also from Oita Prefecture) , Nishonoseki Oyakata (ex Kisenosato) and Oshiogawa Oyakata (ex-stablemate Takekaze).

Personal Life[]

Yoshikaze was married in December 2008, and the wedding ceremony was held in October 2009. He has two children, a daughter and a son. It was reported in November 2020 that he had separated from his wife, a development that could impact his ability to run his own stable in the future.
In September 2017, Yoshikaze underwent two surgeries for his retinal detachment and it was reported that he only has 0.02 visual acuity on his left eye.
Yoshikaze's hobbies are fishing, sleeping, computers, bowling, and sumo. The wrestler he admires is Chiyotaikai.

Fighting Style[]

Yoshikaze's favorite techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as tsuki/oshi, meaning he preferred pushing and thrusting moves as opposed to fighting on the opponent's mawashi or belt. His most common winning techniques were oshidashi, the push out, and yorikiri, the force out.

Record[]

Division Results[]

Total: 649-642-30/1288 (94 basho)
Makuuchi: 561-600-24/1158 (79 basho)
Juryo: 44-30-6/74 (6 basho)
Makushita: 18-10/28 (4 basho)
Sandanme: 13-1/14 (2 basho)
Jonidan: 6-1/7 (1 basho)
Jonokuchi: 7-0/7 (1 basho)

Championships[]

1 Sandanme Championship (September 2004)
1 Jonokuchi Championships (March 2004)

Achievements[]

Special Prizes: Fighting Spirit Prize (4), Technique Prize (4), Outstanding Performance Prize (2)
Kinboshi: 8: (3) Harumafuji, (2) Hakuho, (2) Kakuryu, (1) Kisenosato
Record: Tied for 8th Fastest progress to top division (12)