Tamanokuni Mitsukuni

Tamanokuni Mitsukuni - 玉ノ国 光国 (born December 28, 1975) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Izumizaki, Fukushima. He made his debut in March 1998 and wrestled for Kataonami stable. He reached the juryo division in July 1999. His highest rank was juryo 7 and he retired in January 2008.

## **Early Life**

Okabe began sumo wrestling in elementary school and upon graduating high school he received multiple offers from sumo stables. He attended Meguro-Gakuin High School and was played an active role for the school during team competitions. He continued his amateur career at Toyo University where he took part in many national competitions. Upon graduating from university, he joined Kataonami stable alongside his younger brother Arata (future sekiwake Tamanoshima).

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Due to his amateur accomplishments, he was given special compensation and made his debut at the bottom of the makushita division. He was given the shikona "Tamanokuni" (玉ノ国). He posted six winning records from his debut and in May 1999, he produced a strong 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 7 which earned him a promotion to juryo in July 1999.

### **Juryo Career**

Tamanokuni could only manage four wins in his sekitori debut and was demoted back down to makushita. He returned to juryo in May 2000 after winning the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 in the previous March tournament. Due to his makushita yusho, he was boosted up to the rank of juryo 8, but he produced four consecutive 7-8 records which sent him down to the rank of juryo 12 in January 2001. In this tournament he recorded his first sekitori winning record (kachi-koshi) and was promoted to a career-best juryo 7 in the following March tournament. However, in this tournament he suffered a herniated disc and was demoted back to makushita in July 2001. He won his second makushita yusho in May 2003 and was promoted back to juryo in July 2003, but he could only maintain his sekitori status for one tournament.

### **Later Career**

After falling down to sandanme, he changed his shikona to "Tamamitsukuni" (玉光国). He was promoted back to makushita and wrestled in the mid-makushita ranks for majority of his later career. In July 2005, he was ranked at makushita 2 and almost returned to juryo, but he lost his lats match to sekitori Chiyotenzan to finish with a 3-4 record.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He announced his retirement after the January 2008 tournament. After retirement, he worked as a salaryman for the security department of the company Akakiya. He left the company in February 2012 and was employed at the restaurant Genghis Khan Yukidaruma Ryogoku, which was owned by former maegashira Wakatsutomu. In June 2014 he became the manager of the Genghis Khan Yukidaruma branch in Koto, Tokyo.

## **Personal Life**

* Tamanoshima was born into a sports family. Not only was his father a former professional boxer, but he is the nephew of former ozeki Kiyokuni and his younger brother is the former sekiwake Tamanoshima, who made his debut in the same tournament as Tamanokuni, also as a makushita tsukedashi entrant, retiring in November 2011. He and his brother had the option to join Isegahama stable, then run by their uncle, but they chose the more successful Kataonami stable instead. They were the first pair of brothers to join sumo as makushita tsukedeshi.

## **Fighting Style**

Tamanokuni was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who preferred grappling techniquesto pushing and thrusting. His favored grip on the mawashi was hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most commonly used kimarite was yorikri (force out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 244-219-31/461 (60 basho)
* **Juryo:** 54-80-1/133 (9 basho)
* **Makushita:** 178-137-16/314 (47 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-2-14/14 (4 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Makushita** Championships
	+ 1st (March 2000)
	+ 2nd (May 2003)

## **Shikona History**

* Tamanokuni Mitsukuni (1998.03 - 2004.03)
* Tamamitsukuni Kitaro (2004.05 - 2008.01)

## **Gallery**

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

Tamanokuni Mitsukuni - 1999 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tamanokuni's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Tamanokuni wins a college competition (c. 1993)Tamanokuni gets recruited into Kataonami stable (c. 1998)Tamanokuni after promotion to Juryo (c. 1999)Tamanokuni and his younger brother, TamanoshimaTamanokuni during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2001)Tamanokuni narrowly pushes Komidori out (c. 2001)Tamanokuni (c. 2001)Tamanokuni wins the Makushita Yusho (c. 2003)Tamanokuni's later career in the unsalaried ranks as Tamamitsukuni
## **Sources**

* Tamanokuni Mitsukuni Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tamanokuni Mitsukuni Rikishi Information