Kasugafuji Akihiro

Kasugafuji Akihiro
春日富士 晃大
Personal information
Born	Yasunori Iwanaga (1966-02-20) February 20, 1966 Oshika, Miyagi, Japan
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight	139 kg (306 lb)
Career
Stable	Kasugayama → Ajigawa
Record	518-542-15
Debut	March, 1981
Highest rank	Maegashira 1 (January, 1990)
Retired	September, 1996
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (1)
* Up to date as of Sep. 2012.

Kasugafuji Akihiro (born February 20, 1966 as Yasunori Iwanaga) is a former sumo wrestler from Oshika, Miyagi, Japan. He made his professional debut in March 1981, joining Kasugayama stable. He reached the top makuuchi division in March 1989, reaching his highest rank of maegashira 1 in January 1990.^[1] In the same year his stable closed and he moved to Ajigawa stable. He earned a special prize for Fighting Spirit in July 1990. He favoured pushing and thrusting techniques and his most common winning kimarite was oshi-dashi. He fought in the top division for a total of 42 tournaments, making his final appearance in May 1996. He retired in September of that year and became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name of Kasugayama Oyakata. He re-established the Kasugayama stable and coached the Korean born wrestler Kasugao to the top division in 2003. In February 2012 he was elected to the Sumo Association's board of directors,^[2] and as a result stood down from the day-to-day running of the stable, passing control over to the former Hamanishiki and taking the Ikazuchi name.

He was forced to resign from the Sumo Association in September 2012 in a scandal involving a bogus expense claim to cover up an affair with a female employee of the Association.^[3]

Career record

References

External links

• Kasugafuji Akihiro's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage