Daikiko Masato

Daikiko Masato - 大輝煌 正人 (born September 15, 1967 - June 6, 2009) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Gobo, Wakayama. He made his debut in March 1990 and wrestled for Musashigawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1991. His highest rank was maegashira 15 and he retired in May 1993.

## **Early Life**

He had played an active role in national sumo competitions since junior high school, and was a junior high school yokozuna in the third grade. He was an amateur champion at Kinki University, and won the All Japan Gakusei Championship in his senior year. He made his professional debut in March 1990 as a makushita tsukedashi entrant.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

It had been thought that he would join Wakamatsu stable because of their connections to Kinki University, but instead he chose Musashigawa stable, run by ex-yokozuna Mienoumi, apparently because of their excellent weight-training facilities. In September 1990 he won the makushita division yusho or championship with a perfect 7–0 record and was promoted to the juryo division for the November 1990 tournament, becoming the first sekitori from Musashigawa stable.

### **Juryo Career**

At this point he changed his shikona or fighting name from his own surname of Hayashi to Daikiko. He won immediate promotion to the top makuuchi division after his juryo debut, the first wrestler to do so since the establishment of the six tournaments a year system in 1958. His 11–4 record also won him the juryo championship.

### **Makuuchi Career**

His achievement was helped by the fact that the top division was expanded from 38 to 40 wrestlers for the January 1991 tournament. However he was restricted by a neck injury and it was to be his only tournament in the top division.

### **Later Career**

He missed the July and September 1991 tournaments through injury, and was demoted back to the makushita division. He won promotion back to juryo after winning his second makushita championship, again with a perfect 7–0 record. However, he lasted only one tournament in juryo before being demoted again. After the July 1992 tournament he dropped the Daikiko shikona and reverted to his own surname. After winning promotion to the juryo division for the third time in January 1993 he adopted a new shikona of Terunoumi.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He retired in May 1993 after demotion to the makushita division once again. He was replaced in the juryo division by his stablemate Musoyama. After leaving sumo he worked in an office and later became a car mechanic. On June 6th, 2009, he suddenly died at the age of 41 at his home in Wakayama prefecture due to a cerebral hemorrhage.

## **Fighting Style**

Terunoumi was a yotsu-sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques. His favoured grip on the opponent's mawashi or belt was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His favorite kimarite was yorikiri.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 100-87-33/186 (20 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 5-10/15 (1 basho)
* **Juryo:** 51-58-26/108 (9 basho)
* **Makushita:** 44-19-7/63 (10 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (November 1990)
* 3 **Makushita** Championships
	+ 1st (May 1990)
	+ 2nd (September 1990)
	+ 3rd (March 1992)

## **Shikona History**

* Hayashi Masato (1990.03 - 1990.09)
* Daikiko Masato (1990.11 - 1992.07)
* Hayashi Masato (1992.09 - 1992.11)
* Terunoumi Masato (1993.01 - 1993.05)

## **Gallery**

Daikiko gets recruited into Musashigawa stable (c. 1989)Daikiko's early career in the unsalaried ranks (c. 1990)Daikiko gets with his kesho-mawashi upon Juryo promotion (c. 1990)Daikiko's first tournament in Juryo (c. 1990)Daikiko (c. 1991)Daikiko (c. 1991)Daikiko (c. 1992)
## **Sources**

* Daikiko Masato Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Daikiko Masato Rikishi Information