Yotsuguruma Daihachi

Yotsuguruma Daihachi - 四ツ車 大八 (born July 24, 1980) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Hanamaki, Iwate. He made his debut in March 1996 and wrestled for Isenoumi stable. He reached the juryo division in November 2008. His highest rank was juryo 8 and he retired in May 2013.

## **Early Life**

Yamakage was born and raised in Hanamaki, Iwate. His parents divorced when he was young and his mother worked at a hot spring resort, so Yamakage was raised by his grandmother. Upon finishing junior high school, he joined Isenoumi stable in March 1996.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Yamakage initially struggled in sumo and found it hard to accelerate past the jonidan division. To boost his morale, he changed his shikona to the prestigious "Yotsuguruma" (四ツ車) name which has a long history with his Isenoumi stable and dates back to the Edo Period; he was the eighth wrestler to take the name.

He was promoted to sandanme in November 1998 and after producing a perfect 7-0 record, he was promoted to makushita in July 2000. However, it was not until July 2002 when Yotsuguruma established him self in the divison. In September 2008, Yotsuguruma won the makushita yusho with a perfect record of 7-0 at the rank of makushita 13 which secured him a promotion to the salaried juryo division.

### **Juryo Career**

Yotsuguruma made his debut at the rank of juryo 8 which was relatively high considering it was only his first tournament. However, he struggled and could only manage 6 wins. He continued to struggle and finished with another 6-9 record in the following tournament. In his third tournament, Yotsuguruma posted a poor 4-11 record which resulted in a fall back to makushita.

### **Later Career**

Yotsuguruma struggled to return back to juryo and spent the majority of his later career in the lower-levels of makushita. In September 2009, Yotsuguruma fell back down to sandanme, and did manage to return to makushita for one tournament before falling back down to sandanme.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Yotsuguruma announced his retirement after the May 2013 tournament. He cited that a hip joint injury deteriorated his sumo. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held on the senshuraku (last day of sumo tournament) party of his stable in May 2013.

As of January 2017, he works at a restaurant called "MEAT YAZAWA" in Gotanda, Tokyo, and plans on becoming the deputy manager of the Nagoya branch.

## **Fighting Style**

Yotsuguruma's favored techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi), yori (forcing) and nage (throwing). His most common winning kimarite are yorikiri (force out), oshidashi (push out), uwatenage (overarm throw) and shitatenage (underarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 370-368/738 (103 basho)
* **Juryo:** 16-29/45 (3 basho)
* **Makushita:** 193-206/399 (57 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 94-74/168 (24 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 52-46/98 (14 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 15-13/28 (4 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (September 2008)

## **Shikona History**

* Yamakage Makoto (1996.03 - 1997.05)
* Yotsuguruma Daihachi (1997.07 - 2013.05)

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Yotsuguruma Daihachi - 2008 (Retrieved from the JSA)Yotsuguruma's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Yotsuguruma after promotion to Juryo (c. 2008)Yotsuguruma during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2008)Yotsuguruma prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2009)Yotsuguruma battles Shoketsu in Juryo (c. 2009)Yotsuguruma falls to the unsalaried ranks (c. 2011)Yotsuguruma's retirement ceremony (c. 2013)
## **Sources**

* Yotsuguruma Daihachi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Yotsuguruma Daihachi Rikishi Information