Takanosato Toshihide
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Toshihide Takaya | |
| Date of birth | September 29, 1952 | |
| Place of birth | Aomori, Japan | |
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 111⁄2 in) | |
| Weight | 159 kg (350 lb) | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Futagoyama | |
| Record | 693-493-80 | |
| Debut | July, 1968 | |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (July, 1983) | |
| Retired | January, 1986 | |
| Yusho | 4 (Makuuchi) 1 (Juryo) |
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| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (2) Fighting Spirit (5) |
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| Gold stars | 2 (Wajima, Kitanoumi) | |
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* Career information is correct as of March 2007. |
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Takanosato Toshihide (born September 29, 1952 as Toshihide Takaya) is a former sumo wrestler from Namioka, Aomori, Japan. He was the sport's 59th Yokozuna.
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[edit] Early career
Takanosato played football and judo before turning to sumo. He was from the same area of Japan as Wakanohana Kanji II and the two entered professional sumo together in July 1968, joining Futagoyama stable. Takanosato reached the top makuuchi division in May 1975 but had some indifferent results and fell back to the juryo division on several occasions. A late developer, he did not reach the sanyaku ranks until 1979, by which time Wakanohana was already a yokozuna. In 1980 he was runner-up in two consecutive tournaments, but he did so from the maegashira ranks. In January 1982 he produced his third runner-up performance, this time at sekiwake rank, and earned promotion to ozeki. Following his promotion he announced that he had been suffering from diabetes for many years, and had devised a special diet to keep the illness under control.[1] He won his first top division championship in September 1982 with a perfect 15-0 record. He was runner-up in the tournaments of March and May 1983, and then took his second championship in July. Following this tournament was promoted to yokozuna.
[edit] Yokozuna
Takanosato was almost thirty one years old when he reached sumo's highest rank. Most yokozuna struggle to perform well in the tournament immediately following their promotion, but Takanosato won it with a perfect record-- the first yokozuna to do so since Futabayama in the 1930s.[1] Although his yokozuna career was relatively short, he had a great rivalry with fellow yokozuna Chiyonofuji. In the four tournaments from July 1983 to January 1984, the two wrestlers came into the final day with the same score. This is a unique occurrence in sumo.[1] It was Takanosato who won three out of the four tournament-deciding bouts,[1] and he was one of the few wrestlers to have a winning record against Chiyonofuji. He was often able to keep his rival from getting his favoured left hand grip on his mawashi, and he defeated Chiyonofuji eight times in a row from July 1981 to September 1982. In all Takanosato emerged victorious from 18 of their 31 encounters.
Takanosato's fourth tournament championship in January 1984 proved to be his last, and thereafter his yokozuna career was disappointing. He missed most of 1985 through injury, only managing to complete one tournament. He announced his retirement in January 1986 at the age of 33.
[edit] Retirement from sumo
Takanosato took the name Naruto upon joining the Sumo Association as an oyakata, or elder, and opened his own stable, Naruto, in 1989. Naruto-beya has produced several top division wrestlers, such as former sekiwake Wakanosato and the promising newcomer Kisenosato. He has worked as a shinpan or judge of tournament bouts and for NHK as a sumo commentator.
[edit] Top division record
| January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | x | x | West Maegashira #13 7–8 |
West Maegashira #14 6–9 |
(Jūryō) | (Jūryō) |
| 1976 | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | (Jūryō) | West Maegashira #12 4–6–5 |
(Jūryō) | West Maegashira #12 10–5 |
| 1977 | West Maegashira #4 8–7 |
West Komusubi 4–11 |
West Maegashira #7 7–8 |
East Maegashira #8 8–7 |
East Maegashira #6 5–10 |
West Maegashira #11 11–4 F |
| 1978 | East Maegashira #4 4–11 |
East Maegashira #10 9–6 |
West Maegashira #4 8–7 |
East Maegashira #1 4–11 |
East Maegashira #8 9–6 |
West Maegashira #3 2–13 |
| 1979 | West Maegashira #12 5–10 |
(Jūryō) | East Maegashira #11 10–5 |
West Maegashira #2 8–7 |
West Sekiwake 8–7 |
East Sekiwake 6–9 |
| 1980 | West Maegashira #1 4–11 |
West Maegashira #7 7–8 |
East Maegashira #9 6–9 |
East Maegashira #12 12–3 F |
West Maegashira #1 13–2 OF★★ |
West Sekiwake 11–4 O |
| 1981 | West Sekiwake 9–6 |
East Sekiwake 10–5 |
East Sekiwake 6–9 |
West Maegashira #1 9–6 |
West Komusubi 10–5 |
East Sekiwake 11–4 F |
| 1982 | East Sekiwake 12–3 F |
West Ōzeki 11–4 |
East Ōzeki 11–4 |
East Ōzeki 9–6 |
West Ōzeki 15–0 |
East Ōzeki 10–5 |
| 1983 | East Ōzeki 11–4 |
West Ōzeki 12–3 |
East Ōzeki 13–2 |
East Ōzeki 14–1 |
West Yokozuna 15–0 |
East Yokozuna 13–2 |
| 1984 | West Yokozuna 13–2 |
East Yokozuna 11–4 |
East Yokozuna 11–4 |
West Yokozuna 10–5 |
West Yokozuna 10–5 |
East Yokozuna 0–3–12 |
| 1985 | East Yokozuna 1–3–11 |
Sat out due to injury | Sat out due to injury | West Yokozuna 10–5 |
West Yokozuna 0–3–12 |
West Yokozuna 1–4–10 |
| 1986 | West Yokozuna 0–2–retired |
x | x | x | x | x |
| Record given as win-loss-absent Championship Retired Demoted from makuuchi Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi |
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[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Sharnoff, Lorna (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-x.
- ^ Takanosato Toshihide Information (English). Sumo Reference. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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