Wikipedia / Daikirin Takayoshi
Wikipedia / Daikirin Takayoshi
Daikirin Takayoshi (大麒麟 將能) (20 June 1942 – 4 August 2010), born Masakatsu Tsutsumi, was a sumo wrestler from Saga Prefecture, Japan. He began his professional career in 1958 and reached his highest rank of ōzeki twelve years later in 1970. He retired in 1974, and until June 2006 he was an elder of the Sumo Association under the name Oshiogawa.
Career
Born in Morodome in the city of Saga, he joined Nishonoseki stable and made his professional debut in May 1958. He initially fought under his own surname of Tsutsumi. After four years in the lower ranks he reached sekitori status in May 1962 upon promotion to the jūryō division, and changed his shikona to Kirinji. He did not make an immediate impact but in May 1963 took the jūryō yūshō or championship with a 13–2 score which pushed him up to jūryō 1. A 10–5 record in the next tournament saw him enter the top makuuchi division for the first time but he had to pull out halfway into his debut tournament and returned to the second division.
After suffering some more injury problems he finally won promotion back to makuuchi in July 1965. He slowly climbed up the maegashira ranks before earning three kinboshi in successive tournaments from May to September 1966, defeating yokozuna Kashiwado twice, and then Sadanoyama. (He did not have to face the most successful yokozuna, Taihō, because they were members of the same stable). His 11–4 score in the September tournament saw him promoted to sekiwake. He remained in the san'yaku ranks for the next seven tournaments, earning several awards, before dropping back briefly to the maegashira ranks. In March 1968 at komusubi rank he defeated Sadanoyama, the winner of the previous two tournaments, in what was to be the yokozunas last ever bout. Kirinji went on to finish runner-up, his final day defeat handing the yūshō to maegashira Wakanami, who did not face any yokozuna or ōzeki during the tournament.
Kirinji remained comfortably within the san'yaku ranks for the next two years, but with mainly 8–7 and 9–6 scores he was not a candidate for ōzeki promotion. He was runner-up for the second time (to Kitanofuji) in November 1969, and in the July and September tournaments of 1970 he finally managed to put together two strong performances in a row, scoring 12–3 each time, and was promoted to ōzeki at the age of 28. To mark the occasion he adopted a new shikona, Daikirin.
Daikirin remained as an ōzeki for 25 tournaments over four years. He was unable to win a championship, although he was a runner-up twice more, to Tamanoumi in July 1971 and Wajima in May 1972. However he was also kadoban (in danger of relegation) a number of times. In November 1974, having barely maintained his rank with an 8–7 record in the previous tournament, he retired from sumo on the fourth day at the age of 32.
Retirement from sumo
He remained in the sumo world as an elder under the name Oshiogawa. In 1975, upon the death of his old stablemaster (former ōzeki Sagonohana), he expected to inherit Nishonoseki stable, but could not come to agreement with Saganohana's widow. After former sekiwake Kongō's engagement to Saganohana's daughter was announced, Oshiogawa realised he now had no chance of taking over so instead he broke away and established his own Oshiogawa stable. He attempted to take a number of high-ranking wrestlers with him, such as Aobajō and Tenryū, but Nishonoseki stable objected to this. The Japan Sumo Association intervened and Tenryū was forced to return to Nishonoseki and, disillusioned, quit to become a professional wrestler. Meanwhile, in addition to Aobajō, Oshiogawa produced a number of other sekitori such as Masurao, Enazakura, Daishi, Wakatoba and Wakakirin. In March 2005, with Oshiogawa approaching the mandatory retirement age and no obvious successor available, his stable was absorbed into the affiliated Oguruma stable. Oshiogawa retired from his position in the Sumo Association a year before reaching the mandatory retirement age, in June 2006.
He died of pancreatic cancer in August 2010 at the age of 68.
Career record
MAEZUMOU
JK8w53
JO99w62
JO57w44
1959
JO57e44
JO47w53
JO25e53
JO8e62
SA88e44
SA82w44
1960
SA80e44
SA70w53
SA45e62
SA13e61
MA68e16
MA81e241
1961
SA13e34
SA22e34
SA31e70PChampion
MA51e43
MA46w34
MA51w61
1962
MA22w61
MA5e43
MA1e43
j18e96
j12w78
j13w69
j16e87
j14e87
j9e132Champion
j1w105
m14e456
kyujoj4w
j17e411
MA5w61
j16w96
j11w96
j6e474
j12e78
j13w105
j7e96
j3e114
m14e87
m9w96
m4w78
m5e69
m8e87
m5e96o*
m3e69*
m4w114t*
s1w78
k1w96o
s1w78
k1w123to
s1e105
s1w105
s1e411
m4e105
k1e123jo
s1w87
s1w87
s1w69
m2w96
k1e87
k1e96
k1e87
k1e87
k1e114
k1e114jo
s1e87
s1w87
s1w96
s1w123t
s1e123t
o1e96
o1w114
o1e105
o1w105
o1w114j
o1e105
o1e96
kyujoo1e
o2w105
o2w114j
o1e2211
o2w87
o3w105
o2w96
o1w312
o2e96
o1w96
o1w366
o2e87
o2e96
o2w96
o2e105
o1w0411
o1w87
intaio1w13
See also
References