Terao Tsunefumi
| 寺尾 常史 Terao Tsunefumi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Yoshifumi Fukuzono February 2, 1963 Tokyo, Japan |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 117 kg (258 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Izutsu |
| Record | 860-938-58 |
| Debut | July, 1979 |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (March, 1989) |
| Retired | September, 2002 |
| Championships | 2 (Jūryō) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (3) Technique (1) |
| Gold Stars | 7 (Ōnokuni (3), Chiyonofuji, Hokutoumi, Takanohana, Musashimaru) |
| * Up to date as of August 2007. | |
Terao Tsunefumi (寺尾 常史, born February 2, 1963 as Yoshifumi Fukuzono (福薗 好文)) is a former sumo wrestler. He was born in Tokyo, but brought up in Kajiki, Aira District, Kagoshima, Japan. He fought out of Izutsu stable. The highest rank he reached was sekiwake. Despite his relatively light weight he had an extremely long career, spanning 23 years from 1979 until 2002, and was known as the "iron man" of sumo. He is now the head coach of Shikoroyama stable.
Sumo Family
Terao has a long sumo pedigree. He is the third son of former sekiwake Tsurugamine, and younger brother of Kakureizan (former jūryō) and Sakahoko (former sekiwake).[1] 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 jūryō). 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;[1] and in March 1989 they were the first brothers to hold sekiwake rank simultaneously.[1] In November 1990 they appeared together in Chiyonofuji's ring-entering ceremony as sword-bearer and dew-sweeper.
Career
He took up sumo shortly after his mother died of cancer.[2] 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).[2]
He first entered the second jūryō division in July 1984. To mark this promotion he changed his name to Genjiyama Rikisaburō, but reverted to Terao Setsuo after a single tournament. After winning the jūryō championship in January 1985 he entered the top makuuchi division, but won only 6 bouts out of 15 and so returned to jūryō. He won the jūryō 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.[2] 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 sanyaku 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 ōzeki, his best performance as sekiwake being 9-6. His last appearance in sanyaku 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. 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.
Records
Despite suffering from a heart condition,[2] 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.[1] Among his other nicknames were "The Eternal Typhoon," because of both his longevity and his tsuppari fighting style.
His total number of bouts is 1795, the second highest ever, as is his total number of makuuchi bouts (1378). His 860 wins are the sixth highest ever; his 938 losses the most ever recorded. When he had to retire from the March 1997 tournament after breaking his big toe in a bout against Kyokushūzan 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.
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, a considerable disadvantage in an era when most of his opponents were over 150 kg. 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 hataki-komi (the slap down), oshi-dashi (the push out) and tsuki-dashi (the thrust out).[3] Due to his light weight he was vulnerable to defeat by yori-kiri (force out) if his opponents managed to contain him.
After retirement
He is now a toshiyori (a sumo elder) known as Shikoroyama. In February 2004 he established Shikoroyama stable.[4] He decided not to take any rikishi from Izutsu stable with him, recruiting all the new stable's rikishi himself. In January 2006 Hōmashō became his first rikishi to reach sekitori status.
