Ofuji Keiji

Ofuji Keiji - 大富士 慶二 (born August 26, 1958 - October 14, 2012) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ota, Tokyo. He made his debut in September 1974 and wrestled for Kokonoe stable. He reached the juryo division in July 1978. His highest rank was juryo 6 and he retired in January 1986.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

After graduating junior high school, Ito joined Izutsu stable (he later transferred to Kokonoe stable in 1977) and made his professional debut in September 1974. He was promoted to sandanme in July 1976 and makushita in March 1977. He steadily climbed up the banzuke and in May 1978, he produced a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 2 and was promoted to juryo in the following July 1978 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

At the time of his juryo debut, Ofuji was still only 19 and was the youngest sekitori and both makuuchi and juryo. However, he could only manage a 5-10 record and was demoted back down to makushita. He returned to juryo in November 1978, but finished with a 6-9 record and again demoted back down to makushita. After a year in makushita, Ofuji returned to juryo in January 1980 and produced a strong 10-5 record. He followed with an 8-7 record and was promoted to his highest rank of juryo 6 in May 1980. However, he finished with a disastrous 2-13 record and was immediately demoted back down to makushita.

He won the makushita yusho in May 1981 after finishing with a 6-1 record and defeating Wakasegawa in the playoff. He was promoted back to juryo four tournaments later in January 1982. However, he finished with a 6-9 record and was regulated back down to makushita. He returned to juryo for a fifth time in March 1983 and was able to put up more consistent numbers. However, on the first day of the September 1983 tournament, Ofuji suffered a dislocation to his right knee as well as a ruptured medial collateral ligament during his match against Masurao and subsequently withdrew from the tournament on the second day.

### **Later Career**

After his withdrawal, Ofuji finished with a winless record and was demoted back to makushita. Due to the severeness of his injury, he continued to sit for another four tournaments and was demoted all the way down to the rank of sandanme 74 by July 1984. He returned in July 1984 and won the sandanme yusho with a perfect 7-0 record, but pulled out of the following four tournaments which caused him to fall to the low jonidan ranks. He returned in May 1985 at the rank of jonidan 100 where he won the jonidan yusho with a perfect 7-0 record, but he announced his retirement shortly after returning to makushita in January 1986.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

### **Acting Career**

After retiring from professional sumo, he entered the entertainment industry under the recommendation of comedian Takeshi Kitano. He appeared mainly in dramas and would act as a big imposing character due to his size. Besides dramas, he also acted in movies. His movie debut was in the 1995 film *Pu* (プ). He also appeared in *Onmyoji 2* (1995) and *Zatoichi: The Last* (2010). In addition, he also participates in stage productions such as *A Midsummer Night's Dream* and *Macbeth*.

### **Death**

Ofuji died on October 14, 2012, at the age of 54 due to a stroke.

## **Fighting Style**

Ofuji was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 271-212-73/482 (69 basho)
* **Juryo:** 60-77-13/136 (10 basho)
* **Makushita:** 124-89-32/213 (35 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 40-16-21/56 (11 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 42-28-7/70 (11 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (May 1981)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (July 1984)
* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (May 1985)

## **Shikona History**

* Ito (1974.09 - 1974.09)
* Ofuji Keiji (1974.11 - 1986.01)

## **Gallery**

Article clipping about Ofuji's Juryo promotion (c. 1978)Ofuji poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1983)Ofuji's tegata
## **Sources**

* Ofuji Keiji Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Ofuji Keiji Rikishi Information