Chiyotaikai Ryuji
Encyclopedia
Chiyotaikai Ryūji is a Japanese
former sumo
wrestler. He made his professional debut in 1992 and reached the top makuuchi
division in 1997. He held the second highest rank of ōzeki or champion for 65 consecutive tournaments from 1999 until 2009, making him the longest serving ōzeki in the modern era. He won three top division yūshō
or tournament championships, and was a runner-up on seven other occasions. However, he also held the dubious record of being in danger of demotion from ōzeki fourteen times. He wrestled for Kokonoe stable
until his retirement in January 2010 at the age of 33.
, which is considered his hometown and listed as such on the banzuke
ranking sheets. When he was eleven, his mother remarried, to a local businessman. (In May 2009, Chiyotaikai finally adopted his mother's remarried surname of Sudō as his own.) He was an enthusiastic player of baseball
and soccer as well as martial arts
. He excelled at karate
, and in judo
he came third in the All-Japan Middle School Judo Championships. However, he also got into fights and petty crime as a member of a gang of youths. After graduating junior high school, he worked as a construction worker before he decided on his mother's prompting to apprentice himself to Kokonoe-oyakata, the former Chiyonofuji
, the 58th Yokozuna and one of the strongest wrestlers in sumo history, who manages the Kokonoe stable
. Kokonoe initially refused the new wrestler because of his bleached hair and obliged him to get a haircut before allowing him to join.
Chiyotaikai was given his shikona
(wrestler name) in honour of his stablemaster and joined professional sumo in November 1992 and became a sekitori
in July 1995 upon entering the second highest jūryō division. He remained in jūryō for another two years, but after winning two jūryō championships in March and July 1997 he reached makuuchi
, the top division. In May 1998, Chiyotaikai was made komusubi and never left the sanyaku ranks after that. He won the prestigious Ginosho or Technique Prize
three times that year. In January 1999, he won his first top division championship, defeating yokozuna Takanohana
and Wakanohana
on the last two days, and Wakanohana once again in a play-off. He had compiled a three tournament record of 32-13, and he was promoted to ōzeki after the tournament, the first newcomer to the rank since Musashimaru and Takanonami five years earlier. Even though he had to bow out from his very first tournament that he fought as an ōzeki in March 1999 after breaking his nose, he retained his rank until November 2009. In July 2007
he broke Takanohana Kenshi
's record of fifty tournaments at ōzeki rank, which had stood for over 25 years, and extended his record to 65 consecutive tournaments.
The reverse side of his longevity as an ōzeki was his inability to achieve promotion to yokozuna. After his first tournament win he performed at a rather mediocre level for some time; his next big success being the near-winner in the January tournament of 2002, where he lost a playoff to fellow ozeki Tochiazuma having led going into the final day. After finishing as runner-up in May 2002 he then won his second championship in the next tournament in Nagoya. His first title since becoming an ozeki was achieved losing just one match, his best ever result. However, he was able to win only ten bouts in the next tournament, and following injury problems it took him until March 2003 to achieve his third and final tournament victory. After finishing as a runner-up in July 2003, September 2003 and March 2004, he struggled again until the November 2005 tournament where he was runner-up for the sixth time. After another lean couple of years, in November 2007 he was the tournament co-leader until the 14th day when he lost to Hakuhō
. He injured his elbow during this match and had to default on the final day. He was still troubled by the injury in the January 2008
tournament and withdrew after losing his first seven bouts. He was never again to produce a winning score in double figures.
Chiyotaikai's 2-13 score in March 2009
was the worst record ever compiled by an ozeki, and meant he was kadoban
(in danger of demotion from ōzeki status) for a record thirteenth time in May. After bringing a 7-7 record into the final day's competition, he managed to win his last match and thereby return to full ōzeki status. He had been restricted by a left side ache and high blood sugar levels, and sat out the regional tour in April due to a fractured rib.
