Ōnokuni Yasushi

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大乃国康
Ōnokuni Yasushi
Personal information

Birth name	Yasushi Aoki
Date of birth	October 9, 1962 (1962-10-09) (age 45)
Place of birth	Hokkaidō, Japan
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2+¹⁄₂ in)
Weight	203 kg (450 lb)
Career*
Heya	Hanakago, Hanaregoma
Record	560-319-107
Debut	March, 1978
Highest rank	Yokozuna (September, 1987)
Retired	July, 1991
Yusho	2 (Makuuchi) 1 (Juryo)
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 Yasushi Aoki (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 Top division record
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Early life

Aoki was born in Memuro Town, Kasai District, Tokachi, Hokkaidō, 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 yokozuna and three ōzeki. 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 yokozuna 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 opened his own training stable, Shibatayama-beya in 1999. In March 2008 the stable produced its first sekitori, Daiyubu.

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).

His autobiography, titled "Winning Even When You Lose", will be published ln 2008.

He has been married since 1989.

[edit] Top division record

Ōnokuni^[1]
	January Hatsu basho, Tokyo	March Haru basho, Osaka	May Natsu basho, Tokyo	July Nagoya basho, Nagoya	September Aki basho, Tokyo	November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
1983	x	West Maegashira #9 8–7	West Maegashira #2 6–9	East Maegashira #5 8–7	West Komusubi 8–7	East Maegashira #3 10–5 O★★★
1984	East Sekiwake 9–6 O	East Sekiwake 10–5 OF	East Sekiwake 6–9	East Maegashira #1 10–5 O★	West Sekiwake 10–5	East Sekiwake 8–7
1985	East Sekiwake 9–6	West Sekiwake 9–6	East Sekiwake 10–5 O	East Sekiwake 12–3 F	West Ōzeki 12–3	East Ōzeki 11–4
1986	West Ōzeki 12–3	East Ōzeki 9–6	West Ōzeki 11–4	West Ōzeki 9–6	West Ōzeki 8–7	East Ōzeki 10–5
1987	East Ōzeki 9–6	East Ōzeki 9–6	West Ōzeki 15–0	East Ōzeki 12–3	East Ōzeki 13–2	West Yokozuna 8–7
1988	West Yokozuna 5–5–5	East Yokozuna 13–2	West Yokozuna 11–4	East Yokozuna 12–3	West Yokozuna 8–7	West Yokozuna 11–4
1989	West Yokozuna 11–4	East Yokozuna 12–3	West Yokozuna 12–3	West Yokozuna 1–4–10	East Yokozuna 7–8	Sat out due to injury
1990	East Yokozuna 8–7	Sat out due to injury	Sat out due to injury	Sat out due to injury	Sat out due to injury	West Yokozuna 10–5
1991	East Yokozuna 10–5	East Yokozuna 12–3	Sat out due to injury	East Yokozuna 4–5–retired	x	x
Record given as win-loss-absent Championship Retired Demoted from makuuchi Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira