Hidenokuni Taishiro

Hidenokuni Taishiro - 日出ノ国 太子郎 (born November 8, 1974) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nishinasuno, Tochigi. He made his debut in March 1990 and last wrestled for Magaki stable. He reached the juryo division in March 2003. His highest rank was juryo 13 and he retired in November 2003.

## **Early Life**

Miyashita began sumo wrestling during his first year at Nasushiobarashi Ritsuminami Elementary School. He also participated in judo and soccer in elementary school. He was a member of the judo club at Nasushiobara Shiritsu Nishinasuno Junior High School and was personally scouted by Magaki oyakata (the 56th yokozuna Wakanohana Kanji). He joined Magaki stable in March 1990.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Miyashita got off to a slow start and struggle to rise past jonidan. He was promoted to sandanme in May 1992 and in November 1993 he won all seven matches participated in playoff against Nakanoyama for the yusho, however, he lost. Nonetheless, he was promoted to makushita in the following tournament. In July 1994 he changed his shikona from his family name to "Wakanomiya" (若乃宮). In March 1996, he suffered an injury and fell all the way down to jonidan after sitting out of four straight tournaments. He returned in January 1997 and won all seven of his matches, but missed out on the yusho after losing in a three-man playoff. Nevertheless, he quickly returned to makushita. In July 2000 he changed his shikona to "Hidenokuni" (日出ノ国). In January 2003, Hidenokuni produced a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 3 which earned him a promotion to the juryo division for the March 2003 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

It took Hidenokuni 78 tournaments to become a sekitori which was the eighth slowest progress at the time. He could only manage five wins in his juryo debut and was immediately demoted back to makushita. This proved to be his only appearance in juryo.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Hidenokuni sat out of the September 2003 tournament which resulted in a fall back to sandanme. As a result he announced his retirement after the November 2003 tournament.

After retirement, Hidenokuni he studied cooking at a kaiseki restaurant in Sakai, Osaka. After this, he opened up a sumo-themed restaurant named after his shikona "Hidenokuni" in Nasushiobara, Tochigi.

### **MMA Career**

He joined the mixed martial arts promotion "Pancrase" in July 2004 under the ring name "Taishiro" (太子郎). He made his mixed martial arts debut on July 25th, 2004 at the Pancrase 137 event in the Korakuen Hall where he defeated Toshinobu Komeya in 15 seconds by knockout (punches). He went on to fight three other matches for the Deep and World X-Impact Federation where he finished with a 2-2-0 record. He announced his retirement in June 2007 due to heart disease.

### **Political Career**

After retirement from mixed martial arts, Miyashita ran for the Nasushiobara City council election which was held on April 26th, 2009, and he did not affiliate himself with any party. However, he lost.

## **Fighting Style**

Hidenokuni is an oshi-sumo wrestler who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques to fighting on the mawashi. His most common kimarite used was a straightforward oshidashi, or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 287-245-50/532 (83 basho)
* **Juryo:** 5-10/15 (1 basho)
* **Makushita:** 153-140-29/293 (46 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 67-52-21/119 (20 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 54-37/91 (13 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 8-6/14 (2 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Miyashita Noriki (1990.03 - 1994.05)
* Wakanomiya Noriki (1994.07 - 2000.05)
* Hidenokuni Taishiro (2000.07 - 2003.11)

## **Gallery**

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

Hidenokuni Taishiro - 2003 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hidenokuni's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Hidenokuni after promotion to juryo (c. 2003)Hidenokuni's kesho-mawashi (c. 2003)Hidenokuni defeats Masutsuyoshi after falling to the unsalaried ranksHidenokuni's MMA debut press conference (c. 2004)Hidenokuni knocks out his opponent in 15 seconds (c. 2004)Hidenokuni knocks out his second opponent (c. 2005)
## **Sources**

* Hidenokuni Taishiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hidenokuni Taishiro Rikishi Information