Azumafuji Kin'ichi
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東富士 欽壹 Azumafuji Kin'ichi |
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| Personal information | |
| Born |
井上 謹一 (Kinichi Inoue) October 28, 1921 Tokyo, Japan |
| Died | July 31, 1973 (aged 51) |
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 178 kg (392 lb; 28.0 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Takasago |
| Record | 335-137-54-1draws-1hold |
| Debut | January 1936 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (October 1948) |
| Retired | September, 1954 |
| Championships | 6 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) |
| * Up to date as of October 2007. | |
Azumafuji Kin'ichi (東富士 欽壹?, October 28, 1921 - July 31, 1973) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. He was the sport's 40th yokozuna, and later a professional wrestler.
He made professional debut in January 1936, joining Takasago stable. He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in May 1943. On the sixth day of the November 1944 tournament, he defeated yokozuna Futabayama, the last wrestler ever to do so as Futabayama pulled out of the tournament the next day and only fought one more bout before his retirement. Azumafuji was promoted to ōzeki in June 1945 on the strength of two runner-up performances. He won his first top division championship in May 1948, and was promoted to the top yokozuna rank in October of that year after finishing as runner-up. Going against historical trends, he managed to win his debut yokozuna tournament, in January 1949.
On the 12th day of the September 1951 tournament, he recorded an azukari, or hold, a rare result. On that day, he had come down with acute pneumonia but he forced himself to continue in the tournament as he had only one loss. Azumafuji fought with then ōzeki Yoshibayama twice, but the outcome still could not be determined. After the second bout, Azumafuji couldn't stand up any more and conceded defeat, but the gentlemanly Yoshibayama insisted that the fairest result was to declare a hold, which was confirmed by the officials. Azumafuji went on to win the tournament, his fourth championship.
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