 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Izutsu stable" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Izutsu stable (Japanese:井筒部屋,Hepburn:Izutsu beya) was astable ofsumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze group of stables. Its last incarnation was in existence from 1972 until 2019.
The stable was established in theMeiji era by formeryokozunaNishinoumi Kajirō I, the 16thyokozuna, who became the 7th Izutsu-oyakata. He was succeeded byNishinoumi Kajirō II, the 25thyokozuna who ran the stable from 1909 until his death in 1931. The latest incarnation of Izutsu stable was in the hands of the same family, having been founded as Kimigahama stable by his grandson-in-lawTsurugamine Akio in 1972 and subsequently renamed Izutsu stable in 1977, after Tsurugamine obtained the stock from formeryokozunaKitanofuji (who would become the head ofKokonoe stable). Tsurugamine Akio had previously attempted to obtain the Izutsu stock from the widow of his old stablemaster, the formermaegashiraTsurugamine Michiyoshi, who had run a different version of the stable from 1947 until his death in March 1972, but had been unable to come to an agreement with her. All three of Tsurugamine's sons,Kakureizan [ja],Sakahoko andTerao, were members of the stable, with Sakahoko and Terao emulating their father by reaching thesekiwake rank. Sakahoko took over the stable from his father in 1994. Sakahoko's nephew,Fukuzono Yoichiro, was a wrestler at the stable from 1988 until 2007, reaching a highest rank ofjūryō 9. The stable declined from around 20 wrestlers when Sakahoko inherited it to just three as of 2019, of whom the solesekitori wasKakuryū, who reached theyokozuna rank in March 2014. Sakahoko commented in 2008 that it was difficult to attract new recruits as "there are many heyas nowadays" but that as he was the only coach in the stable, a relatively small number meant he could give each wrestler close attention.[1]
Sakahoko died at the age of 58 in September 2019. The stable's wrestlers andtokoyama were temporarily under the care ofKagamiyama, a director of theJapan Sumo Association and fellow member of the Tokitsukaze group,[2] but moved toMichinoku stable, which is run by the former stablemate of Sakahoko, formerōzekiKirishima,[3] and originally branched off from Izutsu in 1974. Demolition of the building that housed Izutsu stable began on 4 November 2020.[4] The Izutsu elder name was used from 2020 to 2023 by the formerToyonoshima of the affiliatedTokitsukaze stable.
Most wrestlers at this stable took ring names orshikona that begin with the character 鶴 (two alternative readings:tsuru andkaku), meaning crane, in deference to the former owner, who was active as Tsurugamine.
Tokyo,Sumida Ward, Ryōgoku 2-2-7
8 minute walk from west exit ofRyōgoku Station on theSōbu Line
35°41′33″N139°47′31″E / 35.6925°N 139.7920°E /35.6925; 139.7920