Yutakafuji Osamu

Yutakafuji Osamu - 豊富士 修 (born April 14, 1970) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tokamachi, Niigata. He made his debut in March 1986 and wrestled for Tokitsukaze stable. He reached the juryo division in May 1990. His highest rank was juryo 5 and he retired in November 2000.

## **Early Life**

Suzuki was born the second son and his parents operated a restaurant called "Gocchantei" (ごっちゃん亭). He participated in baseball and skiing in elementary school but switched to sumo in junior high school. In junior high school, he won the Niigata Prefectural Tournament three years in a row and also participated in national tournaments. Upon graduating junior high school, he was introduced to Tokitsukaze stable by an acquaintance and he made his professional debut in March 1986.

## **Career**

Wrestling under the shikona "Osuzuki" (大鈴木), he had a strong start and in his third tournament, he won all seven matches but missed out on the jonidan yusho after losing the playoff to Wakiyama. Nevertheless, he was promoted to sandanme by his fourth tournament. He was promoted to makushita in September 1988 and after seven consecutive winning records, including a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 2, he was promoted to juryo in May 1990.

Osuzuki had just turned 20 at the time of his sekitori debut, but he could only manage 5 wins in his first tournament. He was promoted back to juryo in September 1991, but he finished with a 6-9 record and was demoted back down to makushita. Upon demotion, he won the makushita yusho and was immediately promoted back to juryo and he changed his shikona to "Yutakafuji" (豊富士). This time, he stayed in juryo for 11 straight tournaments and rose as high as juryo 5 in May 1993. He was demoted back down to makushita in November 1993 after three consecutive losing records.

Yutakafuji remained in makushita for the last eight years of his career and made a couple strong attempts to return to juryo, but he never managed to return to sekitori. In March 1998, he was ranked at makushita 2 and he even defeated juryo-ranked wrestler Ohinode, but he finished with a 3-4 record.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

In his later career, Yutakafuji suffered a retinal detachment and lacked the vision to employ his preferred technique which resulted in a drop to the lower ranks of makushita. He ultimately announced his retirement after the November 2000 tournament.

In June 2001, after retiring, he opened up a ramen restaurant called "Ramen-ka Yutaka" (拉麺家 豊) in Nagaoka, Niigata.

## **Fighting Style**

Yutakafuji was a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. However, his most common winning kimarite or technique was yorikiri, or force out, which requires a belt grip.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 373-335-12/708 (89 basho)
* **Juryo:** 87-108/195 (13 basho)
* **Makushita:** 228-187-12/415 (61 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 39-38/77 (11 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 13-1/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (November 1991)

## **Shikona History**

* Osuzuki Osamu (1986.03 - 1991.11)
* Yutakafuji Osamu (1992.01 - 1993.05)
* Yutakafuji Tsukasa (1993.07 - 2000.11)

## **Gallery**

Yutakafuji during his brief stint as Osuzuki (c. 1991)Yutakafuji during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 1992)Yutakafuji poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1992)Yutakafuji during a joint sumo training practiceYutakafuji (c. 1993)Yutakafuji after retirement as a chef for his ramen restaurant (c. 2012)Yutakafuji's tegata
## **Sources**

* Yutakafuji Osamu Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Yutakafuji Osamu Rikishi Information