Shotenro Taishi

Shotenro Taishi - 翔天狼 大士 (born January 31, 1982) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Khovd Province. He made his debut in March 2001 and wrestled for Fujishima stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 2009 and has one special prize as well as one kinboshi. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he retired in January 2018.

## **Early Life**

It has been reported that in his childhood in Ulaanbaatar he lived in the same apartment complex as future sumo contemporary Mokonami, though they never met in person. As an amateur, Dagdandorjiin took third place in the open weight division in the Junior World Sumo Championships in 2000. He also won the junior championship for Mongolian wrestling at the Naadam festival which is the biggest sporting event in Mongolia.

He came to Japan in 2000 alongside six other Mongolians in hopes of getting recruited into a stable. He began his professional career in March 2001, at the same time as Hakuho. He was given the shikona of Musashiryu, the prefix being a common one at Musashigawa stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Musashiryu had a relatively smooth start in sumo. He spent one tournament in jonokuchi and two in jonidan and spent a year in sandanme where he produced mainly winning records (kachi-koshi). He was promoted to makushita in January 2003.

In his first makushita tournament, Musashiryu injured his anterior cruciate ligament on his left knee on the fifth day and ultimately pulled out from the rest of the tournament. As a result he was demoted back down to sandanme and would spend around a year bouncing between the makushita and sandanme division. After a series of good records, Musashiryu was promoted to makushita 23 for the May 2004 tournament, however, due to a measles outbreak in his stable, he lost all seven bouts. He would remain in makushita for the following years (excluding a brief sandanme stint) and he reached as high as makushita 3 in March 2007. In this tournament, Musashiryu faced off against juryo-ranked wrestlers Oga and Takamifuji, however, he lost to both of them and produced a 1-6 record.

As a result to his disastrous performance in March 2007, he changed his shikona to Shotenro and began to produce solid result. In September 2008, Shotenro produced a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 1 and as a result was promoted to the salaried juryo division for the November 2008 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Shotenro was impressive in his juryo debut as he won his first nine matches. He later went on to produce a 12-3 record and clinch the division yusho. In the following tournament, Shotenro won 11 out of his 15 matches and defeated fellow Mongolian Hakuba in a playoff for his second consecutive yusho. He was the third post-war wrestler after Kushimaumi and Miyabiyama to achieve this feat.

### **Makuuchi Career**

It had taken Shotenro 48 tournaments from his professional debut to reach the top makuuchi division, the third slowest at the time amongst foreign born wrestlers. In July 2009 he was awarded the Fighting Spirit Prize for his record of eleven wins and four losses. In the September tournament he won his first kinboshi, becoming the first maegashira in a year to defeat Hakuho, but could win only one other match. A 9-6 score in the following tournament in November seemed to steady him, but he suffered a surprising slump in January 2010 and a poor 3-12 record saw him demoted to juryo.

He returned to the top division for the July 2010 tournament, and after slipping back to juryo in September won promotion again for November 2010.

In 2011 he was one of several wrestlers investigated by the Sumo Association after his name was mentioned in a text message about match-fixing. The text, dating from May 2010, was sent by low ranker Enatsukasa, an alleged go-between, to juryo wrestler Chiyohakuho and said, "the match with Shotenro is for real", implying that bouts with other wrestlers were being fixed. Shotenro vehemently denied any involvement in bout-rigging, and in April 2011 was found not guilty by the investigative panel.

He missed the November 2011 tournament after undergoing surgery for appendicitis, dropping to the juryo division in January. Despite only making a bare majority of eight wins at juryo 5, this was enough for an immediate return to makuuchi. He had a superb start to the March tournament, winning nine of his first ten matches, but he faded in the home stretch, losing his last five bouts as he was matched against higher ranking opponents. He remained a middle ranking maegashira for several tournaments before finally being demoted to the second division for the March 2014 tournament.

