Takagenji Satoshi

Takagenji Satoshi - 貴源治 賢士 (born May 13, 1997) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Sakai, Ibaraki. He made his debut in March 2013 and last wrestled for Tokiwayama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2019. His highest rank was maegashira 10 and he was dismissed in September 2021.

## **Early Life**

He was born in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, as a younger brother of an identical twin to a Filipino mother and a Japanese father. He would grow up in Sakai, Ibaraki Prefecture. He was in many sports as a youth such as karate and kickboxing but was particularly good at basketball. In junior high he was ranked third nationally in basketball and was scouted by many top high school basketball programs. Among his rivals was future NBA player Rui Hachimura. Upon his father's request he took up sumo after being introduced to yokozuna Takanohana in the third grade. After junior high he chose to join Takanohana stable along with his brother stating, "I won't make any money in basketball and I would like to continue using my body." The stable already had a set of twins (Takageppo and Takatoshi) making Takanohana stable the first in sumo history to have two sets of twins simultaneously. However, both of the other twins had retired by the end of 2014.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Takagenji made his professional debut alongside his brother in March 2013. He scored an impressive 6-1 record in his jonokuchi debut and would reach the fourth highest division of sandanme just a year after his professional debut. Takagenji would spend also spend another year in sandanme before earning promotion to makushita in March 2015.

He could manage only three wins at the rank and was immediately demoted back down to sandanme. He proceeded to bounce between the two divisions for a little less than a year before a surprise 6-1 runner-up performance in January 2016 would help to firmly establish him in the makushita division. Takagenji produced 6 consecutive winning records in makushita and even defeated juryo-ranked wrestler Amuru in January 2017. He earned promotion to the juryo division in May 2017.

### **Juryo Career**

At the time of promotion, Takagenji was only 19 years old. His first tournament in juryo did not pan out as his last year had and he fell flat managing only a 4–11 record and being immediately be demoted back down to the makushita division. This wouldn't last long though as two winning records would send him back up to the sekitori ranks.

This time his stay in juryo was the polar opposite of his first with four straight winning records before getting his first make-koshi or losing record. After the January 2018 tournament, his brother (then known as Takayoshitoshi) was promoted to juryo also, making them the first twins to be ranked in juryo simultaneously. Shortly after this his stable was dissolved and he moved to then Chiganoura stable (since renamed) along with his brother. In May 2019 at the rank of juryo 2 he got a 13-2 winning record taking home the yusho or championship and guaranteeing his promotion to the top division.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Takagenji made his makuuchi debut in July 2019 at the rank of maegashira 10. He made a promising start by winning four of his first five matches but then lost ten in a row to finish on 4–11. The same score of 4–11 in the September tournament from the very bottom rank of maegashira 17 saw him demoted to juryo for November 2019.

After Takagenji's demotion, he continued to struggle and produced another four straight losing records which saw him demoted to makushita for the September 2020 tournament. However, he would bounce back after scoring a 4-3 record and was promoted back to juryo for the November 2020 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

* *see controversy section: Cannabis Scandal and Dismissal*

### **MMA Career**

On December 24, 2021, Satoshi announced that he was becoming a mixed martial artist. His first bout against Hideki "Shrek" Sekine is scheduled for April 16, 2022 at Rizin Trigger 3. He lost the bout via TKO due to soccer kicks and punches on the ground in the second round.

Satoshi faced Cally Gibrainn de Oliveira at Rizin Landmark 4 on November 6, 2022. He lost the fight by ground and pound TKO stoppage at the end of the first round.

## **Controversy**

### **Power Harassment Scandal**

According to a document released from the Japan Sumo Association's Compliance Committee on September 26, 2019, from May to July of the same year, Takagenji harassed and bullied his junior stablemates. Unlike his twin brother, Takanofuji, Takagenji was not physically abusive to his stablemates, but he punished them In degradable ways.

