Isegahama Stable (2007)

Isegahama stable (伊勢ヶ浜部屋, Isegahama-beya), formerly known as Ajigawa stable from 1979 to 2007, is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Isegahama ichimon or group of stables. It was set up in April 1979 by former sekiwake Mutsuarashi, who branched off from Tomozuna stable. In April 1993 yokozuna Asahifuji became the new Ajigawa Oyakata. In late 2007 Asahifuji switched to the prestigious Isegahama elder name which had become available upon the retirement of its previous holder, former maegashira Katsuhikari, thereby also changing the name of his stable.

As of January 2023 it has 18 active sumo wrestlers.

## **History**

The original Ajigawa stable was established in April 1979 by former sekiwake Mutsuarashi. He had originally hoped to become head of Miyagino stable and had married the daughter of the incumbent stablemaster there, but the marriage ended in divorce. He moved to Tomozuna stable upon his retirement in 1977 before opening up his new stable two years later. Ajigawa stable absorbed Kasugayama stable in 1990 on the retirement of its head coach, thus absorbing Maegashira Kasugafuji. Ajigawa stable failed to produce any sekitori before Asahifuji took over the stable.

In April 1993 Asahifuji acceded to the Ajigawa name and took over the stable, due to the poor health of the incumbent. Ajigawa stable would then produce their first sekitori when Mutsuhokkai was promoted to Juryo in July of 1993.

In late 2007 Asahifuji switched to the prestigious Isegahama elder name which had become available upon the retirement of its previous holder, former maegashira Katsuhikari, thereby also changing the name of his stable. Asahifuji's decision to switch to the Isegahama name can be seen as an attempt to restore his ichimon*'*s reputation (the ichimon was known as Tatsunami-Isegahama for many years before becoming solely Tatsunami; as a result of the success of the renamed stable the ichimon has been solely known as Isegahama since January 2013). He also moved the stable to new premises.

In September 2012, its wrestler Harumafuji won his second consecutive tournament and was promoted Yokozuna for the next basho. In March 2013, the stable absorbed the coach and wrestlers (Terunofuji, Wakaaoba and Shunba) of Magaki stable. Magaki was shut down due to the poor health of Magaki-oyakata. Terunofuji would go on to reach the rank of yokozuna. Isegahama stable had four of its wrestlers ranked in the makuuchi and juryo divisions in 2017, although Harumafuji retired in November 2017 and former ozeki Terunofuji fell to juryo through injury in 2018.

The stable regained some prestige in 2020 when Terunofuji returned from juryo to makuuchi and captured his second yusho. A year later he gained the title of Yokozuna.

In March 2022, the stable managed to have six active sekitori wrestlers at the same time, with the promotion of, then 19 year-old, Atamifuji to the juryo division for the March tournament, after a winning record at the top of the makushita division.

In November 2022, the stable managed, in another rare occurrence, to have all six sekitori of the stable ranked at the elite first division makuuchi, with the promotion of then 20 year-old Atamifuji to the rank of maegashira 15. The last time a stable had six sekitori in the makuuchi division was Musashigawa stable in March 2004.

In December 2022 two junior wrestlers in the stable were found to have acted violently against younger wrestlers, with the victims beaten with wooden beams and burned with chankonabe hot water poured on their backs. One of the wrestlers held responsible submitted his retirement papers, while another was handed a two-tournament suspension. Following the investigation, stablemaster Isegahama (Asahifuji) resigned his seat on the Sumo Association's Board of Directors.

## **Ring Name Conventions**

During its time as Ajigawa stable, most of the wrestlers' ring names started with the kanji 安 (pronounced a or an, meaning peaceful). Since the name change to Isegahama, a new pattern has taken hold, with many wrestlers having ring names ending with the characters 富士 (read: fuji), in deference to their coach and the stable's owner, the former Asahifuji, although other stables use this suffix too. The 照 ("teru") prefix is also common; examples are Terunofuji, Terutsuyoshi, Terumichi and Teruju.

While under the guidance of Mutsuarashi, many wrestlers had the kanji 陸奥 (Mutsu) as a prefix; examples include Mutsuryu and Mutsuhokkai.

## **Owners**

* 1993–present: 4th Ajigawa / 9th Isegahama Seiya (riji, the 63rd yokozuna Asahifuji)
* 1979-1993: 3rd Ajigawa Hiroaki (former sekiwake Mutsuarashi)

## **Coaches**

* Tateyama Yoshiyuki (shunin, former maegashira Homarefuji)

## **Notable Active Wrestlers**

* Terunofuji (the 73rd yokozuna)
* Takarafuji (best rank sekiwake)
* Terutsuyoshi (best rank maegashira)
* Midorifuji (best rank maegashira)
* Nishikifuji (best rank maegashira)
* Atamifuji (best rank maegashira)
* Takerufuji (best rank juryo)
* Hayatefuji (best rank makushita)
* Satorufuji (best rank makushita)
* Satonofuji (best rank makushita)
* Sachinofuji (best rank jonidan)

## **Notable Former Wrestlers**

* Harumafuji (the 70th yokozuna)
* Aminishiki (former sekiwake)
* Kasugafuji (former maegashira) - *Transferred from Kasugayama stable*
* Homarefuji (former maegashira)
* Asofuji (former maegashira)
* Mutsuhokkai (former juryo)
* Tomisakae (former makushita)
* Hikarifuji (former makushita)
* Shunba (former makushita) - *transferred from Magaki stable*
* Wakaaoba (former makushita) - *transferred from Magaki stable*
* Toranoyama (former sandanme)
* Anju (former sandanme)

## **Usher**

* Teruki (makuuchi yobidashi)
* Fujio (juryo yobidashi)
* Teruya (makushita yobidashi) - *transferred from Magaki stable*

## **Other personnel**

* Mutsuhokkai Katsuaki (sewanin, former juryo)

## **Website**

* Isegahama stable's website [1]
* Isegahama stable's Facebook [2]
* Isegahama stable's Twitter [3]