Oiwato Yoshiyuki

Oiwato Yoshiyuki - 大岩戸 義之 (born May 18, 1981) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tsuruoka, Yamagata. He made his debut in March 2004 and wrestled for Hakkaku stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 2013. His highest rank was maegashira 16 and he retired in May 2018.

## **Early Life**

Yoshiyuki Kanbayashi was born on May 18, 1981, in Fujishima, Yamagata (now Tsuruoka, Yamagata). He began sumo wrestling in his fourth year at Tsuruoka Shiritsu Choyo Daisan Elementary School and also attended a local sumo dojo. He later went to Tsuruoka Shiritsu Daiichi Junior High School and was also a member of their sumo and judo club.

He continued his sumo career at Yamagata Kenritsu Kamosuisan High School and Kinki University. During his fourth year at Kinki University, Kanbayashi won the National Student Sumo Championship and earned the title of amateur yokozuna. He also the captain of the Kinki University's sumo club won the team competition also during his fourth year. At first he wanted to become a teacher, but after learning that he qualified for makushita tsukedashi status he changed his mind and wanted to become a sumo wrestler. An acquaintance introduced him to Hakkaku Oyakata (ex 61st yokozuna Hokutoumi) and he agreed to join his stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Kanbayashi made his professional sumo debut in the March 2004 tournament and since he qualified for makushita tsukedashi, he was ranked at makushita 15.

Kanbayashi struggled in his first tournament and lost his first two matches and finished with a losing record of 3-4. He would bounce back with six straight winning records which consisted of 5-2's and 4-3's. In March 2005, Kanbayashi posted a 5-2 at the rank of makushita 1 and earned promotion to the juryo division for the May 2005 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

In Kanbayashi's first juryo tournament he produced pretty mixed results and was 7-7 on the last day. He lost on the last day against Wakatoba and as a result finished with a 7-8 record. Since he was ranked at juryo 11, he didn't fall out of the divison and was instead regulated back down to juryo 12. He produced an 8-7 record in this tournament, but followed with three losing records which sent him back down to makushita.

In Kanbayashi's return to makushita, he produced two straight 5-2 records and earned promotion back to the juryo divison for the July 2006 tournament. In his return, Kanbayashi produced a 7-8 record, followed by an 8-7 record. The next tournament Kanbayashi produced a disastrous 4-11 record and was demoted back down to makushita.

Kanbayashi would remain in the upper-levels of makushita for around three years. In March 2010, Kanbayashi was ranked at the top of makushita and produced a 4-3 record which earned him return to the salaried juryo divison for the March 2010 tournament. In his return, Kanbayashi produced a 7-8 record, followed by a 5-10 record which sent him back down to makushita.

Kanbayashi would remain in makushita for another four tournaments before earning promotion back to juryo for the July 2011 tournament. In this tournament, Kanbayashi produced a disastrous 3-12 record and was demoted back down to makushita. Upon his poor performance, Kanbayashi changed his shikona from his family name to "Oiwato". This name change proved to be good luck and he produced a 5-2 record which sent back up to juryo. Oiwato would secure himself as a juryo mainstay for around two years and in January 2013, Oiwato produced a 9-6 recon at the rank of juryo 5 which earned him a promotion to the top makuuchi division.

### **Makuuchi Career**

The 46 tournaments it took Oiwato to make it to the makuuchi divison since his juryo debut was the second longest (tied with Makimoto and Hoshiiwato - Chikubayama took 47 tournaments which is the longest). Even though Oiwato defeated makuuchi regulars such as Tamawashi, Chiyonokuni, and Masunoyama, he finished with a 5-10 record and was demoted back down to juryo. This would be his only makuuchi tournament.

### **Later Career**

After Oiwato's demotion from Makuuchi, he would remain in juryo for another four tournaments, before getting demoted back down to makushita after producing a 3-12 record at the rank of juryo 9.

Oiwato did not regain his sekitori status and would send the rest of his career in makushita. In March 2016, Oiwato won his first six matches, but lost on the final day against Sato, who would become a future ozeki Takakeisho, and was the eventual makushita yusho winner. In May 2017, Oiwato won all seven matches and took the makushita yusho (his first career yusho) at the age of 36. Oiwato was the oldest post-war rikishi to win the makushita yusho. He was promoted to makushita 3 as a result, but finished with a lackluster 3-4 record.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

One year after achieving his makushita yusho, Oiwato announced his retirement on May 11th, 2018, just days before the May 2018 tournament. He had his danpatsu-shiki, or hair-cutting ceremony, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on June 9th, 2018.

After retirement, Oiwato went on to work at a company that collects precious and rare metas in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. On February 16th, 2019, he appeared on a talk show and claimed that he was grateful to be earning a stable income.

On March 14th, 2019, Oiwato worked as a commentator for AbemaTV's live sumo stream. He would become a regular guest commentator for AbemaTV. He was known for his unique commentary where he focused on why a sumo wrestler lost rather than why a sumo wrestler won.

In March 2019, Oiwato established a company called Office Oōiwato (オフィス オオイワト) which was a company that focused on promoting the art of sumo through social activities such as teaching sumo training, sumo exercises, chankonabe recipes, etc. In addition, Oiwato also began writing columns about sumo at a local newspaper company located in Yamagata Prefecture (newspaper company: 荘内日報).

## **Fighting Style**

Oiwato is a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or technique is oshidashi or a straightforward push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 383-393-4/775 (85 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 5-10/15 (1 basho)
* **Juryo:** 150-195/345 (23 basho)
* **Makushita:** 228-188-4/415 (61 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championships (May 2017)

### **Achievements**

* **Record:** Tied for **2nd** slowest progress to makuuchi since juryo debut (46)
* **Record:** Oldest wrestler to win makushita yusho (36 years 0 months)

## **Shikona History**

* Kanbayashi Yoshiyuki (2004.03 - 2011.07)
* Oiwato Yoshiyuki (2011.09 - 2018.05)

## **Gallery**

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

Oiwato Yoshiyuki - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Oiwato Yoshiyuki - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Oiwato Yoshiyuki - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Oiwato Yoshiyuki - 2011 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kanbayashi Yoshiyuki - 2006 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kanbayashi Yoshiyuki - 2005 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kanbayashi's tegataOiwato's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Kanbayashi gets recruited into Hakkaku stable (c. 2004)Kanbayashi gets measured upon joining sumo (c. 2004)Kanbayashi during his time in the unsalaried ranks (c. 2005)Kanbayashi after promotion to Juryo (c. 2005)Kanbayashi presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2005)Kanbayashi during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2006)Kanbayashi defeats Surugatsukasa (c. 2010)Oiwato defeats Tamanoshima (c. 2011)Oiwato makes his way to the Kokugikan (c. 2012)Oiwato defeats Nionoumi (c. 2013)Oiwato after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2013)Oiwato prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2013)Oiwato loses the Makushita Yusho match to Sato (c. 2016)Oiwato defeats Tobizaru to win the Makushita Yusho (c. 2017)Oiwato, the oldest rikishi to win the Makushita Yusho (c. 2017)Oiwato announces his retirement (c. 2018)Oiwato's retirement ceremony (c. 2018)An exhibition celebrating Oiwato's career (c. 2018)
## **Sources**

* Oiwato Yoshiyuki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Oiwato Yoshiyuki Rikishi Information