Takanofuji Sanzō

He was born as Tsuyoshi Kamiyama in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture. He has a Japanese father and Filipino mother. He is the older of identical twins, and is distinguished from his brother by the fact that he has a mole near his upper lip. They also have an older sister. They grew up in Sakai, Ibaraki Prefecture. Their sister played soccer in national competitions at high school and the twins both played basketball, representing Ibaraki Prefecture in national competition and coming in third place. They had no amateur sumo experience but were encouraged by their father to give professional sumo a try. They joined Takanohana stable in March 2013. Tsuyoshi initially wrestled under the shikona of Takayoshitoshi and made his jūryō debut in March 2018. With his brother Takagenji already in the division it was the first time in sumo history that twins had both achieved sekitori status.[1] However he withdrew partway through that tournament and was suspended from the next for assaulting his personal attendant or tsukebito after a match.[2][3] He was reportedly angry that the attendant was late in telling him the time of his match, making him late entering the stadium.[4] His absence resulted in him falling back to the makushita division. His stablemaster, former yokozuna Takanohana, was demoted in the Sumo Association's hierarchy for failing to report the incident to them and subsequently decided to leave the Sumo Association altogether.[5] Upon the resignation of his stablemaster Takayoshitoshi moved along with his stablemates to Chiganoura stable in October 2018.

He returned to jūryō in March 2019 under his new name of Takanofuji, although he lasted only one tournament before being demoted. In May he won the makushita championship or yūshō with a perfect 7–0 score, ensuring his return to jūryō. In July 2019 he was ranked at jūryō 12, his highest rank to date, with his brother Takagenji making his top makuuchi division debut in the same tournament.[6] Takanofuji had his best result in the division, an 11–4 record, which ensured a new highest rank of jūryō 5 for the following tournament. However he was withdrawn by his new stablemaster Chiganoura from the September 2019 tournament after it emerged that he had once again assaulted an attendant after a practice session on 31 August.[7] The incident was investigated by Japan Sumo Association's compliance committee which on September 26 recommended that he retire.[8] He had been found to have hit his attendant in the forehead with his fist, and also used derogatory language toward him and two other attendants.[7] However, the following day Takanofuji held a press conference in which he said he would not go voluntarily because "this penalty is too heavy and I can't accept it." His retirement was urged by his stablemaster, and the Sumo Association said they would take disciplinary measures against him at a later meeting which could involve a forced retirement. Takanofuji was accompanied by a lawyer at his press conference and he said he had written to the Sumo Association asking for a lighter penalty, and sent a petition to the Japan Sports Agency seeking better governance of professional sumo.[9] He moved out of the stable to an apartment and refused to deal directly with his stablemaster, asking his lawyer to be the intermediary.[10]

On 11 October 2019 his retirement was announced by the Japan Sumo Association. Through his attorney Takanofuji said, "I still wanted to continue, but my interactions with the Sumo Association left me exhausted."[11] His decision to retire before harsher penalties were imposed means he is entitled to severance pay.[12]

Takanofuji was a yotsu-sumo wrestler, who sought a grip on the mawashi rather than pushing or thrusting. His preferred grip was migi-yotsu, a right hand inside and left hand outside position. His most common winning kimarite was a straightforward yori-kiri or force out.[13]

• List of past sumo wrestlers
• Controversies in professional sumo
• Glossary of sumo terms

• Takanofuji Sanzō's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage