Tamaryū Daizō

Tamaryū Daizō (born 22 July 1954 as Daizō Nagata) is a former sumo wrestler from Nagasaki, Japan. He made his professional debut in January 1970, and reached the top division in May, 1982. He was the last man to fight Takamiyama, the first foreigner to win a top division tournament, in May 1984. He won the jūryō division championship in March 1985. In November 1986 he defeated Chiyonofuji to earn his first kinboshi for a win over a yokozuna, in his 102nd career tournament, which is the slowest ever. His highest rank was komusubi which he held for one tournament in November 1987 at the age of 33. It had taken him 108 tournaments from his professional debut to reach the rank, which is also the slowest ever. Following the retirement of Kurama in September 1989 he became the oldest man in any of the professional sumo divisions. He retired in January, 1992 after a 22 year career, having fallen into the makushita division for the first time in seven years. As he had been unable to purchase or borrow elder stock in the Japan Sumo Association he had to leave the sumo world. He managed a sumo tea house in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, until it closed in 2013.