Takamiyama Daigoro
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Takamiyama Daigoro (Born 16 June 1944 as Jesse James Wailani Kuhaulua in Hawaii, USA) was the first foreign born sumo wrestler to win the top division championship in 1972.
Kuhaulua was born in Happy Valley, Maui to parents who were mostly of Hawaiian descent. Due to his impressive height of 6 foot 4 inches and 280 pounds, he was recruited as a tackle for the Baldwin High School football team. His football coach noticed that he had weak legs and hips, and recommended that he train his lower body through sumo, a sports popular among the local Japanese-American community. It was there that he was spotted and recruited by visiting professional sumo wrestlers from Japan. He graduated from Baldwin High School in Wailuku in 1962 and left for Tokyo, Japan to pursue his career.
Takamiyama had an exceptionally long active top division career that spanned from 1964 to 1984. He still holds the record for having competed in the most tournaments as a Makuuchi wrestler, at 97. He also holds a number of other longevity related records such as completing 1,231 consecutive matches in the makuuchi divison, and 1398 makuuchi matches in total. As an active rikishi he also had a good reputation against the top ranked wrestlers, winning twelve kinboshi (maegashira wins against a yokozuna). He also won eleven special prizes, or sansho for his performances in tournaments.
He retired from the ring just before his fortieth birthday, and became a member of the Japan Sumo Association, with the name Azumazeki. To do so he also took Japanese Citizenship. He paved the way for other Hawaii wrestlers such as Konishiki and Akebono.
He subsequently opened his own training stable, and produced the first foreign born yokozuna, Akebono. One of his stated goals after training Akebono to the top rank of Sumo was to train a Japanese wrestler into the top Makuuchi division. This goal was realized when his wrestler, Takamisakari, a very popular figure in his own right, debuted in Makuuchi in July of 2000.