. He withdrew from the tournament after this defeat, but announced that he would return at sekiwake rank in January to try to win necessary 10 bouts designated by the JSA
that would allow him to regain his ozeki status. He stated he would retire if he failed to achieve this.
After three straight losses in the January 2010 tournament, Chiyotaikai announced his retirement from sumo. His final match was against his longtime ozeki rival Kaio (who also broke the record for most makuuchi wins in this bout.) "I gave myself an ultimatum, so I don't have any regrets. I just don't have the power to continue wrestling my brand of sumo anymore," said Chiyotaikai. He has remained as a coach at his stable under the toshiyori
name of Sanoyama Oyakata. He had his danpatsu-shiki, or formal retirement ceremony, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan
on October 2, 2010.
Chiyotaikai was somewhat above average in size (1.81 m/158 kg), but was nonetheless a very agile fighter who prefers quick decisions by oshi-sumo. He was known mostly for his explosive charge at the beginning of his matches (the tachi-ai
) and his trademark barrage of forward thrusting hand-slaps (tsuppari). Indeed, he was so famous for them that he was sometimes criticized by sumo fans for being a "one-trick pony." If Chiyotaikai's opponents managed to grab hold of his mawashi
, he usually lost the match.
His most common winning kimarite
was oshi-dashi, which accounted for roughly a third of his wins. He also regularly used hataki-komi, the slap down, and tsuki-dashi, the thrust out. Only around five percent of his victories were achieved by yori-kiri, the most common overall technique in sumo.
in 2007 Chiyotaikai indicated that he was seriously looking for a bride.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
former sumo
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestler. He made his professional debut in 1992 and reached the top makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
division in 1997. He held the second highest rank of ōzeki or champion for 65 consecutive tournaments from 1999 until 2009, making him the longest serving ōzeki in the modern era. He won three top division yūshō
Yusho
A Yūshō is a tournament championship in sumo. It is awarded in each of the six annual honbasho or official tournaments, to the wrestler who wins the most number of bouts. Yūshō are awarded in all six professional sumo divisions...
or tournament championships, and was a runner-up on seven other occasions. However, he also held the dubious record of being in danger of demotion from ōzeki fourteen times. He wrestled for Kokonoe stable
Kokonoe stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It was formed in 1967 and is located in Ishiwara, Sumida, Tokyo. As of April 2008 it had 16 sumo wrestlers.-History:...
until his retirement in January 2010 at the age of 33.
Career
After his father's death, Chiyotaikai's family moved to ŌitaOita, Oita
is the capital city of Ōita Prefecture located on the island of Kyushu, Japan.- Demographics and geography :Ōita is the most populous city in Ōita Prefecture...
, which is considered his hometown and listed as such on the banzuke
Banzuke
This article is about the banzuke document, for a list of wrestlers as ranked on an actual banzuke see List of active sumo wrestlersA , officially called is a document listing the rankings of professional sumo wrestlers published before each official tournament or honbasho. The term can also...
ranking sheets. When he was eleven, his mother remarried, to a local businessman. (In May 2009, Chiyotaikai finally adopted his mother's remarried surname of Sudō as his own.) He was an enthusiastic player of baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and soccer as well as martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
. He excelled at karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
, and in judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
he came third in the All-Japan Middle School Judo Championships. However, he also got into fights and petty crime as a member of a gang of youths. After graduating junior high school, he worked as a construction worker before he decided on his mother's prompting to apprentice himself to Kokonoe-oyakata, the former Chiyonofuji
Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
, born June 1, 1955, as in Hokkaidō, Japan, is a former champion sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport. He is now the head coach of Kokonoe stable....
, the 58th Yokozuna and one of the strongest wrestlers in sumo history, who manages the Kokonoe stable
Kokonoe stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It was formed in 1967 and is located in Ishiwara, Sumida, Tokyo. As of April 2008 it had 16 sumo wrestlers.-History:...
. Kokonoe initially refused the new wrestler because of his bleached hair and obliged him to get a haircut before allowing him to join.
