Fujiazuma Kazuyoshi
Early life and sumo background. Kazuyoshi Shibuya went to primary school and junior high school in the Adachi, Tokyo. He began practicing sumo in his fifth year of primary school and in his sixth year came in a second in a national primary school sumo tournament. He had been going to Tamanoi stable regularly for practice since primary school as his sumo club had an ongoing relationship with the stable, and this was the stable he ultimately chose to join after junior high school. Career. He made his debut in March 2003, the same tournament as later "jūryō  contemporary Sadanoumi. He rose gradually to the ranks of makushita" and was working his way up, but would start to suffer from pain due to a neck injury and would eventually drop back down to the fourth tier "sandanme" division. After two tournaments here he would slowly work his way through "makushita" again. He reached the elite sekitori ranks in January 2011, a little over seven years after his professional debut. His rise through "jūryō" and onto the top-tier "makuuchi" division was surprisingly smooth compared to his struggles in lower divisions, undoubtedly helped by the forced retiring of several  jūryō and lower "makuuchi" wrestlers due to an unprecedented match-fixing scandal. In these circumstances, a relatively average record of 9–6 at "jūryō" #8 would allow him promotion to the makuuchi division in July of that year. A member of Tamanoi stable, he is the first top division wrestler produced by Tamanoi's head coach, the former ozeki Tochiazuma Daisuke. This first "makuuchi" tournament would be a very successful 10–5 record which would allow him to rise higher through the ranks, but his following four efforts were all losing tournaments which saw him slide back to "maegashira" 15. A very  disappointing 3–12 score in the May 2012 tournament saw him demoted back to the "jūryō" division, but upon his return to the top division he put together a string of five consecutive 8–7 records which eventually saw him promoted to his highest rank to date of "maegashira" 4. He sat out the March 2014 tournament, recuperating after a detached retina operation. This led to his demotion back to "jūryō" for the following May 2014 tournament where he only managed a 7–8 record. He won the "jūryō" division championship in March 2015 and was promoted back to "makuuchi", but his return  to the top division lasted only one tournament as he could only score 3–12. This has been his last "makuuchi" appearance to date. He was demoted to the "makushita" division after the September 2016 tournament, but promoted back to "jūryō" for March 2017 after a 5–2 score at "makushita" 3 in January. His stay in "jūryō" lasted only one tournament and he was back in the "makushita" division in May 2017. He reached the top rank of the "makushita" division, #1 East, in May 2019 but just failed to get the majority of wins that would have returned him to  jūryō, scoring 3–4. However, he remained near the top of the "makushita" division and he returned to "jūryō" after 18 tournaments away for the July 2020 tournament (originally scheduled for May). He maintained his position in "jūryō" for the September 2020 tournament, but was prevented from entering it due to a COVID-19 outbreak at his stable. Fujiazuma was one of the 19 wrestlers who tested positive. He and the other members of the stable were allowed to keep their ranks for the following tournament in November. In this tournament Fujiazuma lost every one of his fifteen matches, the second straight  jūryō wrestler to suffer this fate after Oki in the previous tournament. Fighting style. Fujiazuma wins most of his bouts by pushing and thrusting; his most common winning "kimarite" or technique is "oshi dashi" (push out). Career record.