Kitataiki Akeyoshi (北太樹 明義, born 5 October 1982) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Machida City, Tokyo, Japan. Making his debut in March 1998, he reached the top division for the first time in September 2008, returning in January 2010. He won two second division jūryō championships in his career. His highest rank was maegashira 2. He retired in January 2018 and became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name of Onogawa.

Early life and sumo background

As a boy Sanuki participated in swimming, soccer and some judo as an elementary school student. His only experience with sumo during this time was one national children's sumo competition. He went on to play basketball in junior high school. However, starting from his elementary school days he made several visits to the stable of Kitanoumi, who was an acquaintance of his father. Deciding he wanted something different he chose to join Kitanoumi stable, later renamed to Yamahibiki stable after junior high school instead of going on to high school.

Career

He joined Kitanoumi stable and made his professional debut in March 1998. He spent over nine years ranked in the lower divisions, but finally achieved promotion to jūryō in July 2007. He was the first wrestler from his stable in nine years (following Kitazakura) to achieve sekitori status. After a year in jūryō he gained promotion to makuuchi in September 2008 where he lasted two tournaments before being relegated back to jūryō, restricted by a serious injury to his left knee.

Another year in jūryō, ending with his first career yūshō or division championship after a three-way playoff with Kōryū and Tokusegawa, put him back in makuuchi for the second time in January 2010. There he produced his first kachi-koshi in the top division, scoring 9–6 despite aggravating his knee injury. This saw him promoted to maegashira 10 in March and he produced another strong performance with a 10–5 score. For the May 2010 tournament he was in the upper maegashira ranks for the first time at #4. In this tournament he defeated ōzeki Kotomitsuki but failed to secure a winning record; losing his last three matches to finish on 7–8. A 9–6 score in September saw him promoted to a new highest rank of maegashira 3 for the November tournament. He scored only 5–10 in that basho but returned to the maegashira 3 rank for the May 2011 Technical Examination Tournament. There he beat struggling ōzeki Kotoōshū but won only two other matches. He returned to maegashira 3 in January 2012, but was again out of his depth and scored just 2–13.

Kitataiki reached a new highest rank of maegashira 2 in May 2013, scoring 4–11. He generally maintained a consistent enough performance to remain in the mid-level top division ranks, but never won a special prize. January 2015 saw him back in the jūryō division for the first time since 2009. He quickly bounced back and won his second jūryō championship in January 2015 to earn re-promotion to the top division for the March 2015 tournament. However, a succession of losing scores saw him lose top division status again in March 2016 and fall to the bottom of the jūryō division for the September 2016 tournament. He was finally demoted to the makushita division in September 2017 after 61 tournaments as a sekitori.

Having not missed a bout since 2003, at the end of his career Kitataiki had the longest streak of consecutive career matches amongst active wrestlers, with 1082. He overtook the previous holder Yoshiazuma in the July 2017 tournament.

Retirement from sumo

Just before the January 2018 tournament was due to begin, Kitataiki announced his retirement. He has stayed in sumo as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and works as a coach under the name of Onogawa Oyakata.

Fighting style

Kitataiki was a yotsu-sumo specialist, preferring to grip his opponent's mawashi with a right hand outside, left hand inside position (hidari-yotsu). His most common winning kimarite was yori-kiri or force out, closely followed by oshi-dashi or push out.

Family

His father came up with his current ring name, which he took after two years in sumo. This shikona combines the "kita" of Kitanoumi and "taiki" meaning large tree and symbolizing strength and growth. Kitataiki is married, and the couple have a son born in September 2015.

Career record

Kitataiki Akeyoshi
YearJanuary Hatsu basho, TokyoMarch Haru basho, OsakaMay Natsu basho, TokyoJuly Nagoya basho, NagoyaSeptember Aki basho, TokyoNovember Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
1998x(Maezumo)East Jonokuchi #40 5–2West Jonidan #146 3–4East Jonokuchi #2 4–3West Jonidan #131 3–4
1999West Jonidan #144 5–2East Jonidan #102 2–5West Jonidan #135 6–1West Jonidan #53 2–5East Jonidan #80 3–4East Jonidan #93 5–2
2000East Jonidan #52 1–6East Jonidan #83 6–1West Jonidan #12 3–4East Jonidan #31 5–2West Sandanme #96 2–5East Jonidan #20 6–1
2001West Sandanme #58 2–5East Sandanme #87 3–4East Jonidan #2 2–5West Jonidan #25 6–1East Sandanme #61 4–3East Sandanme #47 4–3
2002West Sandanme #31 4–3West Sandanme #16 5–2West Makushita #57 3–4East Sandanme #9 3–4East Sandanme #26 5–2East Makushita #60 3–4
2003West Sandanme #16 4–3East Sandanme #7 6–1East Makushita #33 1–4–2West Sandanme #1 4–3West Makushita #49 3–4West Sandanme #1 6–1
2004East Makushita #26 4–3West Makushita #18 4–3West Makushita #15 3–4West Makushita #19 3–4East Makushita #26 3–4West Makushita #32 5–2
2005East Makushita #23 3–4West Makushita #31 3–4West Makushita #38 5–2West Makushita #22 5–2East Makushita #12 2–5East Makushita #26 6–1
2006West Makushita #9 3–4West Makushita #15 6–1East Makushita #5 2–5East Makushita #15 4–3East Makushita #12 3–4West Makushita #20 4–3
2007East Makushita #16 5–2East Makushita #10 6–1East Makushita #3 5–2East Jūryō #13 8–7West Jūryō #10 9–6East Jūryō #7 6–9
2008East Jūryō #11 8–7East Jūryō #10 11–4West Jūryō #1 6–9East Jūryō #4 11–4West Maegashira #13 7–8West Maegashira #14 2–13
2009West Jūryō #7 7–8West Jūryō #9 10–5East Jūryō #3 5–10West Jūryō #10 9–6East Jūryō #4 7–8East Jūryō #5 10–5–PP Champion
2010East Maegashira #15 9–6East Maegashira #10 10–5East Maegashira #4 7–8West Maegashira #4 6–9East Maegashira #7 9–6West Maegashira #3 5–10
2011East Maegashira #8 9–6Tournament Cancelled 0–0–0East Maegashira #3 3–12East Maegashira #10 7–8East Maegashira #11 10–5East Maegashira #5 8–7
2012East Maegashira #3 2–13East Maegashira #13 9–6West Maegashira #8 5–10West Maegashira #11 9–6East Maegashira #9 6–9East Maegashira #12 8–7
2013East Maegashira #10 8–7West Maegashira #6 10–5East Maegashira #2 4–11West Maegashira #8 8–7East Maegashira #6 6–9West Maegashira #9 8–7
2014East Maegashira #8 7–8East Maegashira #9 6–9West Maegashira #13 9–6West Maegashira #9 6–9West Maegashira #10 7–8East Maegashira #12 3–12
2015East Jūryō #3 13–2 ChampionWest Maegashira #10 9–6East Maegashira #5 4–11East Maegashira #10 5–10East Maegashira #14 7–8East Maegashira #15 7–8
2016West Maegashira #15 7–8West Maegashira #15 3–12West Jūryō #6 5–10West Jūryō #12 6–9West Jūryō #14 9–6East Jūryō #10 10–5
2017East Jūryō #5 4–11East Jūryō #11 7–8West Jūryō #12 8–7East Jūryō #12 5–10West Makushita #1 4–3East Makushita #1 3–4
2018East Makushita #3 Retired 0–1xxxxx
Record given as wins–losses–absences Top division champion Top division runner-up Retired Lower divisions Non-participation Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

See also

External links