Chiyotaikai was given his shikona
Shikona
A shikona is a sumo wrestler's ring name.As with standard Japanese names, a shikona consists of a 'surname' and a 'given' name, and the full name is written surname first. However, the given name is rarely used outside formal or ceremonial occasions. Thus, the former yokozuna Asashōryū Akinori is...
(wrestler name) in honour of his stablemaster and joined professional sumo in November 1992 and became a sekitori
Sekitori
A sekitori is a sumo wrestler who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: makuuchi and juryo.Currently there are 70 rikishi in these divisions...
in July 1995 upon entering the second highest jūryō division. He remained in jūryō for another two years, but after winning two jūryō championships in March and July 1997 he reached makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
, the top division. In May 1998, Chiyotaikai was made komusubi and never left the sanyaku ranks after that. He won the prestigious Ginosho or Technique Prize
Sansho (Sumo)
Sanshō are the three special prizes awarded to top division sumo wrestlers for exceptional performance during a sumo honbasho or tournament. The prizes were first awarded in November 1947.-Criteria:...
three times that year. In January 1999, he won his first top division championship, defeating yokozuna Takanohana
Takanohana Koji
is a former sumo wrestler from Suginami, Tokyo, Japan. He was the 65th man in history to reach sumo's highest rank of yokozuna, and he won 22 tournament championships between 1992 and 2001, the fifth highest total ever...
and Wakanohana
Wakanohana Masaru
is a former sumo wrestler from Tokyo, Japan. As an active wrestler he was known as Wakanohana III Masaru , and his rise through the ranks alongside his younger brother Takanohana Koji saw a boom in sumo's popularity in the early 1990s...
on the last two days, and Wakanohana once again in a play-off. He had compiled a three tournament record of 32-13, and he was promoted to ōzeki after the tournament, the first newcomer to the rank since Musashimaru and Takanonami five years earlier. Even though he had to bow out from his very first tournament that he fought as an ōzeki in March 1999 after breaking his nose, he retained his rank until November 2009. In July 2007
2007 in sumo
-Tournaments:*Hatsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 7 - 21 January*Haru basho, Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 11 - 25 March*Natsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 13 - 27 May*Nagoya basho, Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, 8 - 22 July...
he broke Takanohana Kenshi
Takanohana Kenshi
Takanohana Kenshi 貴ノ花健士 was a sumo wrestler from Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was ozeki, which he held for fifty tournaments. As an active rikishi he was extremely popular and was nicknamed the "prince of sumo" due to his good looks and relatively slim build...
's record of fifty tournaments at ōzeki rank, which had stood for over 25 years, and extended his record to 65 consecutive tournaments.
Hakuho Sho
is a professional sumo wrestler from Ulan Bator, Mongolia. Making his debut in March 2001, he reached the top makuuchi division in May 2004. On May 30, 2007 at the age of 22 he became the second native of Mongolia, and the fourth non-Japanese overall, to be promoted to the highest rank in sumo,...
. He injured his elbow during this match and had to default on the final day. He was still troubled by the injury in the January 2008
2008 in sumo
-Tournaments:*Hatsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 13 January - 27 January*Haru basho, Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 9 March - 23 March*Natsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 11 May - 25 May...
tournament and withdrew after losing his first seven bouts. He was never again to produce a winning score in double figures.
Chiyotaikai's 2-13 score in March 2009
2009 in sumo
-Tournaments:*Hatsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 11 January - 25 January*Haru basho, Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, 15 March - 29 March*Natsu basho, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, 10 May - 24 May...
was the worst record ever compiled by an ozeki, and meant he was kadoban
Kadoban
Kadoban is a Japanese term commonly interpreted to mean "in a corner". It may refer to:*In the board game Go, a game whose loss may alter a player's handicap or decide a match: see Professional go handicaps...
