Ōnokuni Yasushi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

大乃国康
Ōnokuni Yasushi
Personal information
Real name	Aoki Yasushi
Date of birth	October 9, 1962
Place of birth	Hokkaidō, Japan
Height	189.0cm (6'2")
Weight	203.0kg (447lb)
Career*
Heya	Hanakago, Hanaregoma
Rank	retired
Record	560-319-107
Debut	March, 1978
Highest rank	Yokozuna (September, 1987)
Yushos	2 (Makuuchi)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (5) Fighting Spirit (2)
Gold stars	4 (Kitanoumi, Chiyonofuji, Takanosato (2))
* Career information is correct as of January 2007.

Ōnokuni Yasushi (大乃国康, born October 9, 1962 as Aoki Yasushi (青木康)) is a former sumo wrestler from Hokkaidō, Japan. He was the sport's 62nd yokozuna.

1 Early Life
2 Makuuchi
3 Yokozuna
4 Retirement from the ring
5 External links

[edit] Early Life

Aoki was born in Memuro Town, Kasai District, Tokachi, Hokkaido, Japan. At school he did judo, but after a sumo tournament in the area, he was recruited to Hanakago stable by wrestler Kaiketsu Masateru and fought his first bout in March 1978 aged 15. When Kaiketsu retired from the ring in 1981 he set up his own stable, Hanaregoma stable, and took Aoki with him.

[edit] Makuuchi

He reached the second juryo division in March 1982, and the top makuuchi division a year later in March 1983. In November 1983, ranked as maegashira 3, he won three gold stars by defeating all three yokozunas (Kitanoumi, Chiyonofuji and Takanosato). The next March, as sekiwake, he defeated three yokozunas and three ōzekis. He was runner-up in the July 1985 tournament, recording 12 wins against 3 losses, enough to secure promotion to ōzeki. His performance over the next few tournaments was good but not spectacular, until in May 1987 he won his first tournament title with a perfect record of 15 wins and no losses. In September of that year he was promoted to yokozuna, sumo's highest rank.

[edit] Yokozuna

His first tournament as yokozuna finished with a disappointing 8-7 score, but in March 1988 he beat yokozuna Hokutoumi in a play-off to achieve his second tournament victory. However, the Kokonoe stable yokozunas Chiyonofuji and Hokutoumi were to prove dominant over the next few tournaments and he never won another tournament. He scored a famous victory over Chiyonofuji on the last day of the November 1988 tournament, however, ending Chiyonofuji's 53-bout winning streak.

From 1989 he began to suffer from sleep apnea. He gained weight, passing 200kg, and began to suffer leg problems. He lost some weight through a combination of training and diet, but this weakened him and he never fully recovered. He missed most of the July tournament due to a knee injury, then in September he became the first yokozuna ever to go makekoshi, or turn in a losing score of just 7 wins out of 15 bouts. He did the only thing expected of him - he offered to resign - but he was told by the Japan Sumo Association to soldier on. In his comeback tournament in January 1990 he scraped by with 8 wins but suffered a serious ankle injury and missed the next four tournaments, an unprecedented absence. He did return to the ring but was unable to maintain the level expected of a yokozuna and announced his retirement in July 1991 at the age of 28.

[edit] Retirement from the ring

Ōnokuni has remained in the sumo world as an oyakata, or elder, and has opened his own training stable, Shibatayama-beya. Currently it has no wrestlers in the top two divisions.

He also has a reputation as a baker of cakes, and published a book (第62代横綱大乃国の全国スイーツ巡業, 62nd Yokozuna Ōnokuni's National Sweets Tour).