Hokuseiho Osamu

Hokuseiho Osamu - 北青鵬 治 (born November 12, 2001) is a Japanese-Mongolian professional sumo wrestler, raised in Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido. He made his debut in March 2020 and currently wrestles for Miyagino stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2021 and the makuuchi division in March 2023. His highest rank as of 2023 is maegashira 6.

## **Early Life**

Ariunaa Davaaninj was born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and he moved to Uryu, Hokkaido, at the age of five due to his parent's work. When sumo was on a jungyo tour in Sapporo he met Yokozuna Hakuho who advised him to take up sumo wrestling. He reunited with Hakuho at an airport in South Korea.

He took part at the Wanpaku Sumo Championships from his fourth to sixth year at elementary school and the All Japan Elementary School Sumo Championships for three consecutive years. After graduating from elementary school, he went to study abroad at Tottorishi Ritsunishi Junior High School and was a member of the school's sumo club. He left the school as he found the training too tough, but was encouraged by Hakuho to return to the school. After graduating from junior high school he attended Tottori Johoku High School, which is also the alma mater of Terunofuji and Ichinojo. During his high school career, he participated in national competitions since his first year and achieved strong results in individual and group competitions.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

After graduating from high school, he joined Miyagino stable which was home to Yokozuna Hakuho. Since Davaaninj lived in Japan for over a decade, he was able to avoid the one foreigner per stable rule (he used Sapporo, Hokkaido, as his official birthplace).

He was given the shikona "Hokuseiho" (北青鵬) and made his professional debut in March 2020. He won the jonokuchi, jonidan, and sandanme yusho's with consecutive 7-0 records and was promoted to makushita by his fourth professional tournament. He missed out on his makushita debut because Hakuho contracted COVID-19 which forced all of Miyagino stable to miss out the January 2021 tournament. He returned in March 2021, but due to back muscle pains, he lost to Tokisakae on the first day which ended his 21 match winning streak. He still finished the tournament with a 5-2 record and followed with a 6-1 record in May. In July 2021 he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record at the rank of makushita 2 which guaranteed him a promotion to juryo for the September 2021 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

He was unable to compete in his juryo debut after he tested positive for COVID-19, which forced the whole of the Miyagino stable to sit out the September 2021 tournament. He kept his rank for the following tournament in November 2021, but was forced to pull out on the second day with a right knee ligament injury. This resulted in his demotion back to makushita. By May 2022 he had reached makushita 2, and was a favorite to compete for the third division championship and promotion back to juryo. After a 5–2 record, his promotion to juryo was confirmed on May 25.

On the second day of the July tournament he defeated Chiyosakae, and spoke afterwards of his relief at finally getting his first win as a sekitori in his third tournament ranked in juryo, and the encouragement of Magaki Oyakata (the former Hakuho), who he had once again been assigned to as an attendant after dropping to makushita. He finished the tournament with an 11–4 record, the best of his career to date. Hokuseiho's 9–6 record in the January 2023 tournament was his fourth straight winning record in juryo, ensuring promotion to the top makuuchi division for the first time.

### **Makuuchi Career**

His makuuchi promotion was confirmed with the release of the March 2023 banzuke on February 27, and Hokuseiho told reporters he was aiming for promotion to sanyaku within the year. His previously reported height of 200cm was also updated to 204cm, making him the tallest wrestler ever in the top division since offical measurements began in September 1953, alongside Akebono.

During the July 2023 tournament, Hokuseiho recorded a negative score (make-koshi) for the first time with an eighth defeat on day thirteen against Kotoshoho. This score was worsened by a ninth defeat (the third in a row) against former sekiwake Meisei the next day. After finishing this tournament with a score of 5–10, Hokuseiho was relegated to maegashira 6. At the September 2023 tournament, he and Daieisho remained neck-and-neck with tournament leaders Atamifuji and Takakeisho, recording only one more defeat than the latter and being able to force his way into a kettei-sen (playoff). Hokuseiho was also promised the Fighting Spirit award if he recorded an eleventh victory. On the final day of the tournament, however, Hokuseiho was defeated by ozeki Hoshoryu, effectively taking him out of the title race and removing his hopes of receiving the award.

During the November 2023 tournament, Hokuseiho had a notable match with Midorifuji on day seven; the match being between the tallest and lightest wrestler in the division. The match also received attention after lasting a total of 6 minutes 40 seconds, and being marked by a very rare mizu-iri (water break), an event that had not happened in makuuchi for 8 years, since day fourteen of the March 2015 tournament during the match between Terunofuji and Ichinojo. Following his match, he also received criticism from his master, who encouraged him to win quick victories without getting bogged down in long matches, too costly in terms of stamina for a full tournament.

## **Fighting Style**

At 204 cm (6 ft 8 in) Hokuseiho is the tallest sekitori, and with his big height advantage he was able to overwhelm most of his early opponents by quickly grabbing their mawashi and forcing them out of the dohyo. He wins most of his matches by yorikiri (force out) and prefers a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position. In the run-up to the Nagoya tournament in July 2023, he also confided that he was beginning to practise pushing and thrusting techniques (tsuki/oshi) in order to diversify his fighting style, taking particular inspiration from the matches of former yokozuna Akebono.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 132-68-35/199 (22 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 39-36/75 (5 basho)
* **Juryo:** 39-23-28/61 (6 basho)
* **Makushita:** 33-9-7/42 (7 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (July 2021)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (November 2020)
* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (September 2020)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (July 2020)

### **Achievements**

* **Record:** Tied for **6th** most consecutive wins from entry into sumo (21 wins)

## **Gallery**

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

Hokuseiho Osamu - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hokuseiho Osamu - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hokuseiho Osamu - 2021 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hokuseiho's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Hokuseiho gets measured upon joining professional sumo (c. 2020)Hokuseiho wins the Jonokuchi Yusho (c. 2020)Hokuseiho wins the Jonidan Yusho (c. 2020)Hokuseiho wins the Sandanme Yusho (c. 2020)Hokuseiho wins the Makushita Yusho (c. 2021)Hokuseiho after promotion to Juryo (c. 2021)Hokuseiho presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2021)Hokuseiho battles Tohakuryu (c. 2021)Hokuseiho ensures promotion back to Juryo (c. 2022)Hokuseiho defeats Chiyosakae (c. 2022)Hokuseiho prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2023)Hokuseiho defeats Mitoryu (c. 2023)Hokuseiho after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2023)
## **See Also**

* List of Mongolian Sumo Wrestlers
* List of Tallest Sumo Wrestlers

## **Sources**

* Hokuseiho Osamu Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hokuseiho Osamu Rikishi Information