### **Later Career**

He was unable to return to makuuchi, and in September 2015 he lost his sekitori status and was demoted to the makushita division. A 4-3 record at the rank of Makushita #1 in January 2016 was enough to earn promotion back to juryo for the March tournament in Osaka, but he pulled out of that tournament with only three wins and was demoted back to makushita. This was to be his last appearance in juryo.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He acquired Japanese citizenship on August 18, 2017 and took the naturalized Japanese name of Matsudaira Sho. Japanese citizenship is a requirement for staying in the Japan Sumo Association as an elder, and with 25 tournaments fought in the top division he was eligible to coach after his retirement from active competition.

Shotenro sat out the July 2017 tournament, and was relegated to sandanme. It was disclosed on October 31 that he had been diagnosed with cancer during a health check-up prior to that tournament. At the meeting of the 70 sekitori held that day, all agreed to give Shotenro a cash donation as a mark of support. On December 28, 2017 Shotenro announced his retirement. He had spent 100 tournaments on the banzuke with a final career record of 494 wins against 484 losses, with a top division record of 164–196.

Shotenro has remained in sumo as a coach, originally under the elder name of Kasugayama Oyakata owned by Ikioi. In July 2019 he switched to the Kitajin elder name owned by Endo. In June 2022 he changed his elder name to Nishikijima; the name became vacant in June of the previous year following the resignation of former ozeki Asashio.

## **Controversy**

### **Match-Fixing Allegations**

In 2011 he was one of several wrestlers investigated by the Sumo Association after his name was mentioned in a text message about match-fixing. The text, dating from May 2010, was sent by low ranker Enatsukasa, an alleged go-between, to juryo wrestler Chiyohakuho and said, "the match with Shotenro is for real", implying that bouts with other wrestlers were being fixed. Shotenro vehemently denied any involvement in bout-rigging, and in April 2011 was found not guilty by the investigative panel.

## **Personal Life**

* Shotenro married the sister of fellow Mongolian sekitori Kyokutenho in 2011, and the reception was held in June 2012. As brothers-in-law, the two wrestlers could no longer meet in competition.
* Shotenro was born and raised in Ulan-Bator, Mongolia, but uses Khovd Province as his shusshin, or birthplace, in his rikishi profile.
* Shotenro's hobbies are traveling and using the internet.

## **Fighting Style**

He was an oshi-sumo specialist, preferring pushing and thrusting techniques. He was however also capable of fighting on the mawashi or belt, where he preferred a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip. His most common winning move was oshi-dashi (push out), followed by yori-kiri (force out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 494-484-51/974 (101 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 164-196-15/360 (25 basho)
* **Juryo:** 119-131-5/248 (17 basho)
* **Makushita:** 145-118-24/261 (41 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 50-34-7/84 (14 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 10-4/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Juryo** Championships
	+ 1st (November 2008)
	+ 2nd (January 2009)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (1)
* **Kinboshi:** (1) Hakuho

## **Shikona History**

* Musashiryu Taishi (2001.03 - 2007.03)
* Shotenro Taishi (2007.05 - 2018.01)

## **Gallery**

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

Shotenro Taishi - 2015 (Retrieved from the JSA)Shotenro Taishi - 2014 (Retrieved from the JSA)Shotenro Taishi - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Shotenro Taishi - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Shotenro Taishi - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Shotenro Taishi - 2009 (Retrieved from the JSA)Shotenro's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Shotenro during his time in the unsalaried ranks (c. 2007)Shotenro after promotion to Juryo (c. 2008)Shotenro wins his second Juryo Yusho (c. 2009)Shotenro after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2009)Shotenro defeats Takamisakari (c. 2009)Shotenro with his first and only sansho prize (c. 2009)Shotenro defeats Yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2009)Shotenro battles Homasho (c. 2010)Shotenro investigated for match-fixing (c. 2011)Shotenro found not guilty of match-fixing (c. 2011)Shotenro battles future Yokozuna Kakuryu (c. 2012)Shotenro defeats Masunoyama (c. 2013)Shotenro prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2014)Shotenro battles future Ozeki Mitakeumi (c. 2015)Shotenro battles Tochihiryu (c. 2016)Shotenro prepares to face Gochozan (c. 2017)Shotenro's retirement party (c. 2018)Shotenro after retirement as Kitajin Oyakata (c. 2020)

## **Sources**

* Shotenro Taishi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Shotenro Taishi Rikishi Information