When 4 low-ranking wrestlers forgot to greet him (which is customary), he forced them to either do push-ups, pay a fine, or forbid them from leaving the stable. Sometimes, when one of the four wrestlers forgot to do one of their duties, Takagenji would collectively punish all of them by forcing them to do 2 sets of 30 push-ups. During the Nagoya 2019 tournament, one of his tsukebito (personal servant) forgot to do something, and Takagenji forced him to raise his hands up and yell "I am dumb!" Then he used his phone to record a video this humiliating act. Since Takagenji had no priors, he was given a warning by the Compliance Committee.

### **Participation with Influenza**

In December 2019, the Japan Sumo Association admitted that Takagenji participated in a regional sumo tour in Kyushu while infected with the influenza virus. A spokesperson said that Takagenji reported his health condition to a hospital in Saga on 11 December, but then climbed into the dohyo later in the day. The actions were criticized by the head of the Japan Sports Agency, and the sumo association acknowledged that it failed to handle the matter properly.

### **Cannabis Scandal and Dismissal**

The Sumo Association announced in July 2021 that Takagenji had failed a test for cannabis. Having initially claimed that a trace must have come from the oil of a pain reliever he was using, he later admitted that he had smoked a cannabis cigarette while roadside at his Nagoya training quarters. On July 30, 2021 it was announced by the Sumo Association that Takagenji would retire immediately, and that his stablemaster would be demoted. The compliance committee noted that Takagenji had been warned about his future conduct less than two years ago, had lied about his cannabis use until the positive drug test confirmed it, and had smoked cannabis on at least eight occasions.

## **Personal Life**

* Takagenji's twin brother, Takanofuji, was also a professional sumo wrestler who trained under the same stable. They were the first pair of twins to be ranked in the sekitori ranks simultaneously. Takagenji and Takanofuji performed shokkiri, or comedic sumo, together from the summer of 2016 to the spring of 2017.
* He is known for being a diligent trainer, so much so that when he dislocated his knee while practicing on tour in Tokushima in October 2016, he re-inserted the dislocated knee joint so he could finish the training session.

## **Fighting Style**

Takagenji's performances to date suggest that he is an oshi-sumo specialist who favours pushing techniques to fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common kimarite is yorikiri followed by oshidashi and tsukidashi. He was initially a yotsu-sumo or grappling specialist, but began to switch to pushing techniques around 2015 to try to improve his performances after finding himself going back and forth between the makushita and sandanme divisions. His consistency improved and he was eventually promoted to sekitori level in 2017.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 271-248/519 (50 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 8-22/30 (2 basho)
* **Juryo:** 149-151/300 (20 basho)
* **Makushita:** 58-40/98 (14 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 35-21/56 (8 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 15-13/28 (4 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Achievements**

* **1st** pair of twins to be ranked in the sekitori ranks simultaneously (alongside Takanofuji)

## **Gallery**

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

Takagenji Satoshi - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Takagenji Satoshi - 2018 (Retrieved from the JSA)Takagenji Satoshi - 2017 (Retrieved from the JSA)Takagenji's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Takagenji joins professional sumo alongside his brother (c. 2013)Takagenji's time in the unsalaried ranks (c. 2017)Takagenji ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2017)Takagenji after promotion to Juryo (c. 2017)Takagenji defeats Gagamaru (c. 2018)Takagenji and Takanofuji become the first sekitori twins (c. 2018)Takagenji defeats Daishomaru to win his first Juryo Yusho (c. 2019)Takagenji celebrates his Juryo Yusho (c. 2019)Takagenji after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2019)Takagenji defeats Kagayaki (c. 2019)Takagenji prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2019)Takagenji defeats Churanoumi (c. 2020)Takagenji brutalizes Enho (c. 2021)Takagenji's unofficial retirement ceremony (c. 2021)

## **Sources**

* Takagenji Satoshi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Takagenji Satoshi Rikishi Information