Takagenji Satoshi

Takagenji Satoshi (Japanese: 貴源治 賢士, born May 13, 1997 as Satoshi Kamiyama (上山 賢)) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ibaraki Prefecture. He made his debut in March 2013 and reached the top makuuchi division in July 2019. He wrestles for Tokiwayama stable. His highest rank has been maegashira 10. He has a twin brother Takanofuji Sanzō who also wrestled for at the same stable under its previous name of Chiganoura.

Takagenji Satoshi
貴源治 賢士
Takagenji in 2018
Personal information
BornSatoshi Kamiyama
(1997-05-13) May 13, 1997
Sakai, Ibaraki, Japan
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight168 kg (370 lb)
Career
StableTakanohanaTokiwayama
Current ranksee below
DebutMarch, 2013
Highest rankMaegashira 10 (July, 2019)
Championships1 (Jūryō)
* Up to date as of January 24, 2021.

Early life and sumo experience

He was born in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, as a younger brother of an identical twin to a Filipino mother and a Japanese father. He would grow up in Sakai, Ibaraki Prefecture. He was in many sports as a youth such as karate and kickboxing but was particularly good at basketball. In junior high he was ranked third nationally in basketball and was scouted by many top high school basketball programs. Among his rivals was future NBA player Rui Hachimura.[1] Upon his father's request he took up sumo after being introduced to yokozuna Takanohana in the third grade. After junior high he chose to join Takanohana stable along with his brother stating, "I won't make any money in basketball and I would like to continue using my body." The stable already had a set of twins (Takageppo and Takatoshi) making Takanohana stable the first in sumo history to have two sets of twins simultaneously. However, both of the other twins had retired by the end of 2014.

Career

Takagenji made his professional debut alongside his brother in March 2013. He steadily rose up the ranks before hitting his first wall upon his promotion to makushita two years later in March 2015. He could manage only three wins at the rank and was immediately demoted back down to sandanme. He proceeded to bounce between the two divisions for a little less than a year before a surprise 6-1 runner-up performance in January 2016 would help to firmly establish him in the makushita division. He fought in this division for a little over a year before on the coattails five kachi-koshi or winning records he achieved 4–3 record at makushita 1 and gained promotion to the jūryō division. His first tournament in jūryō did not pan out as his last year had and he fell flat managing only a 4–11 record and being immediately be demoted back down to the makushita division. This wouldn't last long though as two winning records would send him back up to the sekitori ranks. This time his stay in jūryō was the polar opposite of his first with four straight winning records before getting his first make-koshi or losing record. After the January 2018 tournament, his brother (then known as Takayoshitoshi) was promoted to jūryō also, making them the first twins to be ranked in jūryō simultaneously.[2] Shortly after this his stable was dissolved and he moved to then Chiganoura stable (since renamed) along with his brother. In May 2019 at the rank of jūryō 2 he got a 13-2 winning record taking home the yūshō or championship and guaranteeing his promotion to the top division.[3]

Takagenji made his makuuchi debut in July 2019 at the rank of maegashira 10.[3] He made a promising start by winning four of his first five matches but then lost ten in a row to finish on 4–11. The same score of 4–11 in the September tournament from the very bottom rank of maegashira 17 saw him demoted to jūryō for November 2019. Further losing records saw him demoted to makushita for the September 2020 tournament.

In December 2019, the Japan Sumo Association admitted that Takagenji participated in a regional sumo tour in Kyushu while infected with the influenza virus.[4] A spokesperson said that Takagenji reported his health condition to a hospital in Saga on 11 December, but then climbed into the dohyō later in the day. The actions were criticized by the head of the Japan Sports Agency, and the sumo association acknowledged that it failed to handle the matter properly.[5]

Fighting style

Takagenji's performances to date suggest that he is an oshi-sumo specialist who favours pushing techniques to fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common kimarite is yorikiri followed by oshidashi and tsukidashi. He was initially a yotsu-sumo or grappling specialist, but began to switch to pushing techniques around 2015 to try to improve his performances after finding himself going back and forth between the makushita and sandanme divisions. His consistency improved and he was eventually promoted to sekitori level in 2017.

He is known for being a diligent trainer, so much so that when he dislocated his knee while practicing on tour in Tokushima in October 2016, he re-inserted the dislocated knee joint so he could finish the training session.

Career record

Takagenji Satoshi[6]
Year in sumo January
Hatsu basho, Tokyo
March
Haru basho, Osaka
May
Natsu basho, Tokyo
July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya
September
Aki basho, Tokyo
November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
2013 x (Maezumo) West Jonokuchi #14
61
 
West Jonidan #29
25
 
East Jonidan #64
43
 
East Jonidan #41
43
 
2014 East Jonidan #19
52
 
East Sandanme #83
43
 
West Sandanme #65
34
 
West Sandanme #78
61
 
East Sandanme #21
43
 
East Sandanme #10
34
 
2015 West Sandanme #23
52
 
West Makushita #58
34
 
West Sandanme #11
61
 
East Makushita #35
25
 
West Makushita #50
25
 
West Sandanme #11
43
 
2016 West Makushita #60
61P
 
West Makushita #28
34
 
West Makushita #36
52
 
West Makushita #25
43
 
East Makushita #20
61
 
East Makushita #7
52
 
2017 West Makushita #4
52
 
West Makushita #1
43
 
West Jūryō #14
411
 
West Makushita #5
52
 
East Makushita #1
43
 
East Jūryō #14
87
 
2018 West Jūryō #11
87
 
East Jūryō #10
87
 
West Jūryō #8
105
 
West Jūryō #2
69
 
West Jūryō #5
87
 
East Jūryō #4
87
 
2019 East Jūryō #2
69
 
East Jūryō #4
87
 
East Jūryō #2
132
Champion

 
West Maegashira #10
411
 
East Maegashira #17
411
 
East Jūryō #6
510
 
2020 West Jūryō #10
78
 
West Jūryō #10
69
 
East Jūryō #13
Tournament Cancelled
000
East Jūryō #13
69
 
East Makushita #1
43
 
East Jūryō #12
78
 
2021 West Jūryō #12
87
 
x x x x x
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up Retired Lower Divisions

Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: =Kinboshi(s); P=Playoff(s)
Divisions: Makuuchi Jūryō Makushita Sandanme Jonidan Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna Ōzeki Sekiwake Komusubi Maegashira

See also

References

  1. Suzuki, Kensuke (20 July 2019). "SUMO/ Former rival of Hachimura on the court now a force in the ring". Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. "Photo Journal: Talented twins". The Mainichi. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  3. "Sumo: Kakuryu rules roost, Asanoyama surges in latest rankings". Kyodo News. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  4. Gunning, John (25 December 2019). "JSA needs to look outward for good of sumo". Japan Times. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. "Sumo wrestler climbs into ring after flu diagnosis". NHK World-Japan. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  6. "Takagenji Satoshi Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
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