Education
He chose to join Tamanoi stable when he graduated high school.
He chose to join Tamanoi stable when he graduated high school.
His highest rank has been maegashira 12. He started sumo in high school, and in his third year contributed to his team taking the championship in a national tournament. Upon joining professional sumo in March 1996, he took the ring name of Yoshiazuma, taking the first character from a benefactor"s name and the second character following the convention of taking the character of azuma from the current and previous stable owners, former Tochiazuma II, and Tochiazuma I. Yoshiazuma"s career started out very successfully and in only his second tournament he almost took the jonidan division championship, losing a three man playoff to Akiyama.
He actually beat Akiyama in the second round, but lost to him in the fourth and final round.
His career after this was lackluster however, and for the next fifteen years he would struggle in the unsalaried ranks, through a series of setbacks, ever so slowly working his way up through the ranks. His 6-9 performance in this tournament should have led to his relegation after only one tournament, but he benefited from the match-fixing scandal of 2011 where many wrestlers were forced to retire.
After the cancelled tournament in March, he was raised to jūryō 13 for the May tournament, to help fill in slots left open by purged wrestlers. This opportunity seemed to spark Yoshiazuma, and after four tournaments, three of which were winning tournaments, he was promoted to the top division for the November 2012 tournament.
This feat took him fifteen years, the third slowest rise to the top division in the history of sumo.
However, he only lasted this one tournament, being relegated after a 3-12 record. He was in the second division for the next nine tournaments and was relegated to makushita for the following July tournament. Yoshiazuma is a solidly yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques.
His favoured grip on his opponent"s mawashi or belt is migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position.
He wins about half of his bouts with a straightforward yori-kiri, or force out. Another kimarite he regularly uses is hataki-komi, the slap down.
In his early years Ishihara was more interested in soccer, and was a member of the kendō team in middle school.