Yoshinomine Motoshi

Yoshinomine Motoshi - 芳野嶺 元志 (born July 7, 1931 - February 17, 2012) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Aomori City, Aomori. He made his debut in November 1947 and last wrestled for Tomozuna stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1955. His highest rank was maegashira 8 and he retired in January 1964.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Born in the village of Ushirogata (later absorbed into Aomori city) in Aomori prefecture, Yamaguchi joined Takashima stable (later renamed Tomozuna stable) and made his professional debut in November 1947. Initially wrestling under the shikona "Yagatanishiki" (八潟錦), he was promoted to sandanme in May 1949 and makushita in September 1950. He was given the shikona "Yoshinomine" (芳野嶺) in September 1952 and shortly after, he won the makushita yusho.

### **Juryo Career**

He reached juryo in January 1954 and in his first tournament as a sekitori, he finished with a 9-6 record. In May 1954, he posted a 10-5 record and followed with three more winning records to earn a promotion to makuuchi for the May 1955 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Yoshinomine was ranked in the top division for a total of 26 tournaments, but he struggled to establish himself and rose only as high as maegashira 8. He mainly struggled due to his small frame and was consistently bouncing between juryo and makuuchi.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Yoshinomine retired from sumo in Janaury 1964 to avoid an inevitable demotion to makushita. Upon retiring, he remained in the sumo world as an elder under the name Kumagatani. He worked as a coach for Tomozuna stable before branching out and establishing Kumagatani stable in July 1978. In 1982, the stable absorbed Takashima stable and thus absorbed, Koboyama, who was already a sekitori. The only sekitori that the stable was able to solely produce was juryo wrestler Yoshinobori in 1990. The stable closed down in May 1996 and Kumagatani oyakata reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 two months later.

### **Death**

After leaving the sumo world, he developed kidney disease due to diabetes and had been receiving dialysis treatments since the summer of 2010. He died on February 17, 2012, at a hospital at Wakaba-ku, Chiba, due to a stroke. He was 80 years old.

## **Personal Life**

His eldest son Yoshinori (born 1961 in Sumida, Tokyo) was also a professional sumo wrestler. He joined Tomozuna stable in March 1977 before transferring to his father's Kumagatani stable in 1978. Wrestling under the shikona "Yoshioyama" (芳玉山), he rose as high as makushita 11 and retired in January 1991.

## **Fighting Style**

Yoshinomine was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite was yorikiri (force out), followed by sotogake (outside leg trip) and oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 504-513-26/1015 (73 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 157-215-18/371 (26 basho)
* **Juryo:** 225-187-8/411 (28 basho)
* **Makushita:** 68-61/129 (10 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 41-34/75 (5 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 10-8/18 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 2-4/6 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (January 1961)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 1953)

## **Shikona History**

* Yagatanishiki (1947.11 - 1951.09)
* Yoshinoyama (1952.01 - 1952.05)
* Yoshinomine Motoshi (1952.09 - 1964.01)

## **Gallery**

Yoshinomine poses with his kesho-mawashiYoshinomine stands by his Kumagatani stable (c. 1981)
## **Sources**

* Yoshinomine Motoshi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Yoshinomine Motoshi Rikishi Information