Top division record
| Year | January Hatsu basho, Tokyo |
March Haru basho, Osaka |
May Natsu basho, Tokyo |
July Nagoya basho, Nagoya |
September Aki basho, Tokyo |
November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | x | West Maegashira #14 6–9 |
(Juryo) | West Maegashira #12 10–5 |
West Maegashira #2 6–9 |
West Maegashira #5 7–8 |
| 1986 | East Maegashira #7 7–8 |
West Maegashira #9 8–7 |
West Maegashira #4 4–11 |
East Maegashira #12 8–7 |
East Maegashira #8 9–6 F |
East Maegashira #1 6–9 |
| 1987 | West Maegashira #4 6–9 |
East Maegashira #7 8–7 |
East Maegashira #2 5–10 |
East Maegashira #5 7–8 |
East Maegashira #6 6–9 |
West Maegashira #9 8–7 |
| 1988 | East Maegashira #3 7–8 ★ |
West Maegashira #3 6–9 |
West Maegashira #6 8–7 |
West Maegashira #1 6–9 |
West Maegashira #4 7–8 |
East Maegashira #6 8–7 |
| 1989 | West Maegashira #1 8–7 O★ |
West Sekiwake 5–10 |
East Maegashira #3 7–8 |
West Maegashira #3 10–5 T★ |
West Sekiwake 8–7 F |
West Sekiwake 8–7 |
| 1990 | East Sekiwake 7–8 |
West Komusubi 8–7 |
East Sekiwake 7–8 |
West Komusubi 8–7 |
West Sekiwake 9–6 |
East Sekiwake 5–10 |
| 1991 | East Maegashira #2 8–7 ★ |
West Komusubi 8–7 |
East Komusubi 5–10 |
West Maegashira #3 6–9 |
East Maegashira #7 8–7 |
East Maegashira #4 6–9 ★ |
| 1992 | East Maegashira #8 8–7 |
West Maegashira #4 8–7 |
East Maegashira #2 2–13 |
East Maegashira #13 9–6 |
East Maegashira #8 9–6 |
East Maegashira #2 7–8 |
| 1993 | East Maegashira #5 6–9 |
West Maegashira #9 8–7 |
East Maegashira #5 5–10 |
East Maegashira #11 8–7 |
West Maegashira #4 6–9 |
West Maegashira #6 7–8 |
| 1994 | East Maegashira #8 8–7 |
West Maegashira #2 9–6 F |
West Komusubi 8–7 O |
West Komusubi 4–11 |
East Maegashira #3 4–11 |
West Maegashira #9 9–6 |
| 1995 | West Maegashira #2 5–10 |
West Maegashira #6 8–7 O★ |
East Maegashira #1 5–10 |
West Maegashira #5 5–10 |
West Maegashira #9 8–7 |
East Maegashira #3 5–10 |
| 1996 | East Maegashira #7 6–9 |
East Maegashira #11 9–6 |
East Maegashira #3 5–10 |
West Maegashira #6 5–10 |
West Maegashira #10 9–6 |
East Maegashira #3 4–11 |
| 1997 | West Maegashira #8 8–7 |
East Maegashira #3 2–12–1 |
Sat out due to injury 0–0–15 |
East Maegashira #13 9–6 |
West Maegashira #8 7–8 |
West Maegashira #9 6–9 |
| 1998 | West Maegashira #13 9–6 |
East Maegashira #8 5–10 |
West Maegashira #12 9–6 |
East Maegashira #9 4–11 |
East Maegashira #16 9–6 |
West Maegashira #11 8–7 |
| 1999 | East Maegashira #7 8–7 |
West Maegashira #3 5–10 |
West Maegashira #7 6–9 |
West Maegashira #11 8–7 |
West Maegashira #7 8–7 |
East Maegashira #4 5–10 ★ |
| 2000 | East Maegashira #7 5–10 |
East Maegashira #12 7–8 |
West Maegashira #13 5–10 |
(Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) |
| 2001 | (Juryo) | West Maegashira #12 8–7 |
East Maegashira #9 2–13 |
(Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) |
| 2002 | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | (Juryo) | East Jūryō #11 Retired 5–8 |
x |
| Record given as wins–losses–absencies Top division champion Top division runner-up Retired Lower divisions Non-participation Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) |
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See also
- Glossary of sumo terms
- List of sumo tournament second division winners
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of sumo record holders
References
- ^ a b c d Lewin, Brian (December 2005). "Brothers in sumo". sumofanmag.com. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
- ^ a b c d Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-x.
- ^ "Terao bouts by kimarite". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
- ^ "Shikoroyama - goo Sumo". Japan Sumo Association. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
- ^ "Rikishi in Juryo and Makunouchi". szumo.hu. Retrieved 2007-06-30.