Ōnokuni Yasushi
| Ōnokuni Yasushi | |
|---|---|
| 大乃国 康 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Yasushi Aoki October 9, 1962 Memuro, Hokkaidō, Japan |
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 203 kg (448 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Hanakago, Hanaregoma |
| Record | 560-319-113 |
| Debut | March, 1978 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (September, 1987) |
| Retired | July, 1991 |
| Championships | 2 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (5) Fighting Spirit (2) |
| Gold Stars | 4 Takanosato (2) Kitanoumi Chiyonofuji |
| * Up to date as of January 2007. | |
Ōnokuni Yasushi (大乃国 康, born October 9, 1962 as Yasushi Aoki (青木 康)) is a former sumo wrestler from Hokkaidō, Japan. Making his professional debut in 1978, he reached the top division in 1983. In 1987 he won his first yūshō or tournament championship with a perfect score and became the sport's 62nd yokozuna. However, he was able to win only one more championship before his retirement in 1991. He has remained in sumo as a coach and in 1999 became the head of Shibatayama stable.
Aoki was born in Memuro Town, Kasai District, Tokachi, Hokkaidō, Japan. At school he did judo, but after a sumo tournament in the area, he was recruited to Hanakago stable by wrestler Kaiketsu Masateru and fought his first bout in March 1978 aged 15. When Kaiketsu retired from the ring in 1981 he set up his own stable, Hanaregoma stable, and took Aoki with him.
He reached the second jūryō division in March 1982, and the top makuuchi division a year later in March 1983. He made his san'yaku debut at komusubi just three tournaments later. In November 1983, ranked as maegashira 3, he won his first special prize and three gold stars by defeating all three yokozuna (Kitanoumi, Chiyonofuji and Takanosato). This earned him promotion to sekiwake. The next March, he defeated three yokozuna and three ōzeki and won special prizes for Fighting Spirit and Outstanding Performance. He was runner-up in the July 1985 tournament, recording 12 wins against 3 losses, enough to secure promotion to ōzeki. He was runner-up again in his ōzeki debut, scoring 12-3 once more. His performance over the next few tournaments was good but not spectacular, until in May 1987 he won his first tournament title with a perfect record of 15 wins and no losses, becoming the first man other than Chiyonofuji to win a top division yūshō in the new Ryōgoku Kokugikan. After two runner-up performances in the next two tournaments, in September of that year he was promoted to yokozuna, sumo's highest rank. His three tournament record of 40 wins and just five losses tied with Wakanohana II as the best produced by a candidate for yokozuna promotion.
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