Yoshikaze Masatsugu
嘉風 雅継
Personal information
Born	Masatsugu Ōnishi (1982-03-19)March 19, 1982 (age 43) Oita, Japan
Height	1.77 m (5 ft9+1⁄2 in)
Weight	148 kg (326 lb; 23.3 st)
Career
Stable	Oguruma
University	Nippon Sport Science University
Record	649–642–30
Debut	January 2004
Highest rank	Sekiwake (Jan 2016)
Retired	September 2019
Elder name	Nakamura
Championships	1 (Sandanme) 1 (Jonokuchi)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (4) Outstanding Performance (2) Technique (4)
Gold Stars	8 Kakuryū (3) Hakuhō (2) Harumafuji (2) Kisenosato (1)
* Up to date as of September 12, 2019.

Yoshikaze Masatsugu (born March 19, 1982, asMasatsugu Ōnishi) is a formersumo wrestler fromSaiki,Oita Prefecture,Japan. His highest rank wassekiwake. A former amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 2004, reaching the top division two years later. Until his promotion tokomusubi in May 2014 he had the active record for the longest servingmakuuchi wrestler who had never reached atitled rank. His best performance in a tournament came in July 2015 when he was the runner-up and scored twelve wins against three losses. In the following tournament in September 2015 he defeated twoyokozuna and wonspecial prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique. Yoshikaze is in second place for the slowest promotion frommakuuchi debut to the third highestsekiwake rank in history, behind only his stablemateTakekaze. He won tenspecial prizes in total, and eightgold stars for defeatingyokozuna. He retired in September 2019 and is now anelder of theJapan Sumo Association, known as Nakamura Oyakata.

He was an amateur sumo champion atNippon Sport Science University, and won the college equivalent of theyokozuna title in his third year. Because he wanted to wait until after his graduation from university before joining professional sumo, he missed out on the chance to enter at the level of the thirdmakushita division. He joinedOguruma stable and made his debut atmaezumo level in January 2004, the first former amateuryokozuna to do so.

At the start of his career he was considerably older and more experienced than most of the competition there and quickly worked his way up the ranks, winning two tournament titles in thejonokuchi andsandanme divisions with perfect 7–0 records. He initially competed under his own surname of Ōnishi, but upon reaching the second highestjūryō division in July 2005 he changed hisshikona to Yoshikaze. TheYoshi character came from his grandfather, Yoshio, who had died the previous year, and thekaze character was from his stablemaster and used by many of his stablemates.^[1]

He was promoted to the topmakuuchi division in January 2006. It took him only 12 tournaments to make the top division from his professional debut, equal to the second fastest rise ever since the six tournaments per year system was introduced in 1958.^[2] However, until January 2009 he did not manage to rise above the midmaegashira ranks and twice fell back to the second division.

In the November 2007 tournament he defeated fan favouriteTakamisakari with the rare but spectacular technique ofutchari, or spin throw from the edge of the ring. However he was able to win only three other bouts in that tournament and fell to the bottom of the division. An 8–7 record in January 2008 kept him inmakuuchi.

One of his best performance in the top division came in November 2008 when he won 11 bouts and was awarded his firstsanshō or special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He was promoted to a new high of maegashira 2 for the January 2009 tournament. Although he was not able to come through with a winning record his score of 6–9 was creditable, and he scored a memorable win over newōzekiHarumafuji on the opening day of the tournament. However, he gradually slipped back down the rankings with three morelosing scores in the next three tournaments. The November 2009 tournament was one of his most successful, as he won nine of his first ten bouts before slowing down somewhat to finish on 10–5. In September 2010 he won his second Fighting Spirit prize, which was shared with his stablemateTakekaze, after producing a fine 11–4 score, having been 7–0. He followed up with a solid 8–7 record in November, which saw him return tomaegashira 2 in January 2011, and he reachedmaegashira 1 that July.

In March 2014 Yoshikaze scored 10–5 frommaegashira 4. This not only saw him win his third Fighting Spirit Prize, but also guaranteed him promotion to thesan'yaku ranks for the first time, as all themaegashira above him on thebanzuke had losing scores. His promotion tokomusubi in the May 2014 tournament ended his record as the active wrestler with the longest career inmakuuchi without ever making asan'yaku appearance (47 tournaments). He managed a 6–9 at this rank, and though this would lead to a demotion, it is considered relatively strong showing for a wrestler debuting at this challenging rank. In the following July tournament inNagoya, he defeatedyokozunaHarumafuji for the second tournament in a row, this time earning his firstkinboshi as he was back in themaegashira ranks.^[3] He added a secondkinboshi in September by beatingKakuryū but ended the tournament with a losing record and withdrew from the November tournament after winning only four of his first twelve matches.

