Fujizakura Yoshimori

Fujizakura Yoshimori - 富士桜 栄守 (born February 9, 1948) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kofu, Yamanashi. He made his debut in March 1963 and wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 1971 and has eight special prizes as well as nine kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in March 1985.

## **Early Life**

Nakazawa was born the eldest son of farmers in the city of Kofu in Yamanishi prefecture. He attended Kofushi Ritsunishi Junior High School where he was a member of the judo club. He was recruited by komusubi Fujinishiki who also came from Kofu. After graduating junior high school, he moved to Tokyo and joined Takasago stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in March 1963. He was given the shikona of Fujizakura, meaning "cherry of Fuji", a reference to the prefectural flower of Yamanashi, a small pale red and white flower that blooms only around Mount Fuji. He was promoted to sandanme in November 1964 and makushita in September 1966. In January 1969, he won the makushita yusho with a 7-0 record. He reached juryo a year later in January 1970.

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Fujizakura posted a solid 9-6 record. He was rather inconsistent in juryo and would produce a variety of records. Finally in January 1971, Fujizakura began to show some consistency and produced four consecutive winning records which earned him a promotion to makuuchi in September 1971.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He made his top division debut in September 1971. He was a runner-up in only his second honbasho or tournament in the division and was awarded the Fighting Spirit Prize. He fought in makuuchi for 73 tournaments in total, winning eight special prizes, and nine gold stars for defeating yokozuna. His highest rank was sekiwake, which he reached in March 1974.

He was demoted to the juryo division on two occasions in 1979 and 1980, but each time made an immediate comeback to makuuchi. His final top division tournament was in January 1984, where he had to withdraw through injury – coincidentally, his long-time stablemate Takamiyama withdrew from the same tournament and this was also his final makuuchi appearance. This brought to an end Fujizakura's run of 1543 consecutive appearances from his professional debut, which was the most in sumo history at the time. As of 2017 it is second only to Aobajo's 1630 consecutive bouts.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Fujizakura retired in March 1985, after facing demotion to the makushita division. He became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association, opening up Nakamura stable in 1986, taking four jonokuchi ranked wrestlers from Takasago stable. He had a policy of not accepting foreign-born wrestlers or makushita tsukedashi entrants with a college sumo background, and encouraged his wrestlers to obtain high school diplomas by correspondence courses over the internet. He produced a handful of juryo ranked wrestlers (Saigo in November 1995, Sumanofuji in May 2001, Ichinotani in March 2004, and Hishofuji in September 2011) but none reached the top division. He also served as a judge of tournament bouts for over 20 years, and held the post of Deputy Director of Judging. Nakamura stable closed at the end of 2012, and he retired from the Sumo Association upon turning 65 in February 2013.

## **Personal Life**

His eldest son Shinwa Nakasawa, born in 1976, is a folk singer.

He was a favourite of Emperor Hirohito, a noted fan of sumo. His May 1975 bout with Kirinji in which he thrust at his opponent over 50 times but lost, was named one of the "Best 10 All Time Battles in Ozumo" by the Nikkei newspaper.

## **Fighting Style**

Fujizakura was a pusher-thruster who preferred oshi-sumo techniques to fighting on the mawashi or belt (yotsu-sumo). His speciality was tsuppari, a series of rapid thrusts to the opponent's chest. He was small by sumo standards, but was such an enthusiastic trainer in his younger days that he even had to be warned by his stablemaster at the time, former yokozuna Maedayama, not to over-train.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 788-827-30/1613 (133 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 502-582-11/1083 (73 basho)
* **Juryo:** 135-116-19/250 (19 basho)
* **Makushita:** 64-48/112 (16 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 46-45/91 (13 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 37-33/70 (10 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (September 1980)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 1969)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (3), Technique Prize (3), Outstanding Performance Prize (2)
* **Kinboshi:** 9: (3) Wajima, (3) Wakanohana II, (2) Kitanoumi, (1) Kotozakura
* **Record:** **2nd** most consecutive career bouts (1543 bouts)
* **Record:** **9th** most career bouts (1613 bouts)
* **Record:** Tied for **10th** most gold stars (9 kinboshi)

## **Shikona History**

* Nakazawa (1963.03 - 1963.05)
* Fujizakura Yoshimori (1963.07 - 1985.03)

## **Gallery**

Fujizakura practices under the guidance of Takasago OyakataFujizakura receives one of his many sansho prizes (c. 1974)Fujizakura's spirited match against Kirinji (c. 1975)Fujizakura poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1976)Fujizakura trains with Asashio as Takamiyama observesFujizakura prepares for his upcoming matchFujizakura's retirement ceremony pamphlet (c. 1985)Fujizakura after retirement as Nakamura Oyakata (c. 2013)Fujizakura's tegata
## **Sources**

* Fujizakura Yoshimori Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Fujizakura Yoshimori Rikishi Information