Asahifuji Seiya

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旭富士正也
Asahifuji Seiya
Personal information

Birth name	Seiya Suginomori
Date of birth	July 6, 1960 (1960-07-06) (age 47)
Place of birth	Tsugaru, Aomori
Height	1.84 m (6 ft +¹⁄₂ in)
Weight	148 kg (330 lb)
Career*
Heya	Ōshima
Record	575-324-35
Debut	January, 1981
Highest rank	Yokozuna (September, 1990)
Retired	January, 1992
Yusho	4 (Makuuchi) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonokuchi)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (2) Fighting Spirit (2) Technique (5)
Gold stars	2 (Kitanoumi, Futahaguro)
* Career information is correct as of August 2007.

旭富士正也 (Asahifuji Seiya, born July 6, 1960 as Seiya Suginomori (杉野森正也 Suginomori Seiya)^?) is a former sumo wrestler from Aomori, Japan. He was the 63rd Yokozuna in the history of the sport. He is now a sumo coach.

1 Early life
2 Early sumo career
3 Ozeki
4 Yokozuna
5 After retirement
6 Top division record
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Early life

He was born in the fishing town of Kizukuri in Nishitsugaru District. His father, who worked as an electrician, was a keen amateur sumo enthusiast and Vice President of the Prefectural Sumo Federation.^[1] He was determined to see his son succeed in sumo and even built a dohyo in the garden for him to practise.^[1] Asahifuji also did well at sumo at school, finishing third in a national schoolboy competition, and later winning the West Japan Student Newcomers tournament while studying at Kinki University.^[1] However, tiring of the never-ending training, he gave up sumo for a while and spent his time fishing.^[1] Eventually an acquaintance of his father introduced him to Oshima Oyakata, formerly Asahikuni, who had recently opened his own heya or stable of wrestlers, Oshima stable.^[1]

[edit] Early sumo career

Asahifuji made his professional debut in January 1981. He was already 20 years old, considerably older than most new recruits who tend to be 15 or 16. However, because of his amateur sumo experience he was able to work his way up the ranks very quickly and won tournament championships in the jonokuchi, sandanme and makushita divisions with perfect records. He reached the second highest juryo division after only eight tournaments, a record that still stands to this day. He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in March 1983. He won his first special prize for Fighting Spirit in the November 1984 tournament, where he finished runner-up. He reached sekiwake rank for the first time in January 1986. After regular training sessions at Takasago stable, where he knew Asashio from his university days,^[2] he began to develop a more rounded technique,^[1] and after three double figure scores he was promoted to sumo's second highest rank of ozeki after the September 1987 tournament.

[edit] Ozeki

In January 1988 he won his first top division tournament championship, which was also the first for the Tatsunami-Isegahama icihimon or group of stables in nearly twenty years.^[2] In 1989 he won 40 out of a possible 45 bouts in the first three championships of the year and came very close to promotion to the highest rank of yokozuna, but he was defeated by yokozuna Hokutoumi in playoffs in both January and May 1989. His 13-2 mark in May was his fifth consecutive runner-up performance, and his seventh overall, but he had been unable to win two tournaments in a row, regarded by the Japan Sumo Association as the minimum requirement for yokozuna promotion after the embarrassment of Futahaguro's brief tenure at sumo top's rank.

After managing only 8-7 in the following tournament in July, Asahifuji endured a long slump. This was partly caused by longstanding pancreatic trouble,^[2]which had first been diagnosed in 1984 and had also afflicted his stablemaster during his active days.^[1] After a string of mediocre 8-7 and 9-6 scores it seemed Asahifuji would finish his career as an ozeki. However, by mid 1990 his health began to improve, and after encouragement from his stablemaster, who reminded him that he would soon turn 30 years of age and was down to his last chance, he won consecutive championships in May and July 1990. He scored 14-1 in both tournaments, securing his yokozuna promotion on the final day in July by defeating yokozuna Chiyonofuji for only the fifth time in 28 meetings.

[edit] Yokozuna

Asahifuji began his yokozuna career with 12 straight wins in the September 1990 tournament, but he lost to Kirishima on Day 13 and was defeated by Hokutoumi in the championship deciding bout on the final day. In November 1990 he finished runner-up again, to Chiyonofuji. In January and March 1991 he posted reasonable scores of 11-4 but was never really in contention for the championship in either tournament, although he did have a memorable win over the young rising star Takahanada in March.^[3] He had to wait until May 1991 for his first title as a yokozuna, when he defeated Konishiki twice on the last day, once in their regulation match and once in the playoff, to finish with a fine 14-1 record.

This was to prove Asahifuji's only tournament championship as a yokozuna, as the rest of his career was dogged by illness and injury. He managed only a bare majority of 8-7 in July 1991, the last tournament he was to complete. He pulled out of the September 1991 tournament with an injured shoulder on the sixth day, and hampered by the return of his old pancreatic problems missed the November 1991 tournament altogether. He returned in January 1992 but after losing his opening three bouts to Akebono, his nemesis Akinoshima and finally Wakahanada, he announced his retirement at the age of 31.

[edit] After retirement

Asahifuji has remained in the sumo world as a coach. He had married a niece of the former Kasugayama Oyakata in 1988, and seemed set to revive Kasugayama stable,^[2] but instead he took over the Ajigawa stable in 1994. He has proved to be a great success, as three of his current wrestlers have top division experience, with two, Aminishiki and Ama, reaching the rank of sekiwake. In November 2007 he acquired the Isegahama elder name and renamed his stable Isegahama stable. He has also worked as a shinpan, or judge at tournament matches.

[edit] Top division record

Asahifuji Seiya^[4]
	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 #10 8–7	East Maegashira #4 4–11	East Maegashira #11 9–6	West Maegashira #5 8–7	West Komusubi 6–9
1984	East Maegashira #4 1–3–11	East Maegashira #14 9–6	East Maegashira #6 8–7	West Maegashira #2 8–7 ★	West Komusubi 5–10	East Maegashira #5 11–4 F
1985	East Komusubi 7–8	East Maegashira 9–6 T	East Komusubi 8–7	East Komusubi 5–10	East Maegashira #2 10–5 T	East Komusubi 8–7
1986	West Sekiwake 11–4 O	East Sekiwake 7–8	West Komusubi 11–4 O	East Sekiwake 4–11	East Maegashira #2 8–7 ★	West Komusubi 7–8
1987	East Maegashira #1 8–7	West Sekiwake 10–5	West Sekiwake 10–5 T	East Sekiwake 11–4 T	East Sekiwake 12–3 TF	West Ōzeki 11–4
1988	East Ōzeki 14–1	East Ōzeki 12–3	East Ōzeki 12–3	East Ōzeki 11–4	East Ōzeki 12–3	East Ōzeki 12–3
1989	East Ōzeki 14–1	East Ōzeki 13–2	East Ōzeki 13–2	East Ōzeki 8–7	West Ōzeki 9–6	West Ōzeki 8–7
1990	West Ōzeki 9–6	West Ōzeki 8–7	West Ōzeki 14–1	East Ōzeki 14–1	West Yokozuna 13–2	West Yokozuna 12–3
1991	West Yokozuna 11–4	West Yokozuna 11–4	East Yokozuna 14–1	East Yokozuna 8–7	West Yokozuna 2–4–9	Sat out due to injury
1992	West Yokozuna 0–4–retired	x	x	x	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