Terao Tsunefumi

寺 尾 常 史
Terao Tsunefumi

Personal data
real name	Fukuzono Yoshifumi
Born	2nd February 1963
place of birth	Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture
size	1.85 m
Weight	116 kg
Career
Heya	Izutsu
Career record	860–938–58 626–753–16 (makuuchi)
debut	July 1979
Highest rank	Sekiwake
Tournament victories	2 (juryo)
resignation	September 2002

Terao Tsunefumi ( Japanese 寺 尾 常 史 , proper Fukuzono Yoshifumi ( 福 薗 好 文 ); born February 2, 1963 in Kirishima , Kagoshima Prefecture ) is a former Japanese sumo wrestler .

Terao is one of the three sons of the former Sekiwake Tsurugamine . His older brothers are the former juryo wrestler Kakureizan and the former Sekiwake Sakahoko . All three competed for the paternal wrestling stable Izutsu-beya. While his two brothers began their careers as sumo wrestlers in 1975 and 1978, respectively, Terao decided only after the untimely death of his mother in May 1979 to try his luck in sumo wrestling and made his debut in July of that year. In memory of his mother, he chose her maiden name Terao as his battle name.

This was followed by over 23 years as an active wrestler. When he joined the Juryo Division in July 1984, he briefly changed his name to “Genjiyama”, but soon resumed his usual Shikona . Most of the time Terao fought in the Makuuchi division, 90 of which were consecutive tournaments in this class - only Takamiyama and Kaiō managed more. That streak ended in 1997 when he broke his toe and was temporarily relegated. He had long before, between 1989 and 1991, when he was in the eight tournaments long time its strongest sanyaku could remain -Rängen. However, he was able to prevail against top fighters even later and defeated Takanohana at the age of 36 . In 2001 Terao had to relegate to the juryo again, and in late 2002 he decided to retire from the sport. At this point he was only placed on Juryo 11 East.

As an active fighter, Terao was considered a heartthrob. In fact, compared to his colleagues, he was almost a slim figure. Accordingly, he could not get too involved in hand-to-hand combat, in which heavier fighters have an advantage. Terao, on the other hand, used his speed advantage in tsuppari punching techniques and pushing techniques ( tsuki / oshi ). In his active time he achieved seven special prizes and also seven Kinboshi , i.e. H. Wins than maegashira over a yokozuna . Against the grandmaster Ōnokuni he even won 6 out of 14 matches.

After Terao had finished his wrestling career, he first worked for his brother Sakahoko, who now ran the Izutsu-beya. In January 2004 he founded his own wrestling stable, the Shikoroyama-beya. A well-known wrestler from this school is Homasho Yosuke .

Web links

• Info page of the Japanese Sumo Association