Takanosho Nobuaki

Takanosho Nobuaki - 隆の勝 伸明 (born November 14, 1994) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kashiwa, Chiba. He made his debut in March 2010 and currently wrestles for Tokiwayama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 2018 and has three special prizes as well as one kinboshi. His highest rank as of 2023 is sekiwake.

## **Early Life**

Ishii was born the fourth of six brothers on November 14, 1994, in Kashiwa, Chiba. It was noted early on that he had the physique for sumo, being much bigger than all his siblings.

He took part in a local sumo tournament in his first year of elementary school. He trained strictly under his father and would practice four hours a day for 2-3 times per week. In junior high he represented Chiba Prefecture in the team competition at the National Junior High School Sumo Championships. Future makuuchi wrestler Daishoho was on the same team. Upon graduating from junior high he entered Chiganoura stable (since renamed), run by ex-sekiwake Masudayama.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He took the shikona of Masunosho (舛ノ勝) and made his debut in March 2010. He was a member of the same entry class as Kagayaki and Chiyonoo. He scored three consecutive winning records from his debut and reached the sandanme division in July 2011. Less than a year later, he earned promotion to the competitive makushita division at the young age of 17.

In his makushita debut, Masunosho produced three straight winning records and in January 2013, he produced a 6-1 record which boosted him up to the rank of makushita 18. Masunosho suffered a 3-4 record at this rank and after three consecutive losing records, he was demoted back to sandanme in January 2015. He immediately earned promotion back to makushita, but fell back down to sandanme in November 2014. After these demotions, Masunosho bounced back and became a makushita regular by January 2015. In May 2015, he was promoted up to makushita 12 and a year later, he reached as high as makushita 11. In April 2016 his stablemaster retired and the stable moved to the Takanohana ichimon, with former komusubi Takamisugi taking over as head coach. In January 2017, he changed the spelling of his shikona name to 舛の勝. Benefiting from increased training opportunities at the Takanohana and Onomatsu stables, he earned promotion to the sekitori ranks with a 6–1 record at makushita 3 in September 2017.

### **Juryo Career**

To mark the occasion he changed his shikona to Takanosho, reflecting his change of stablemaster. He was the first wrestler from Kashiwa to win promotion to the juryo division since Kirinji 44 years earlier. Takanosho came through with a winning record in his juryo debut in November 2017, and in July 2018 scored 13 wins against two losses from juryo 4, although he lost a playoff for the championship to Takanoiwa. He was the first wrestler to win 13 bouts in juryo and not take the championship since Ichinojo in July 2014. Nevertheless, he was promoted to the top makuuchi division for the following September 2018 tournament. He told a press conference that previously makuuchi was just a world seen on TV, and he was glad to see his name in the top part of the banzuke. His stablemaster said he hoped that Takanosho would eventually reach sanyaku.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In his makuuchi debut he was aiming for double-digit wins and the Fighting Spirit special prize, but this became impossible after his sixth loss on Day 13, and he ended the tournament with an 8–7 record. (This became the first tournament since special prizes were introduced in 1947 that none were awarded at all.) He produced a disappointing 4–11 record in November 2018 and was demoted back to juryo.

    In January 2019 he suffered a right anterior cruciate ligament injury and he pulled out on Day 3, only to attempt a comeback on Day 9. However, he ended up withdrawing again on Day 11. He fell to juryo 13 in March but returned from injury with an 11–4 record. He won promotion back to the top division after the September 2019 tournament, and produced his best makuuchi score to date of 10–5 in November. This saw him promoted to a career-high rank of maegashira 9 for the January 2020 tournament. In March he produced his best score in the top division to date, finishing joint runner-up with Kakuryu on 12–3. He was awarded his first special prize, for Fighting Spirit. In the November 2020 tournament he made his sanyaku debut at sekiwake, and came through with a winning record of 8–7. In December he revealed that he was again having problems with the anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, for which surgery was recommended, but he planned to resume training instead. He maintained his sekiwake rank with winning records in January and March 2021, but a 5–10 record in May saw him fall back to the maegashira ranks. In November 2021 he earned a share of the Fighting Spirit prize by defeating Abi on Day 15 to finish with an 11–4 record. This saw at sekiwake rank for the fifth time for the January 2022 tournament, although a 7–8 record meant he fell to komusubi in March, his first time at that rank.

Takanosho earned his first kinboshi, or gold star, in the May 2022 tournament by defeating yokozuna Terunofuji. He led the field outright until losing to Wakatakakage on Day 13, and was still in contention for the championship on the final day, although he was defeated by Sadanoumi and had to settle for a share of second place, one win behind Terunofuji. He was awarded his first Outstanding Performance Prize. Takanosho withdrew from Day 7 of the July 2022 tournament due to a right shoulder injury.

Takanosho pulled out of the November 2023 tournament after appearing to suffer an injury to his right knee in his Day 10 match against Myogiryu. His medical certificate submitted to the Sumo Association reported a damaged right meniscus and ACL. Stablemaster Tokiwayama said Takanosho would likely not re-enter the tournament, stating that he had trouble walking and was in no condition to wrestle.

## **Personal Life**

* He is a fan of the band One Ok Rock and got to meet them after they performed in Fukuoka Prefecture on 27 November 2019, where Takanoshō was on a regional sumo tour.
* Takanosho's favorite game is Fortnite and he often plays the game with his stablemates.

## **Fighting Style**

Takanosho is an oshi-sumo wrestler, who prefers to push and thrust at his opponents rather than grapple with the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or technique is oshi-dashi, a straightforward push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 452-375-21/823 (81 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 193-185-12/376 (26 basho)
* **Juryo:** 85-56-9/139 (10 basho)
* **Makushita:** 118-99/217 (31 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 31-18/49 (7 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 21-14/35 (5 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (2), Outstanding Performance (1)
* **Kinboshi:** (1) Terunofuji

## **Shikona History**

* Masunosho Nobuaki (2010.03 - 2017.09)
* Takanosho Nobuaki (2017.11 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Takanosho Nobuaki - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Takanosho Nobuaki - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Takanosho Nobuaki - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Takanosho Nobuaki - 2018 (Retrieved from the JSA)Takanosho's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Masunosho in the unsalaried ranks (c. 2017)Masunosho ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2017)Masunosho becomes Takanosho upon promotion to Juryo (c. 2017)Takanosho defeats Daiseido (c. 2017)Takanosho throws Chiyonoumi (c. 2018)Takanosho after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2018)Takanosho pushes out Yoshikaze (c. 2018)Takanosho defeats Aminishiki (c. 2019)Takanosho defeats future Ozeki Mitakeumi (c. 2020)Takanosho with his first of many sansho prizes (c. 2020)Takanosho after promotion to Sekiwake (c. 2020)Takanosho defeats Onosho (c. 2021)Takanosho defeats Yokozuna Terunofuji (c. 2022)Takanosho defeats Ura (c. 2023)Takanosho prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Takanosho Nobuaki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Takanosho Nobuaki Rikishi Information