In early 2015 Yoshikaze dropped tomaegashira 14 after losing records in five of the last six tournaments. He recovered in May however, with a 10–5 result and then produced a career-bestmakuuchi score at Nagoya in July, finishing with 12–3 and earning a fourth Fighting Spirit prize. His excellent form continued in September 2015 when his eleven wins frommaegashira 1 included victories over both competingyokozuna,Hakuhō and Kakūryū. He was additionally awarded the special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Technique.^[4] Yoshikaze returned to the rank ofkomusubi for the November 2015 tournament and defeated Kakūryū for the second time in a row on the opening day.^[5] He went on to post wins over bothsekiwake and theōzekiGōeidō to end the tournament with an 8–7 record. He was awarded the special prize for Technique for the second consecutive tournament.^[6] His efforts saw him promoted to the rank ofsekiwake for the first time, 59 tournaments after his top division debut. This is the second slowest in history, behind only fellow Oguruma stable memberTakekaze, who took 68 tournaments to reachsekiwake.^[7]

Yoshikaze achieved a majority of wins in his debut atsekiwake, but lost the rank after the following tournament where he could only score 4–11. He earned his fifth career gold star in the July 2016 tournament by defeating Harumafuji for the eighth time in thirteen meetings.^[8] Despite suffering from facial injuries he ended the tournament with a 10–5 record and was awarded the special prize for Outstanding Performance.^[9] In the March 2017 tournament he earned his sixthkinboshi by defeating Kakuryū on Day 10.^[10] Returning to thesanyaku ranks atkomusubi in May 2017, he defeated twoyokozuna,Kisenosato and Kakuryū, in the first four days,^[11] and received his third Technique Prize at the end of the tournament. He produced another good performance in July 2017, beating Harumafuji on the opening day and ending with a 9–6 record: he was in consideration for another Technique prize before losing to the in-formAoiyama on the final day. This returned him tosekiwake rank for the first time since March 2016. He became the fifth oldest wrestler post World War II to earn promotion tosekiwake at 35 years, 5 months.^[12] He was demoted fromsekiwake after the November 2017 tournament, but back in themaegashira ranks in January 2018 he defeated twoyokozuna on consecutive days –Hakuhō on Day 4 andKisenosato on Day 5.^[13][14] After having surgery on a knee injury in June 2019, he announced that he would miss the July 2019 tournament,^[15] resulting in a fall tojūryō for the first time since 2007.

In February 2013 Yoshikaze acquired the Nakamuratoshiyori kabu or elder stock from the formerFujizakura, indicating that he intended to stay in sumo as a coach upon his retirement.^[16] On the fifth day of the September 2019 tournament, with his continuing absence making demotion to themakushita division certain, he submitted his retirement papers to theJapan Sumo Association.^[17] It was reported in October 2019 that his career-ending knee injury was caused by acanyoning accident in his nativeSaiki,^[18] and that as he was unable to reach an amicable settlement with his hometown, he was suing Saiki for damages as he regarded the canyoning as a PR event for the town.^[19][20] In January 2022 it was announced that due to the imminent closure of Oguruma stable he would be transferring to theNishonoseki stable.^[21]

Yoshikaze'sdanpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, was held on 5 February 2022.^[22] Around 250 people took part in the hair-cutting ceremony, including fellowNippon Sport Science University graduatesHokutofuji andMyōgiryū, Ikazuchioyakata (the formerKakizoe, also from Ōita Prefecture), Nishonosekioyakata (formeryokozunaKisenosato) and Oshiogawaoyakata (former stablemateTakekaze).^[23]

After the May 2024 tournament, the Sumo Association granted the request of Yoshikaze to branch off from Nishonoseki stable for the purposes of creating his own stable. Wrestlers transferring to the new Nakamura stable included then-maegashiraTomokaze as well asKayō [ja], who had just been promoted to the second-highestjūryō division.^[24]

Yoshikaze's favouritetechniques are listed at theSumo Association astsuki/oshi, meaning he preferred pushing and thrusting moves as opposed to fighting on the opponent'smawashi or belt. His most common winning techniques wereoshidashi, the push out, andyorikiri, the force out.

Yoshikaze was married in December 2008, and the wedding ceremony was held in October 2009. He has two children, a daughter and a son. It was reported in November 2020 that he had separated from his wife, which at the time could have impacted his ability to eventually run his own stable.^[25] In March 2021 his ex-wife was arrested on charges ofphysical abuse of their daughter.^[26]

• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List ofsekiwake

• Yoshikaze Masatsugu's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1982 births
• Living people
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Nippon Sport Science University alumni
• People from Saiki, Ōita
• Sumo people from Ōita Prefecture
• Sekiwake

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list