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Wikipedia / Ōnokuni Yasushi

is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Hokkaidō. Making his professional debut in 1978, he reached the top division in 1983. In 1987 he won his first yūshō or tournament championship with a perfect record and became the sport's 62nd yokozuna. However, he was only able to win one more championship before his retirement in 1991. He has remained in sumo as a coach and in 1999 became the head of Shibatayama stable. He was elected to the Japan Sumo Association's board of directors in 2018.

Early life

Aoki was born in Memuro, Hokkaidō. At school he did judo, but after a sumo tournament in the area, he was recruited to Hanakago stable by Kaiketsu Masateru and fought his first bout in March 1978, aged 15. He took on the shikona, or ring name, of in the following tournament. When Kaiketsu set up his Hanaregoma stable in 1981, he took Ōnokuni with him.

Makuuchi

Ōnokuni reached the second jūryō division in March 1982, and the top makuuchi division a year later in March 1983. He made his san'yaku debut at komusubi just three tournaments later. In November 1983, ranked as maegashira 3, he won his first special prize and three gold stars by defeating all three yokozuna (Kitanoumi, Chiyonofuji and Takanosato). This earned him promotion to sekiwake. In March 1984, he changed the spelling of his ring name to . In the tournament that month, he defeated three yokozuna and three ōzeki and won special prizes for Fighting Spirit and Outstanding Performance. Ōnokuni was runner-up in the July 1985 tournament, recording 12 wins against 3 losses, enough to secure promotion to ōzeki. He was runner-up again in his ōzeki debut, scoring 12–3 once more.

His performance over the next few tournaments was good but not spectacular, until he won his first tournament in May 1987 with a perfect record of 15 wins and no losses, becoming the first man other than Chiyonofuji to win a top division yūshō in the new Ryōgoku Kokugikan. After two runner-up performances in the next two tournaments, in September of that year he was promoted to yokozuna, sumo's highest rank. His three tournament record of 40 wins and just five losses tied with Wakanohana II as the best produced by a candidate for yokozuna promotion in the six tournaments per year era (post 1958).

Yokozuna

Ōnokuni's 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 championship. 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 in what turned out to be the last sumo match of the Shōwa period.

From 1989 he began to suffer from sleep apnea. He gained weight, peaking at 210kg (463lbs) in May 1989, 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 have make-koshi, 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 was told by the Japan Sumo Association to soldier on. In his comeback tournament in January 1990, Ōnokuni scraped by with 8 wins but suffered a serious ankle injury and missed the next four tournaments, an unprecedented absence for a yokozuna.

He finally returned to the ring in November 1990, and scored ten wins, defeating Chiyonofuji on the final day. In March 1991 he was runner-up for the seventh and final time in his career, finishing one win behind Hokutoumi on 12–3. His final day defeat to Kirishima handed the yūshō to Hokutoumi and robbed him of the chance of a play-off (which Hokutoumi admitted he would almost certainly have lost as he was injured in his bout the previous day). Ōnokuni missed the following tournament in May due to a fever resulting from a skin infection, and upon his return in July he was defeated four times in the first eight days. He announced his retirement from sumo at the age of just 28 after being beaten by Akinoshima on day 8, leaving a disappointing record of just one yūshō and two runner-up performances in his 23 tournaments at yokozuna rank. He never managed to obtain the highest rank on the banzuke of east yokozuna in any of those tournaments. Discounting the special circumstances of Futahaguro's departure from sumo he was the second youngest yokozuna to retire, after Tochinoumi.

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, Daiyūbu, but he spent only one tournament in jūryō and retired suddenly in June 2010 after falling out with his stablemaster. Daiyūbu filed a lawsuit in September claiming that he was slapped and punched, and his topknot was cut off against his will. Shibatayama was questioned by police over the alleged incidents. The case was eventually settled out of court. In March 2016 Shibatayama and one of his wrestlers, Komanokuni, were ordered by the Tokyo District Court to pay 32.4 million yen (287,500 USD) in compensation to another former wrestler who the court ruled had faced "daily abuse" since joining in 2008 and had to undergo four surgeries for a detached retina, eventually losing sight in the eye in 2013. Shibatayama appealed the ruling, and in November 2016 a court-mediated confidential settlement was reached.

In 2013 his old stable closed when Hanaregoma-oyakata reached the mandatory retirement age, and their wrestlers transferred to Shibatayama stable. As of January 2020 the stable has one sekitori, Sakigake. He was elected to the board of directors of the Sumo Association in 2018 and has the role of head of the public relations department.

Personal life

He has been married since 1989.

He has a reputation as a baker of cakes, and often appears on baking shows on television. He published a book . He baked a cake to celebrate Daiyūbu's promotion to jūryō.

His autobiography, titled Winning Even When You Lose, was published in 2008.

Fighting style

Ōnokuni's favoured grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside and right hand inside position. His most common winning kimarite was yori-kiri, which accounted for nearly half his victories at sekitori level. He was also fond of uwatenage, or overarm throw. He had a somewhat defensive style, preferring to wait for his opportunity rather than take the initiative right from the beginning of a bout.

Career record

 1978
   
   MAEZUMOU
   jk15w43
   jo86w322
   jo99e52
   jo49e52
 
 1979
   jo19w34
   jo32e52
   jo3e61
   sa43w34
   sa53e25
   sa78w52
 
 1980
   sa46w52
   sa12w43
   sa2e25
   sa29e34
   sa46e43
   sa25w61
 
 1981
   ma49w34
   sa1e43
   ma48w52
   ma27w43
   ma20w52
   ma8e52
 
 1982
   ma1e43
   j11e510
   ma6w43
   ma4e43
   ma1w52
   j11e105
 
 1983
   j2w114PPChampion
   m9w87
   m2w69
   m5e87
   k1w69
   m3e105o***
 
 1984
   s1e96o
   s1e105of
   s1e69
   m1e105o*
   s1w105
   s1e87
 
 1985
   s1e96
   s1w96
   s1e105o
   s1e123jf
   o1w123j
   o1e114
 
 1986
   o1w123j
   o1e96
   o2w114
   o1w96
   o1w87
   o2e105
 
 1987
   o1e96
   o2e96
   o1w150y
   o1e123j
   o1e132j
   y1w87
 
 1988
   y2w555
   y2e132Py
   y1w114
   y2e123j
   y1w87
   y1w114
 
 1989
   y1w114
   y2e123
   y1w123
   y1w1410
   y2e78
   KYUJOy2e
 
 1990
   y2e87
   KYUJOy2e
   KYUJOy2e
   KYUJOy2e
   KYUJOy2w
   y2w105
 
 1991
   y2e105
   y2e123j
   KYUJOy1w
   INTAIy2e45

See also

References