Daishi Nobuyuki

Daishi Nobuyuki - 大至 伸行 (born August 23, 1968) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Hitachi, Ibaraki. He made his debut in March 1984 and last wrestled for Oshiogawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1994. His highest rank was maegashira 3 and he retired in March 2002.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He joined Oshiogawa stable in March 1984 after completing junior high school. Fighting under his own surname of Takano, he weighed 114 kg in his debut but he struggled to adapt and his weight dropped to 98 kg by November 1985. He rose slowly up the ranks, adopting the shikona of Daishi in 1987 and steadily increasing his weight to 143 kg by 1992, around average. He was promoted to makushita in May 1989 and was able to establish himself in the division. After nine years in the lower divisions, Daishi was promoted to juryo in May 1993 after producing a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 1.

### **Juryo Career**

Daishi could only manage six wins in his sekitori debut, but bounced back with three consecutive winning records. In March 1994 he produced a strong 11-4 record and was promoted to the rank of juryo 1 where he posted an 8-7 record which earned him a promotion to makuuchi in July 1994.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He fought in the top division for 23 tournaments, compiling a record of 145 wins against 191 losses, but never managed to win a special prize or defeat a yokozuna. His highest rank was maegashira 3, which he reached in July 1996. He was demoted from makuuchi in July 1997, but managed to return in September 2000 after three years in juryo. He retired in March 2002 after a 3–12 record at juryo 9 left him facing demotion to makushita.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He remained in sumo as Daishi Oyakata under the jun-toshiyori system, working as a coach at Oshiogawa stable. With his stablemaster, former ozeki Daikirin, due to reach the mandatory retirement age in 2007 it was thought Daishi might be in line to take over the running of the stable. However, he left the Sumo Association in June 2003, ahead of the two year grace period he had to acquire a permanent toshiyori, to launch a career as a professional singer. He had been allowed by the Sumo Association to record a CD and sing at danpatsu-shiki, but only jinku music. He continued to sing to the audience at retirement ceremonies, such as  yokozuna Takanohana's in 2003, ozeki Musoyama's in 2005, and Wakatenro’s in 2011. He produced a jinku CD by active top division wrestler Ikioi in 2012. He auditioned for the role of the Genie in Aladdin in 2014.

## **Personal Life**

* Daishi's hobby is to eat and cook food. His favorite foods to cook are fried rice, chankonabe, pork cutlet (tonkatsu), and stir-fried gizzards. He also likes to hold barbecues with his family.
* Daishi has a YouTube channel called "Daishi Song Cafe" (大至のソング・カフェ) where he posts videos from his singing career.

## **Fighting Style**

Daishi favored yotsu-sumo (grappling techniques), preferring a migi-yotsu (right hand inside, left hand outside) grip on his opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite was a straightforward yorikiri, or force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 574-593-21/1164 (109 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 145-191-9/335 (23 basho)
* **Juryo:** 228-235-2/462 (31 basho)
* **Makushita:** 91-74-3/164 (24 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 60-59-7/119 (18 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 44-33/77 (11 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Takano Nobuyuki (1984.03 - 1987.09)
* Daishi Nobuyuki (1987.11 - 2002.03)

## **Gallery**

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

Daishi Nobuyuki- 1997 (Retrieved from the JSA)Daishi's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Daishi in Juryo (c. 1993)Daishi's first tournament in Makuuchi (c. 1994)Dash defeats future Yokozuna Wakanohana (c. 1996)Daishi (c. 1997)Daishi was known for his singing skillsDaishi battles his opponent (c. 1999)Daishi throws salt into the dohyoDaishi sings at his retirement ceremony (c. 2002)Daishi's retirement ceremony (c. 2002)Daishi after retirement as a singer
## **Sources**

* Daishi Nobuyuki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Daishi Nobuyuki Rikishi Information