Tamakasuga Ryōji
玉春日 良二
Personal information
Born	Ryōji Matsumoto (1972-01-07)January 7, 1972 (age 53) Seiyo,Ehime,Japan
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	155 kg (342 lb)
Web presence	website
Career
Stable	Kataonami
University	Chuo University
Record	603–636–39
Debut	January 1994
Highest rank	Sekiwake (July, 1997)
Retired	September 2008
Elder name	Kataonami
Championships	1 (Jūryō)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (1) Fighting Spirit (2) Technique (2)
Gold Stars	7 Takanohana II (3) Wakanohana III (2) Musashimaru Akebono
Last updated: Sept 2008

Tamakasuga Ryōji (born January 7, 1972, asRyōji Matsumoto) is a formersumo wrestler fromSeiyo,Ehime Prefecture,Japan. A former amateur sumo champion, he made his professional debut in 1994 and reached a highest rank ofsekiwake in 1997. He fought in the topmakuuchi division for twelve years, won fivespecial prizes and earned sevengold stars for defeatingyokozuna. He retired in 2008 and is now a sumo coach. In February 2010 he took over the running ofKataonami stable.

He entered professional sumo in January 1994, after having practiced sumo atChuo University. He joinedKataonami stable, adopting theshikona (fighting name) of Tamakasuga ("Tama", meaning "jewel", being a common prefix at his stable). Because of his achievements in amateur sumo he was allowed to enter at the bottom of the thirdmakushita division, skipping the lower divisions. After steady but unspectacular progress he reached thejūryō division in March 1995 and was promoted to the top division five tournaments after that, in January 1996. He scored ten wins in his top division debut and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize.

Tamakasuga had a long career in the topmakuuchi division of sumo, earning sevengold stars for defeatingyokozuna. He upsetyokozunaAkebono,Wakanohana andTakanohana in three successive tournaments from September 1998 to January 1999. The highest rank he achieved wassekiwake, but he never achieved akachi-koshi win–loss ratio as asan'yaku wrestler, managing only a 7–8 score in hissekiwake debut, and then a 6–9 askomusubi in the next tournament. Subsequently, he spent his career either as a rank and filemaegashira, or fighting his way back into the top division, as he was demoted tojūryō a number of times.

Tamakasuga made something of a comeback in 2006, and was awarded theTechnique Prize in July of that year, following his 11–4 performance which gave him his best ever top division score and a share of third place. His previous special prize, for Outstanding Performance, was in May 1997, 55 tournaments earlier. This is the longest ever gap between awards. He was promoted all the way up tomaegashira 4 in September 2007, fighting the top rankers for the first time in several years. He remained inmakuuchi until July 2008, where he was the oldest man in the top division, but could only manage three wins in that tournament and withdrew on the final day, citing a neck injury.

Tamakasuga was a solidlyoshi-sumo wrestler, relying on pushes to the opponent's chest as opposed to grabbing themawashi. His most popular winningtechnique wasoshi-dashi, a simple push-out. He also frequently employed pull-down moves such ashataki-komi andhiki-otoshi.^[1]

He announced his retirement in September 2008, at the age of 36, after posting a losing record in that tournament.^[2] He remained in the sumo world as a coach at Kataonami stable, under thetoshiyori (elder) name Tateyama-oyakata. Hisdanpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, was held at theRyōgoku Kokugikan on 30 May 2009.^[3] In February 2010 he swapped elder names with his old head coach (formersekiwakeTamanofuji) and took charge of the stable.

Tamakasuga has anasteroid named after him. Known as8432 Tamakasuga, it was named by astronomers at an observatory in his home prefecture.

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo elders
• List of sekiwake

• Official biography of Tamakasuga Ryōji at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1972 births
• Living people
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• People from Seiyo, Ehime
• Sumo wrestlers from Ehime Prefecture
• Chuo University alumni
• Sekiwake

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata