Dairaido Taro

Dairaido Taro - 大雷童 太郎 (born April 17, 1980) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Onojo, Fukuoka. He made his debut in March 1996 and currently wrestles for Takadagawa stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2005. His highest rank as of 2023 is juryo 2.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

After graduating junior high school, Yamaguchi joined Takadagawa stable in March 1996 and was given the shikona "Raido" (雷童). He won the jonokuchi yusho in his first tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. He gradually rose up the ranks and was promoted to sandanme in September 1997 and makushita in January 2000.

In May 2001, he was ranked at makushita 5, but lost his last match against juryo-ranked Tamanokuni to finish with a 3-4. In July 2003 he changed his shikona to "Dairaido" (大雷童). In March 2005, Dairaido participated in a seven man playoff for the makushita yusho, but lost in the first round against Oga. Nonetheless, he was promoted to juryo two tournaments later.

### **Juryo Career**

Dairaido produced a solid 9-6 record in his juryo debut and was promoted to juryo 7 for the following in November tournament. In this tournament he was in the yusho race for majority of the tournament before losing his last match to finish with a 10-5 record. Nevertheless, he was promoted to a career-best juryo 2. However, Dairaido went on a slump and produced four straight losing records which demoted him back down to makushita.

### **Later Career**

Dairaido remained mainly in the upper-levels of makushita for the following nine years. In May 2016, Dairaido pulled out of the tournament which stopped his 881 consecutive match appearances. He continued to sit out for another three tournaments which caused him to fall back down to jonidan for the first time in 19 years. He quickly returned to makushita in three tournaments, but could not maintain his rank. His last makushita appearance was in January 2019 and he has remained in sandanme as of 2021.

## **Personal Life**

* Dairaido's grandfather Fukutomi Raido (1896-1986) was a painter. Even though he passed away when Dairaido was in kindergarten, he intends to use paintings as a design for his kesho-mawashi if he ever returned to juryo. Sadly, Dairaido never returned to juryo.
* Prior to sumo, Dairaido played baseball.
* In January 2006, Dairaido made his first makuuchi appearance on day 11, but he lost the match to Katayama.

## **Fighting Style**

Dairaido is a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or technique is oshidashi or a straightforward push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 606-565-25/1171 (165 basho)
* **Juryo:** 42-48/90 (6 basho)
* **Makushita:** 338-320-7/658 (95 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 184-169-18/353 (53 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 35-28/63 (9 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (May 1996)

## **Shikona History**

* Raido Satoshi (1996.03 - 2003.05)
* Dairaido Taro (2003.07 - 2010.03)
* Raido Satoshi (2010.05 - 2010.05)
* Dairaido Taro (2010.07 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Dairaido Taro - 2005 (Retrieved from the JSA)Dairaido's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Dairaido after promotion to Juryo (c. 2005)Dairaido's Juryo promotion interview (c. 2005)Dairado prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2005)Dairaido during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2005)Dairaido outside his stable, Takadagawa beya (c. 2013)Dairaido after falling to the unsalaried ranks (c. 2018)
## **Sources**

* Dairaido Taro Japanese WIkipedia Article
* Dairaido Taro Rikishi Information