Oga Atsushi

Oga Atsushi - 皇牙 篤 (born October 22, 1977) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nogata, Fukuoka. He made his debut in March 1993 and last wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the juryo division in May 2006. His highest rank was juryo 6 and he retired in May 2007.

## **Early Life**

He was born Atushi Moriyasu in Nogata, Fukuoka, the same city that ozeki Kaio came from, and they went to the same middle school. Moriyasu admired Kaio greatly and when he joined professional sumo he deliberately avoided Kaio's Tomozuna stable, hoping to one day face him in a tournament.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He chose Takasago stable instead and made his first appearance at the March tournament of 1993, fighting under his family name of Moriyasu. He was just 1.74 m (5 ft 8 1⁄2 in) tall and weighed only 90 kg (200 lb) in his debut tournament. In the lower divisions he served as a tsukebito or personal attendant to a number of senior wrestlers in Takasago stable such as Mitoizumi and Toki. In May 2001 he changed his shikona to Oga, with the "o" character taken from his idol Kaio and second "ki" from Toki, which can also be read as "ga." He changed the second part of his shikona from Atsushi to Akitoshi at the same time. He was to change this again to Tosa and then finally Atsushi once more, his real given name.

He took over the yumitori-shiki role from Musashifuji in January 2004, as it is normally done by a low-ranking wrestler from the same stable as a yokozuna, and Musashigawa stable's Musashimaru had recently retired, leaving Asashoryu of Takasago stable as the only yokozuna. Oga went on to perform the ceremony 300 times over 20 tournaments.

### **Juryo Career**

In March 2006 he was promoted to the juryo division. He was the first yumitori-shiki performer to reach sekitori status since Tomoefuji in July 1990. Tomoefuji stopped doing the ceremony upon reaching juryo, but Oga was happy to keep doing it, the first time a sekitori had done so since Hanakago stable's Itakura performed it for one tournament in March 1975. He scored 10–5 in his juryo debut and took part in a three way playoff for the championship with Hochiyama and Toyozakura. He fought in the juryo division for six tournaments in total, with a 42–48 record.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Oga announced his intention to retire on 25 March 2007, after it was clear that a 5–10 record in the Osaka tournament would see him demoted to the makushita division. He commented, "I performed the yumitori ceremony today as if it was just like any other day. When I was promoted to juryo, I decided I'd retire if I fall down to makushita. Since there is nothing wrong with me physically, there is not much I can do as I can no longer win. I have been able to see the yokozuna win yusho from a close vantage point. It's been a great experience. I have no regrets whatsoever on my 15 years of rikishi life." However, he did not immediately submit retirement papers, in order to collect a salary for April and also take part in the regional tour that month. He officially retired in May, and his danpatsu-shiki or retirement ceremony was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 3, 2007.

After leaving sumo he opened a chanko restaurant in Nakama and took part in some pro wrestling competitions in Fukuoka.

## **Personal Life**

* He married in 2006 and has a son.
* Oga's hobby is watching movies.

## **Fighting Style**

Oga liked a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip on his opponent's mawashi. He specialized in kuisagari, a tactic used by smaller wrestlers which involved pushing his head against the opponent's chest while pushing on the front part of the mawashi. His most common winning kimarite were yorikiri (force out), oshidashi (push out), hatakikomi (slap down) and uwatenage (overarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 329-307/636 (85 basho)
* **Juryo:** 42-48/90 (6 basho)
* **Makushita:** 134-118/252 (36 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 84-77/161 (23 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 54-51/105 (15 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 15-13/28 (4 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Moriyasu Atsushi (1993.03 - 2001.03)
* Oga Akitoshi (2001.05 - 2006.01)
* Oga Tosa (2006.03 - 2007.01)
* Oga Atsushi (2007.03 - 2007.05)

## **Gallery**

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

Oga Atsushi - 2006 (Retrieved from the JSA)Oga's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Oga performs as the bow twirler (c. 2005)Oga after promotion to Juryo (c. 2006)Oga during the juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2006)Oga continues to bow twirl despite being a sekitori (c. 2006)Oga battles Tochiozan (c. 2006)Oga bow twirls at his retirement ceremony (c. 2007)Oga's final bow twirling ceremony (c. 2007)Oga's retirement ceremony (c. 2007)Oga's (right) brief career in professional wrestling (c. 2009)Oga's chanko-nabe restaurant
## **Sources**

* Oga Atsushi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Oga Atsushi Rikishi Information