Shoketsu Yoshiaki

Shoketsu Yoshiaki - 翔傑 喜昭 (born September 5, 1976) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Izu, Shizuoka. He made his debut in March 1995 and currently wrestles for Shibatayama stable. His highest rank as of 2023 is makushita 4.

## **Early Life**

Yoshiaki Nakahara was born in the town of Amagiyugashima (currently Izu city) in Shizuoka prefecture. He attended Chitoku High School where he was a member of the school's sumo club. He regularly participated at the National Sports Festival of Japan's sumo wrestling tournament. After graduating high school, he joined Hanaregoma stable due to the recommendation of his high school sumo coach.

## **Career**

He made his professional debut in March 1995 alongside Tochinohana, Oikari and Toyonokuni. He initially wrestled under his surname Nakahara and in September 1996 he was given the shikona "Komanofuji" (駒乃富士). He was promoted to sandanme in September 1997 and makushita in March 1999. In January 2004, he won his first six matches and was aiming for the makushita yusho, however, he lost to future yokozuna Kisenosato in his final match.

In March 2006, he was given the new shikona "Shoketsu" (翔傑). At the age of 32, he reached a career-best makushita 4 in March 2009. In this tournament, he defeated juryo-ranked Yotsuguruma in his final match, but he still finished with a 3-4 record. In January 2013, Shoketsu was considering retirement because his stablemaster (former ozeki Kaiketsu) was reaching mandatory retirement age which would result in his stable closure. However, he decided to stay in sumo because he had just finished with a 6-1 record in the previous November 2012 tournament. In February 2013, his stable closed down so he transferred to Shibatayama stable.

By March 2017, Shoketsu had became a sandanme mainstay, however, he returned to makushita for one tournament in May 2019 at the age of 42. Since Hanakaze's retirement in January 2022, Shoketsu has been the oldest active sumo wrestler. Shoketsu was forced to withdraw for the first time in the July 2022 tournament on Day 14 due to a COVID-19 infection at Shibatayama stable. However, the Sumo Association did not regard an enforced quarantine as breaking a run of consecutive appearances as it is through no fault of the wrestler, and so Shoketsu was allowed to continue his streak in the following September tournament. In January 2023, he fell back down to jonidan for the first time in 26 years.

## **Fighting Style**

Shoketsu is a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He won majority of his bouts with a straightforward yorikiri, or force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 599-591/1189 (171 basho)
* **Makushita:** 267-300/567 (81 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 266-238/503 (72 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 62-50/112 (16 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Nakahara Yoshiaki (1995.03 - 1996.07)
* Komanofuji Yoshiaki (1996.09 - 2006.01)
* Shoketsu Yoshiaki (2006.03 - )

## **Gallery**

Shoketsu defeats Towanoyama (c. 2009)Shoketsu defeats Yotsuguruma in Juryo (c. 2009)Shoketsu defeats Kizenryu (c. 2010)Shoketsu outside Shibatayama stable (c. 2019)Shoketsu launches at his opponent (c. 2021)Shoketsu defeats Sakabayashi (c. 2022)
## **Sources**

* Shoketsu Yoshiaki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Shoketsu Yoshiaki Rikishi Information