Chiyonofuji Mitsugu

, born , was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler and the 58th yokozuna of the sport.

Chiyonofuji was considered one of the greatest yokozunas in sumo's history, winning 31 tournament championships (yūshō) at the top division (makuuchi). This was second only to Taihō at the time of Chiyonofuji's retirement. He was particularly remarkable for his longevity in sumo's top rank, which he held for a period of ten years from 1981 to 1991. Promoted at the age of twenty-six after winning his second championship, his performance improved with age, winning more tournaments in his thirties than any other wrestler and dominating the sport in the second half of the 1980s. although both of these records were later broken by Kaiō. He won the November Kyushu tournament, one of the six annual honbasho, a record eight consecutive years from 1981 until 1988, and also set the record for the longest postwar run of consecutive wins (53 bouts in 1988). That record stood for 22 years until Hakuhō broke it with his 54th straight win in September 2010.

In a sport where weight is often regarded as vital, Chiyonofuji was comparatively light at around , making him the lightest yokozuna since Tochinoumi during the 1950s and 60s; he primarily relied on his muscle and superior technique to defeat his opponents. Chiyonofuji was a popular sumo wrestler who also went by his nickname due to his muscular build atypical of most other sumo wrestlers, his competitive ferocity, and his appeal as a sex symbol owing to his body and his masculine facial features.

Early life

He was born in Fukushima, a town in the Matsumae District of Hokkaido, northern Japan. He was a son of a fisherman. At school he excelled in athletics events, particularly running. He was scouted at the age of 15 by Kokonoe stable's head Chiyonoyama, who had served as the 41st yokozuna and was from the same Fukushima town. Chiyonoyama promised him a trip to Tokyo in an airplane, which excited the young Akimoto as he had never flown before.

Early career

thumb|right|Chiyonofuji original tegata (handprint and signature)

When Mitsugu started his professional sumo career, he was given his shikona (ring name) surname of , which was formed from those of the two previous yokozuna from his stable, Chiyonoyama and Kitanofuji. is a word used to mean forever, and is the same as that in . At the time of his professional debut, he weighed just .

Chiyonofuji began his career in September 1970. During his time back below the salaried (sekitori) divisions, Chiyonoyama, his original master and the one who scouted and convinced him to join Kokonoe stable, died in 1977, after which Kitanofuji, the 52nd yokozuna and also a Hokkaido native, took over the stable.

He finally won promotion back to the top division in January 1978. After receiving a fighting spirit prize in May, Chiyonofuji reached komusubi (the fourth-highest rank) for the first time. During his early top division career he was often compared to another lightweight wrestler popular with sumo fans, Takanohana I. Takanohana had first come across Chiyonofuji whilst on a regional tour and encouraged him to give sumo a try. Later, he also advised Chiyonofuji to give up smoking, which helped him put on some extra weight.

In 1979, due to his shoulder trouble, Chiyonofuji briefly fell to the second division, but he soon came back. Encouraged by his stablemaster, he began to rely not only on throwing techniques, which increased the risk of re-injuring his shoulders, but also on gaining ground quickly and forcing out his opponents. Showing much more consistency, he earned three kinboshi by defeating yokozuna in the March and July 1980 tournaments, where he also got technique prizes. He fought again as a komusubi in the May and September tournaments, in the latter of which he won 10 matches in the top division for the first time. Chiyonofuji reached sekiwake (the third-highest rank), and stayed at this rank for only two tournaments. As a sekiwake, he scored 11–4 in November, and in January 1981 he scored 14–1, losing only one regular match to dominating yokozuna Kitanoumi, and then defeated him in the subsequent playoff to win a top makuuchi division title for the first time. In September 1989 Chiyonofuji surpassed Ōshio's record of 964 career wins but his 31st championship in November 1990 proved to be his last. Chiyonofuji beat Itai on the next day, but this was to be his final win. After losing another match with Takatōriki on the third day,

Retirement from the ring

In September 1989 but he declined it because he intended to inherit another elder name. The purchase price of the stable was reported as being around 50 million yen, below the market rate for a stable.

He also served for some years as a ringside judge.

In February 2008, he joined the board of directors of the Japan Sumo Association, where he was responsible for organising the regional tours or jungyō, but he had to resign in April 2011 after his wrestler Chiyohakuhō admitted involvement in match-fixing and retired from sumo. He returned in the January 2012 elections as the Operations director (the second most senior position in the Association's hierarchy), but was unseated two years later. He chose not to run for a board position in the 2016 elections, citing a lack of support.

On May 31, 2015, he marked his 60th birthday by performing the kanreki dohyō-iri at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, becoming the tenth former yokozuna to do so. Two active yokozuna were his attendants, with Hakuhō the tachimochi and Harumafuji acting as tsuyuharai.

Death

Chiyonofuji had surgery for pancreatic cancer in July 2015, and was noticeably weak when speaking to reporters at the Aki basho in September of that year. Having reportedly told associates that the cancer had spread to his heart and lungs, he had been hospitalized since the fourth day of the Nagoya tournament in 2016. He died in Tokyo on July 31, 2016, at the age of 61. The chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, former yokozuna Hokutoumi who was a stablemate and protégé of Chiyonofuji, was too grief-stricken to speak to the press in the immediate aftermath of Chiyonofuji's death.

Fighting style

Throughout his career, Chiyonofuji's trademark kimarite or technique was uwatenage, or overarm throw. He was also well known for tsuridashi, or lift out. He had knowledge of a wide range of other techniques as well, employing 41 different kimarite in his career. Chiyonofuji's muscular physique, athleticism and dramatic throws made him the most successful and one of the most popular wrestlers of his day.

Honours

People's Honour Award (1989)
Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd Class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (2016, posthumous)
Junior Fourth Rank (2016, posthumous)

References

Bibliography

External links

Japan Sumo Association Biography