Irodori Takateru

Irodori Takateru - 彩 尊光 (born March 10, 1992) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Koshigaya, Saitama. He made his debut in March 2007 and wrestled for Shikoroyama stable. He reached the juryo division in May 2019. His highest rank was juryo 11 and he retired in May 2022.

## **Early Life**

Matsumoto was born in Koshigaya, Saitama, and was childhood friends with future wrestler, Abi, who was also from Koshigaya. He attended the same sumo dojo as Abi and entered Shikoroyama stable in 2007. He made his debut in March 2007 alongside Kotoeko and Tosayutaka.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Matsumoto made his debut in March, 2007, and in his jonokuchi debut he achieved an impressive 8-7 record. The following tournament in jonidan, he achieved a satisfactory 4-3 record. He would remain in jonidan for the next year before making his sandanme debut in July, 2008. Matsumoto found sandanme much harder than the other two divisions and was immediately demoted back to jonidan. He would remain in jonidan for another four tournaments and returned to sandanme in May, 2009. This time he would be a mainstay in sandanme and achieved mainly winning records, or kachi-koshi. After three consecutive 4-3 records, Matsumoto was promoted to makushita for the January, 2011, tournament.

Matsumoto posted a 4-3 record in his makushita debut and would remain there until his juryo promotion. He was promoted to makushita 22 for the July, 2012, tournament, but scored a 2-5 record. He was promoted to makushita 16 in July, 2013, but posted a 2-5 record.

Matsumoto changed his shikona from his family name to Irodori in July, 2015. He decided to change his shikona due to a "change of heart". The Irodori kanji (彩) comes from the term "Ayanokuni" (彩の国) which is a nickname used for Saitama prefecture, which is where he comes from. A couple tournaments after the shikona change, Irodori was promoted to makushita 10, however he posted a 3-4 record. He would remain in mid-high level makushita for another two years.

In mid 2018, Irodori posted two consecutive 4-3 records and was promoted to makushita 2 for the November, 2018, tournament. In the tournament, Irodori faced off against juryo wrestlers, Toyonoshima and Jokoryu, however he lost to both of them and finished with a 3-4 record. The following tournament he produced a spectacular 6-1 record and was promoted to the top of makushita for the March, 2019, tournament. He produced a 5-2 record, including a win over juryo wrestler, Daiseido. This guaranteed him a promotion to juryo. It took him 78 tournaments, or 13 years, to reach juryo.

### **Juryo Career**

Irodori made his juryo debut in May, 2019, at the rank of juryo 13 and scored a 6-9 record. He was demoted to makushita, but immediately returned after one tournament. The following tournament, Irodori posted another 6-9 record as juryo 13 again, however he got luckier this time and was demoted to juryo 14 for the next tournament. The following tournament he achieved his first sekitori kachi-koshi of 8-7 after two wins on the final days. Irodori was promoted to juryo 11 for the January, 2020, tournament, but suffered an injury to his right knee on the sixth day and had to pull out on the seventh day. This was the first time he pulled out in his career. He was demoted as result.

### **Later Career**

Irodori continued to sit out the following two tournaments and fell down to sandanme 22 in the September 2020 tournament. Irodori was promoted back to makushita for the January 2021 tournament where he remained for the majority of his later career.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After missing the March 2022 tournament, Irodori was demoted to the rank of sandanme 18 in May 2022. Despite finishing with a 5-2 record in this tournament, Irodori retired from sumo after the tournament. His retirement ceremony, or danpatsu-shiki, was held on June 18, 2022, in Tokyo.

## **Personal Life**

* Irodori's favorite foods include steak, grilled meat, burgers, and corn. His favorite steak chain is Billy the Kid. His favorite restaurant for burgers is McDonalds. In the 2012 Christmas Eve Party he ate one whole extra large Dominos pizza.
* Irodori is not a fan of needles and injections.
* Around 2013, Irodori served as yokozuna Kakuryu's tsukebito, or personal attendant.
* Irodori's hobbies include listening to music, karaoke, and strength training.
* in 2012, Irodori played a sumo wrestler in *Taira no Kiyomori* which is a Japanese historical television series.

## **Fighting Style**

Daiseido is an oshi-sumo specialist who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques to grabbing the opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite is oshi-dashi, or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 338-283-34/618 (90 basho)
* **Juryo:** 21-31-8/51 (4 basho)
* **Makushita:** 207-173-26/378 (58 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 65-47/112 (16 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 39-31/70 (10 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Matsumoto Yutaka (2007.03 - 2015.05)
* Irodori Takateru (2015.07 - 2022.05)

## **Gallery**

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

Irodori Yutaka - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Irodori Yutaka - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Irodori's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Irodori ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2019)Irodori after promotion to Juryo (c. 2019)Irodori's Juryo promotion party (c. 2019)Irodori makes his way to the Ryogoku Kokugikan (c. 2019)Irodori prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2019)Irodori defeats Chiyonokuni (c. 2019)Irodori defeats Toyonoshima (c. 2020)Irodori falls to the unsalaried ranks (c. 2022)Irodori's retirement ceremony (c. 2022)Irodori donates his kesho-mawashi after retirement (c. 2022)
## **Sources**

* Irodori Takateru Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Irodori Takateru Rikishi Information