(in danger of demotion from ōzeki status) for a record thirteenth time in May. After bringing a 7-7 record into the final day's competition, he managed to win his last match and thereby return to full ōzeki status. He had been restricted by a left side ache and high blood sugar levels, and sat out the regional tour in April due to a fractured rib.
Retirement
In September 2009 Chiyotaikai withdrew from the tournament after suffering eight defeats in the first ten days. He had an injury to his left knee in addition to his elbow problem, and commented, "I have no power to fight once I get in the ring." Kadoban for the fourteenth time in the Kyushu tournament in November, he won his first two bouts but then lost eight in a row, his demotion from ozeki being confirmed on Day 10 when he was lifted out by AsashōryūAsashōryū Akinori
is a former sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan and became the first Mongol to reach sumo's highest rank in January 2003. He was one of the most successful yokozuna ever. In 2005 he became the first man to win all six official...
. He withdrew from the tournament after this defeat, but announced that he would return at sekiwake rank in January to try to win necessary 10 bouts designated by the JSA
Japan Sumo Association
The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Rikishi , gyōji , tokoyama , and yobidashi , are all on the Association's payroll, but the organisation is run...
that would allow him to regain his ozeki status. He stated he would retire if he failed to achieve this.
After three straight losses in the January 2010 tournament, Chiyotaikai announced his retirement from sumo. His final match was against his longtime ozeki rival Kaio (who also broke the record for most makuuchi wins in this bout.) "I gave myself an ultimatum, so I don't have any regrets. I just don't have the power to continue wrestling my brand of sumo anymore," said Chiyotaikai. He has remained as a coach at his stable under the toshiyori
Toshiyori
A toshiyori is a sumo elder of the Japan Sumo Association. Also known as oyakata, former wrestlers who reached a sufficiently high rank are the only people eligible...
name of Sanoyama Oyakata. He had his danpatsu-shiki, or formal retirement ceremony, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan
Ryogoku Kokugikan
, also known as Sumo Hall, is an indoor sporting arena located in the Ryōgoku neighborhood of Sumida, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo in Japan, next to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is the third building built in Tokyo associated with the name kokugikan. The current building was opened in 1985 and has a...
on October 2, 2010.
Fighting style
Tachi-ai
The tachi-ai is the initial charge between two sumo wrestlers at the beginning of a bout.There are several common techniques that wrestlers use at the tachi-ai, with the aim of getting a decisive advantage in the bout:...
) and his trademark barrage of forward thrusting hand-slaps (tsuppari). Indeed, he was so famous for them that he was sometimes criticized by sumo fans for being a "one-trick pony." If Chiyotaikai's opponents managed to grab hold of his mawashi
Mawashi
In sumo, a mawashi is the belt that the rikishi wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a keshō-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony or dohyo-iri.-Mawashi:...
, he usually lost the match.
His most common winning kimarite
Kimarite
Kimarite are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament , a sumo referee, or gyoji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner...
was oshi-dashi, which accounted for roughly a third of his wins. He also regularly used hataki-komi, the slap down, and tsuki-dashi, the thrust out. Only around five percent of his victories were achieved by yori-kiri, the most common overall technique in sumo.
Personal life
From 2003 until 2005 Chiyotaikai had a relationship with television personality Hikaru Kawamura. His stablemaster reportedly refused to countenance any wedding until he had reached the yokozuna rank. However, in an TV appearance with Kazuko HosokiKazuko Hosoki
is a Japanese fortune teller, as well as the author of over 100 books. Hosoki appeared frequently on the original Iron Chef, where she would serve as one of the four celebrity judges that would determine the outcome of each match.-Thinking:...
in 2007 Chiyotaikai indicated that he was seriously looking for a bride.
Top division record
See also
- Glossary of sumo termsGlossary of sumo termsThe following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. azukari : Hold. A kind of draw. After a mono-ii, the gyōji or the shimpan "holds" the result if it was too close to call...
- List of sumo tournament winners
- List of sumo tournament second division winners
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of sumo record holders