Terao Tsunefumi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Real name | Fukuzono Yoshifumi | |
| Date of birth | February 2, 1963 | |
| Place of birth | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Height | 186.0cm (6'1") | |
| Weight | 117.0kg (258lb) | |
| Career* | ||
| Heya | Izutsu | |
| Rank | retired | |
| Record | 860-938-58 | |
| Debut | July, 1979 | |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake | |
| Yushos | 2 (Jūryō) | |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (3) Technique (1) |
|
| Gold stars | 7 (Ōnokuni (3), Chiyonofuji, Hokutoumi, Takanohana, Musashimaru) |
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* Career information is correct as of January 2007. |
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Terao Tsunefumi (寺尾 常史, born February 2, 1963 as Fukuzono Yoshifumi (福薗 好文)) is a former sumo wrestler.
He was born in Tokyo, but brought up in Kajiki, Aira District, Kagoshima, Japan. He wrestled out of Izutsu stable. The highest rank he reached was sekiwake.
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). 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).
He took up sumo shortly after his mother died of cancer. He joined Izutsu stable, which was run by his father, alongside his two brothers. He started wrestling under the name Terao Setsuo (寺尾 節男) after his mother's maiden name Terao Setsuko (寺尾 節子).
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 jūryō division the next tournament and so reentered makuuchi in July 1985. He changed his name to Terao Tsunefumi in November 1987. He reached sekiwake for the first time in March 1989, and although he fought several tournaments at that rank he never came close to ōzeki, his best performance as sekiwake being 9-6. He remained in makuuchi until May 2000. He managed to return to makuuchi for two tournaments in March and May 2001, becoming one of the oldest wrestlers ever to earn promotion to the top division.
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 sanshō together; and in March 1989 they were the first brothers to hold sekiwake rank simultaneously. In November 1990 they appeared together in Chiyonofuji's ring-entering ceremony as sword-bearer and dew-sweeper.
Terao enjoyed an exceptionally long and relatively injury-free career from his debut in 1979 aged 16 to his retirement in 2002 aged 39. 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 fifth 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 in the top two divisions is an all time record, and his run of 90 consecutive makuuchi tournaments is second only to Takamiyama's 97.
He is now a toshiyori (a sumo elder) known as Shikoroyama and runs Shikoroyama stable. In January 2006 Hōmashō became his first wrestler to reach sekitori status.
