Akinoshima
| Akinoshima Katsumi | |
|---|---|
| 安芸乃島 勝巳 | |
 |
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| Personal information | |
| Born | Katsumi Yamanaka March 16, 1967 Hiroshima, Japan |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 158 kg (348 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Futagoyama |
| Record | 822-757-78 |
| Debut | March, 1982 |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (May, 1989) |
| Retired | May, 2003 |
| Championships | 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Jonidan) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (7) Fighting Spirit (8) Technique (4) |
| Gold Stars | 16 Chiyonofuji (4) Hokutoumi (4) Asahifuji (4) Ōnokuni (2) Akebono Musashimaru |
| * Up to date as of July 2007. | |
Akinoshima Katsumi (born 16 March 1967 as Katsumi Yamanaka) is a former sumo wrestler from Akitsu, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1982, and after reaching the top division in 1988 he remained there for 15 years. His highest rank was sekiwake. He was known as the "giant killer" having defeated more yokozuna than any other untitled wrestler (maegashira) in the history of sumo, earning himself 16 gold stars or kinboshi over his career, four more than his nearest kinboshi earning rivals, Takamiyama and . He also has received 19 performance prizes (sanshō), another record in sumo history.
Akinoshima was a member of Futagoyama stable and was a stablemate of the wrestling brothers Takanohana II and Wakanohana III during their rise in sumo and subsequent yokozuna reigns. Akinoshima was a wrestler always capable of surprise wins, but lacked consistency, spending most of his career as a maegashira. After his retirement in 2003 he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and in 2009 he became head coach of the Takadagawa stable.
Though he played judo in his junior high school years, Yamanaka had dreamed from a very young age of becoming a sumo wrestler, and eventually was able to enter a sumo competition while still in junior high school. Sometime later, he had a chance meeting with then ōzeki Takanohana I on one of the ōzeki's visits to Hiroshima. Yamanaka was invited to join Takanohana's stable, Futagoyama-beya (then known as Fujishima-beya). Making his professional debut in March 1982, he reached the third highest makushita division in March 1985. After winning the makushita championship with a perfect 7-0 record in May 1987 he made his second division jūryō debut that July, and entered the top division makuuchi in March 1988, just days shy of his 20th birthday.
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