Suiryu Teruyoshi

Suiryu Teruyoshi - 翠竜 輝嘉 (born February 4, 1953) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture. He made his debut in July 1968 and last wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He reached the juryo division in July 1977. His highest rank was juryo 2 and he retired in January 1984.

## **Early Life**

Hirai was a member of the baseball club in junior high school where he played the position of catcher. In high school he was also a member of the baseball club, but was forced to perform menial tasks such as picking up balls and equipment. He soon became frustrated and decided to join professional sumo.

## **Career**

He made his professional debut in July 1968, wrestling for Tatsunami stable. Upon promotion to sandanme in September 1969, he changed his shikona from his surname to "Akibayama" (秋葉山). In July 1972, he fell back down to jonidan due to injuries but won the yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. He reached makushita two tournaments later in November 1972 and changed his shikona to "Suiryu" (翠竜) in September 1973. After the shikona change, he immediately won the sandanme yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. In May 1977, he produced a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 3 and was promoted to juryo in the following tournament.

Suiryu was ranked in juryo for a total of 22 tournaments, but he never managed to reach the top makuuchi division. His highest rank as juryo 2 which he achieved in May 1980. He was demoted back down to makushita in November 1980 after 20 straight tournaments, but would return to juryo on two separate occasions in September 1982 and March 1983. He announced his retirement after the January 1984 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring, from sumo he worked at Dojima Hotel (closed in 2016) in Umeda Osaka and worked as the head of sales. After the hotel closure, he worked as a salaryman in Tokyo.

### **Music Career**

In 1978, while in juryo, he was also an Enka musician. His first song, published by Sony Music Entertainment, is called *I Kept It In Your Name* (あなた名義にしておきました). However, he did not continue his career as a musician after retiring.

## **Fighting Style**

Suiryu was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 414-383-30/796 (94 basho)
* **Juryo:** 155-172-3/326 (22 basho)
* **Makushita:** 154-137-10/291 (43 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 63-46-17/109 (18 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 38-25/63 (9 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (September 1973)
* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (July 1972)

## **Shikona History**

* Hirai (1968.07 - 1969.07)
* Akibayama Masao (1969.09 - 1973.07)
* Suiryu Teruyoshi (1973.09 - 1980.07)
* Suiryu Masahiro (1980.09 - 1980.11)
* Suiryu Teruyoshi (1981.01 - 1984.01)

## **Gallery**

Suiryu during his time as "Akibayama" (c. 1972)Suiryu prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1979)Suiryu's retirement ceremony (c. 1984)Suiryu's tegata
## **Sources**

* Suiryu Teruyoshi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Suiryu Teruyoshi Rikishi Information