Terukuni Manzo

Terukuni Manzo - 照國 万藏 (born January 10, 1919 - March 20, 1977) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ogachi, Akita. He made his debut in January 1935 and wrestled for Isegahama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1939 and has 1 kinboshi and 2 top division championships. He was the 38th yokozuna and he retired in January 1953.

## **Early Life**

Born Suga Manzo (菅 萬藏), he later changed his name to Ono Manzo (大野 萬蔵). After graduating from elementary school, he worked on his family farm. In the summer of 1930, he was scouted by Isegahama, former sekiwake Kiyosegawa Keinosuke, his distant relative. However, he was largely forgotten due to the disruption caused by the Shunjuen Incident of 1932, in which a large number of wrestlers went on strike. After the dispute was settled, he joined Isegahama stable in 1934, making his debut in January 1935 with the Terukuni Manzo shikona or ring name.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Terukuni rose up the ranks at an extremely fast pace. In May 1937, he won the makushita yusho with an 11-2 record and was promoted to juryo in January 1938. At the time of his juryo promotion, he had only spent one tournament in each of the lower divisions.

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Terukuni could only manage a 6-7 record and was demoted back down to makushita for the following tournament. He returned to juryo in January 1939 and won the juryo yusho to earn a direct promotion to makuuchi in May 1939.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Terukuni posted a strong 11-4 record in his top division debut. He followed with a 12-3 runner-up performance and also earned his first kinboshi by defeating yokozuna Minanogawa. He was subsequently promoted to sekiwake in May 1940 where he continued to produce strong results. In May 1941, he finished runner-up to Haguroyama with a 13-2 record and was promoted to ozeki in January 1942.

### **Ozeki Career**

After two tournaments at ozeki, he finished in a three way tie for the championship in May 1942 with Futabayama and Akinoumi, on 13-2. The championship was awarded to Futabayama (whom Terukuni had defeated in their individual match) simply because he was of a higher rank, as was the rule at the time. Nevertheless, after the tournament both Terukuni and Akinoumi were promoted to yokozuna.

### **Yokozuna Career**

At 23 years of age, Terukuni was the youngest wrestler to reach the yokozuna rank until the promotion of Taiho in 1961. He did well in his yokozuna debut, scoring 14–1, although he finished one win behind Futabayama, who won his last match by default.

He continue post double-digit winning records, and in May 1944, his double-digit winning record streak came to an end after he posted a 6-2 record. He had produced ten consecutive double-digit winning records from his makuuchi debut which is by far the most in modern sumo history (in comparison, Onosho holds second place with three consecutive double-digit winning records from his top division debut).

Terukuni was a heavy wrestler for his time, weighing over 160 kg (350 lb). During World War II, his weight declined due to the food shortages. He changed the spelling of his shikona given name to 萬藏 in May 1945, but changed it back in October 1949. Having been a runner-up on five previous occasions, Terukuni finally won his first championship in September 1950, about eight years after his promotion. He won his second championship in the very next tournament with a perfect 15–0 record.

Three days into the January 1953 tournament, he announced his retirement. After the tournament, Kagamisato was promoted to yokozuna, and a photograph was taken of Terukuni and Kagamisato alongside the other grand champions Chiyonoyama, Azumafuji and Haguroyama. As Terukuni had not yet had his official retirement ceremony, some regard January 1953 as being the only occasion on which there were five yokozuna at the same time.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retirement, Terukuni inherited Isegahama stable and renamed it as Araiso stable before reverting back to Isegahama in 1961. He produced many top division wrestlers, including ozeki Kiyokuni in 1963. Other wrestlers he coached to the top division include Asasegawa, Katsuhikari, Osegawa, Teruzakura, Kiyonomori, Tensuiyama, and sekiwake Kairyuyama.

### **Death**

On March 20, 1977, he suddenly collapsed at the stable's lodging in Osaka city and was transported to a hospital where he died at the age of 58. The cause of death was listed as an acute myocardial infarction. He had already made arrangements to pass control over the stable over to Kiyokuni at the time of his death.

## **Fighting Style**

Terukuni 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 (force out) and (lift out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 318-112-74/422 (41 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 271-91-74/354 (32 basho)
* **Juryo:** 17-9/26 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 16-4/20 (2 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 5-1/6 (1 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 5-1/6 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 3-3/6 (1 basho)
* **Shinjo:** 1-3/4 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (September 1950)
	+ 2nd (January 1951)
* 1 **Juryo** Championship (January 1939)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (May 1937)

## **Gallery**

Terukuni Manzo - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Terukuni's tegata
## **Sources**

* Terukuni Manzo Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Terukuni Manzo Rikishi Information