Yotsukasa Dai

Yotsukasa Dai - 燁司 大 (born September 25, 1973) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Matsusaka, Mie. He made his debut in January 1996 and last wrestled for Irumagawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1999. His highest rank was maegashira 11 and he retired in November 2011.

## **Early Life**

Daishi Suzuki was born in Matsusaka, Mie, on September 25, 1973. He began sumo wrestling during his fourth year at elementary school. He continued his amateur career all the way to the collegiate level at Nihon University. During his time at Nihon University, he played an active role during national competitions. After graduating, he joined Irumagawa stable, run by another Nihon University graduate, ex-sekiwake Tochitsukasa.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Because of his amateur achievements he was given special dispensation to begin his professional career at the bottom of the third highest makushita division. He made his debut in January 1996, fighting under his own surname of Suzuki. In March 1997 he produced a strong 6-1 record and participated in a playoff for the yusho, but he lost to his college teammate Kumagaya in the first round. He replicated his performance in the following tournament and was eventually promoted to juryo in May 1998.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon reaching sekitori status in May 1998 he switched to the shikona of Yōtsukasa, the tsukasa suffix being a common one at his stable. His stablemaster liked the combination of the "fire" and "flower" kanji, hoping that his sumo would "ignite fire and transform himself as a brilliant flower". He produced a solid 9-6 record in his sekitori debut. After three consecutive winning records he was promoted to makuuchi in May 1999.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He reached the top makuuchi division a year later in May 1999. He withdrew injured from his third top division tournament and was demoted back to the juryo division as a result. In November 2001 he lost sekitori status altogether after a 3–12 record at juryo 11 but he returned to the juryo division in November 2002 and was promoted back to the makuuchi division in May 2003 after an absence of 22 tournaments. His last appearance in the top division was in March 2004.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Yotsukasa's final tournament was in November 2005. Ranked right at the bottom of the juryo division at no. 14 East, he lost every one of his first fourteen matches, defaulting on the final day to end with a rare 0–15 record. He was the first sekitori to suffer this embarrassing score since Hoshitango in 2000. He immediately announced his retirement rather than face demotion to makushita.

Yotsukasa was unable to acquire permanent elder stock in the Japan Sumo Association and so had to borrow elder names owned by active wrestlers or stable-masters. He was variously known as Yōtsukasa (jun-toshiyori), Hatachiyama (owned by Tochinohana), Wakafuji (Otsukasa), Sekinoto (Iwakiyama), Onogawa (Kitanoumi), Sendagawa, (Maenoyama) and Takenawa (Tochinonada). He was finally forced to leave the Sumo Association in January 2012 when Tochinonada retired and no other elder names were available. He later worked for a cleaning company in Tokyo.

## **Fighting Style**

Yotsukasa was an oshi-sumo specialist, preferring tsuki-oshi (pushing and thrusting) techniques to fighting on the mawashi or belt. He won most of his bouts by a straightforward oshidashi, or push out, although his personal favorite was tsukiotoshi, or thrust over.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 357-379-12/734 (60 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 49-59-12/107 (8 basho)
* **Juryo:** 228-267/494 (33 basho)
* **Makushita:** 80-53/133 (19 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Suzuki Daishi (1996.01 - 1998.03)
* Yotsukasa Dai (1998.05 - 2005.11)

## **Gallery**

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

Yotsukasa Dai - 2001 (Retrieved from the JSA)Yotsukasa's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Yotsukasa (right) announces he will join professional sumo (c. 1995)Yotsukasa in Juryo (c. 1998)Yotsukasa after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 1999)Yotsukasa defeats his opponent (c. 1999)Yotsukasa plays around with OhinodeYotsukasa during the dohyo-iriYotsukasa after his retirement ceremony (c. 2006)
## **Sources**

* Yotsukasa Dai Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Yotsukasa Dai Rikishi Information