page_title: Asashōryū Akinori
section_title: Other events
hierarchical_section_title: Asashōryū Akinori / History / Other events
caption_attribution_description: English: The last day (senshūraku) of the May 2008 tournament: Asashōryū and Hakuhō, both yokozuna glare at each other after the match.
context_page_description: Asashōryū Akinori is a Mongolian former sumo wrestler. He was the 68th yokozuna in the history of the sport in Japan and became the first Mongolian to reach sumo's highest rank in January 2003. He was one of the most successful yokozuna ever. In 2005, he became the first wrestler to win all six official tournaments in a single year. Over his entire career, he won 25 top division tournament championships, placing him fourth on the all-time list.
  From 2004 until 2007, Asashōryū was sumo's sole yokozuna, and was criticized at times by the media and the Japan Sumo Association for not upholding the standards of behaviour expected of a holder of such a prestigious rank. He became the first yokozuna in history to be suspended from competition in August 2007 when he participated in a charity football match in his home country despite having withdrawn from a regional sumo tour claiming injury. After a career filled with a multitude of other controversies, both on and off the dohyō, his career was cut short when he retired from sumo in February 2010 after allegations that he assaulted a man outside a Tokyo nightclub.
context_section_description: Asashōryū received criticism from Sumo Association officials and the media throughout his yokozuna career for various other infractions of the strict code of conduct expected of top sumo wrestlers, both on the dohyō and off it. His breaches of etiquette during tournament bouts ranged from merely accepting the prize money with the wrong hand, and raising his arms in victory after clinching the championship, to giving opponents an extra shove after the bout was already over (such as Hakuhō in May 2008), and appealing to judges to overturn the referee's decision. In July 2003, he pulled on fellow Mongolian Kyokushūzan's mage (traditional Japanese top knot) during their bout on day five of the tournament, resulting in an immediate hansoku-make, or disqualification. He was the first yokozuna to be disqualified from a bout. They reportedly brawled in the communal bath afterwards, and Asashōryū was also accused of breaking the wing mirror of Kyokushūzan's car. Some Japanese fans called on him to "go back to Mongolia" after this incident. He also had an uneasy relationship with his stablemaster Takasago. In July 2004, he apologized after a row with Takasago over his wedding arrangements resulted in him being seen drunk in public and damaging stable property, and his tendency to return to Mongolia without informing his stablemaster led to embarrassments like being unable to attend the funeral of Takasago stable's previous head coach Fujinishiki in December 2003. He was also sometimes seen in public in a business suit or in casual dress instead of the traditional kimono that wrestlers are expected to wear.
caption: Asashōryū and Hakuhō glare at each other after a bad-tempered match on the last day of the May 2008 tournament
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