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Kyokutaisei Takuya
旭大星 託也
Kyokutaisei in 2014
Personal information
Born	Takuya Ōgushi (1989-10-18) 18 October 1989 (age 35) Asahikawa, Hokkaido
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	145.3 kg (320 lb; 22.88 st)
Career
Stable	Ōshima → Tomozuna → Ōshima
Record	483-434-80
Debut	January 2008
Highest rank	Maegashira 8 (July 2018)
Retired	25 December 2024
Special Prizes	1 (Fighting Spirit)

Kyokutaisei Takuya (Japanese: 旭大星 託也, born 18 October 1989 as Takuya Ōgushi (大串 拓也, Ōgushi Takuya)) is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Asahikawa, Hokkaido. His debut in maezumō was in January 2008, and his first makuuchi division honbasho was the Natsu tournament in May 2018. His highest rank has been maegashira 8. He has one special prize for Fighting Spirit. He was a member of Ōshima stable and retired in December 2024.

Career

Early career

He was originally a judo practitioner, but was strongly encouraged by his father and sponsors from his hometown of Asahikawa to join sumo which he initially rejected. When asked again by his father after he finished high school, he agreed. He was then accepted to Ōshima stable by Ōshima-oyakata. He was light entering sumo at 83 kg so to add weight he would eat as much and as often as he could even waking up in the middle of the night for snacks to add on the calories. Because of him being so light his oyakata would tell him to imitate Ama later known as Harumafuji who also was a light wrestler. Early on he disliked sumo citing homesickness and the hard life style, he even ran away in the middle of the night to live with one of his friends to get away from sumo. This didn't last long though as he was talked into going back to the stable in time for the next tournament. He was the star of a French documentary, Tu Seras Sumo, or A Normal Life: Chronicle of a Sumo Wrestler, released in 2013, which covered the first nine months of his sumo career in 2008. In July 2014 he made the sekitori ranks for the first time when he was promoted to the jūryō division, but he was demoted back to makushita after only two tournaments. He returned to jūryō in September 2015.

Makuuchi and later career

His first makuuchi division honbasho was the Natsu tournament in May 2018 which he debuted at maegashira 15. He was the first top division wrestler from Hokkaidō since the demotion of Kitakachidoki exactly 20 years earlier, in May 1998, and the first Hokkaidō native to win promotion to makuuchi since Tatsuhikari in January 1992. In his debut tournament he went 10–5 and was awarded the fighting spirit prize for his efforts, this is his first sanshō (special prize). He was promoted to his highest rank to date of maegashira 8 for the July 2018 tournament, where he scored a make-koshi 6–9. He withdrew from a tournament for the first time in his career in September, after injuring his knees in his Day 3 bout against Daieishō. He returned to the tournament on Day 9, but withdrew again on Day 11 after aggravating the injury. He was demoted to the jūryō division in November 2018 and did not manage to return to makuuchi until almost two years later in September 2020. He withdrew on Day 5 of the September tournament with an Achilles' tendon injury, resulting in demotion back to the second division.

He was forced to sit out the January 2021 tournament due to a wrestler at Tomozuna stable tested positive for COVID-19. He withdrew from the September 2021 tournament after suffering ligament damage in his left knee, and lost sekitori status after the November 2021 tournament when he could score only 2–13 at the rank of jūryō 9. He withdrew from both the January and March 2022 tournaments partway through after suffering injuries. After having surgery on his knee and sitting out three straight tournaments from May to September 2022, Kyokutaisei finally returned to competitive action in the November 2022 tournament, having fallen to jonokuchi 5 in the rankings. On Day 8 he defeated Takabahō to move to 4–0, his first kachi-koshi since March 2021, when he was ranked in jūryō. During this tournament he also recorded a fifth win in a row, but missed out on the championship after being defeated on Day 11 by Takerufuji.

Having begun his career at Ōshima stable, he was once again a member of Ōshima after February 2022 when his stablemaster renamed it from Tomozuna stable.

Impeded by his left knee injury, Kyokutaisei retired in December 2024, without staying with the association as an elder. A few days after announcing his retirement, he told the Nikkan Sports newspaper of his intention to run an aburasoba restaurant, wishing first to train in a restaurant to which he is indebted to the owner.

Fighting style

Kyokutaisei was unusual in that he preferred a maemitsu grip on his opponent's mawashi or belt – grabbing the front part directly below the stomach area. His most common winning techniques were oshidashi (frontal push out) and hatakikomi (slap down), which were responsible for over 60% of his victories. He was also fond of dashinage techniques which involved throwing the opponent in a pulling motion, such as shitatedashinage (pulling underarm throw).

Personal

Kyokutaisei registered his marriage to Yoshie Kobayashi on 18 September 2017. The reception was held on 9 June 2018, about 450 guests attended with Hakuhō giving a speech.

Career record

See also

• List of active sumo wrestlers
• Active special prize winners

References

1. Gunning, John (2 May 2018). "Ancient banzuke adds human touch to sumo". Japan Times. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
2. "2018 May Grand Sumo Tournament Banzuke Topics". Japan Sumo Association. Archived from the original on 2 May 2018.
3. Miki, Shuji (19 May 2018). "SUMO ABC (77) / Kyokutaisei becomes Hokkaido's 1st makuuchi debutant in 26 years". Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
4. "Sumo: Undefeated Kisenosato tested again on Day 4 of Autumn meet". The Mainichi. 12 September 2018. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018.
5. "July champion Terunofuji climbs 16 spots in rankings". Japan Times. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
6. "SUMO/ 65 wrestlers to stay away from tourney as 5 test positive for virus". Asahi Shimbun. 10 January 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
7. "十両旭大星が休場 左膝外側側副靱帯損傷のため". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 18 September 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
8. "Former Makuuchi Kyokutaisei wins a majority of bouts for the first time in 9 tournaments in his comeback". Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). 20 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
9. "序ノ口・尊富士が元幕内の旭大星に堂々の勝利「ここを乗り越えないと優勝できない」". Sports Nippon (in Japanese). 23 November 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
10. "友綱部屋が「大島部屋」に名称変更 親方の名跡交換で約10年ぶり"再興"". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 27 January 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
11. "元幕内・旭大星が引退　最高位は前頭８枚目から左膝の大けがで序ノ口に転落". Sports Hochi (in Japanese). 26 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
12. "元幕内旭大星が現役引退　敢闘賞1度、協会残らず". Sankei Sports (in Japanese). 26 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
13. "「後悔何もない」引退発表の元幕内旭大星、第２の人生は油そば店経営目指す「学んだこと生かす」". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 28 December 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
14. ^ "Rikishi Profile – Kyokutaisei Takuya". Sumo Association. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
15. "Kyokutaisei bouts by kimarite". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
16. "Kyokutaisei announces marriage". Sponichi News. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
17. "Kyokutaisei Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 30 November 2016.

External links

• Kyokutaisei Takuya's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1989 births
• Living people
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Sumo people from Hokkaido
• Sportspeople from Asahikawa