Futatsuryu Junichi

Futatsuryu Junichi - 双津竜 順一 (born February 28, 1950 - August 12, 2014) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Muroran, Hokkaido. He made his debut in September 1963 and last wrestled for Tokitsukaze stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1972. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in November 1982.

## **Early Life**

Yamamoto was born the eldest son of three brothers to a father who worked at a steel mill in Muroran, Hokkaido. He joined Tokitsukaze stable while in junior high school and made his professional debut in September 1963 at the age of 13.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Yamamoto initially wrestled under his surname before switching to "Yamamotogawa" (山本川) in March 1964. He was promoted to sandanme in July 1965 and makushita in September 1966. He reached the second highest juryo division three years later in November 1969, after winning the third highest makushita division championship with a perfect 7-0 record from the rank of makushita 20 (before the rules were changed to make makushita 15 the lowest rank for juryo promotion in 1977).

### **Juryo Career**

Upon reaching the elite sekitori status, he changed his shikona to "Futatsuryu" (双津竜). At the time of his juryo promotion, he was still only 19 and one of the youngest sekitori. He posted a solid 10-5 record in his first tournament as a sekitori. In March 1971, he produced a strong 12-3 record, but missed out on the yusho after losing to stablemate Nagahama in a playoff. In January 1972, while ranked at the top of juryo, Futatsuryu produced a 10-5 record and was promoted to makuuchi for the following March 1972 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He made his debut in the top makuuchi division in March 1972 but was demoted back to the second division a number of times. He was ranked in the top division for 29 tournaments in total, peaking at komusubi rank in July 1979. This promotion was due to some banzuke luck as he had been ranked only at maegashira 7 in the previous tournament, but there were few other viable promotion candidates. He scored 4-11 in his komusubi debut, which was to be his only tournament in the sanyaku ranks. He was one of the heavier wrestlers in his time. His last top division tournament was in March 1980, but he continued to fight despite falling greatly in rank. He finished his career back in the makushita division.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He retired from active competition in November 1982, becoming an elder of the Sumo Association under the name Nishikijima. After nearly twenty years working as an assistant coach at his old heya, he became head of the stable when former ozeki Yutakayama reached the mandatory retirement age in August 2002, and adopted the Tokitsukaze name. He oversaw the promotion of Tokitenku and Toyonoshima to the top division in July and September 2004. In May 2007 he criticised Asashoryu for injuring Toyonoshima during training, and visited his wrestler in the hospital. He also served as a judge during tournament matches.

### **Dismissal and Trial**

It was reported on October 3, 2007 that he would be dismissed from the Sumo Association over his involvement in hazing which allegedly contributed to the death of a young recruit at Tokitsukaze stable. Junior wrestler Tokitaizan, real name Takashi Saito, collapsed and died in June after an intense training session called butsukari-geiko which reportedly lasted 30 minutes instead of the usual five.

His death was originally put down to natural causes, but after Tokitsukaze pressed for a quick cremation the young wrestler's family insisted on an autopsy, which revealed the extent of his injuries. Tokitsukaze admitted to police that the day before Tokitaizan's death he had hit him across the forehead with a beer bottle and allowed other wrestlers in the stable to strike Tokitaizan with a metal baseball bat. It was also reported that Tokitsukaze failed to give Tokitaizan any aid and delayed calling an ambulance. On October 5, the Sumo Association announced his dismissal. They commented, "His actions were unbecoming as a stablemaster, he's outraged the public, and he's defiled the name of the Sumo Association." He was the first serving stablemaster to be dismissed from sumo (Yamahibiki Oyakata, the former komusubi Maenoshin had been dismissed in January 1997, but was an assistant coach and not a head coach).

On February 7, 2008, he and three sumo wrestlers were arrested for accidental mortality. Yamamoto admitted for the first time that Tokitaizan was tied to a pole and beaten for up to 20 minutes. He continued to deny the charges against him however, saying "it was not assault, it was discipline." On 18 December 2008, three sumo wrestlers were found guilty but received suspended sentences because they could not fight Yamamoto's commandment. They were all dismissed from sumo. Yamamoto's trial was conducted separately because he had continued to deny the charges, and began in February 2009.

On 29 May 2009, he was jailed for six years. The Nagoya District Court found that he had "overwhelming authority" over the three wrestlers who he had ordered to carry out the beating, even though he had not directly taken part himself. He immediately appealed the ruling and was released on bail. He then reportedly requested severance pay from the Sumo Association in the region of 20 million yen (200,000 USD). The two sides reached an out-of-court settlement in January 2010, the details of which were not disclosed. In July 2011 he gave an interview in which he claimed to be involved in yaocho or match-fixing at least ten times in his career, but insisted he was "framed" over Tokitaizan's death. His final appeal was rejected in August 2011 and a five-year jail term was finalized.

### **Death**

He died of lung cancer on August 12, 2014 at the age of 64. He had still been in jail but was moved to a hospital as his condition deteriorated.

## **Fighting Style**

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

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 676-669-30/1344 (116 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 186-226-23/411 (29 basho)
* **Juryo:** 343-317/660 (44 basho)
* **Makushita:** 81-73-7/154 (23 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 37-26/63 (9 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 23-19/42 (6 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-8/14 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Juryo** Championships
	+ 1st (May 1975)
	+ 2nd (November 1975)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (September 1969)

## **Shikona History**

* Yamamoto Junichi (1963.09 - 1964.01)
* Yamamotogawa Junichi (1964.03 - 1969.09)
* Futatsuryu Junichi (1969.11 - 1982.11)

## **Gallery**

Futatsuryu's first tournament in Juryo (c. 1969)Futatsuryu prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1973)Futatsuryu pushes out his opponentFutatsuryu poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1976)Futatsuryu after promotion to Komusubi (c. 1979)Futatsuryu announces his retirement with stablemates (c. 1982)Futatsuryu's retirement ceremony pamphlet (c. 1983)Futatsuryu after retirement as Tokitsukaze Oyakata (c. 1998)Futatsuryu swarmed by the media during his trial (c. 2009)Futatsuryu's tegata
## **Sources**

* Futatsuryu Junichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Futatsuryu Junichi Rikishi Information