Tamanofuji
| Tamanofuji Shigeru | |
|---|---|
| 玉ノ富士茂 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Shigeru Akutsu November 24, 1949 Tochigi, Japan |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 125 kg (276 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Kataonami |
| Record | 431-420-23 |
| Debut | May, 1967 |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (March, 1978) |
| Retired | November, 1981 |
| Championships | 1 (Jonokuchi) 1 (Jonidan) |
| Special Prizes | Fighting Spirit (2) Outstanding Performance (1) |
| Gold Stars | 2 (Kitanoumi, Mienoumi) |
| * Up to date as of Mar 2010. | |
Tamanofuji Shigeru (玉ノ富士茂, born 24 November 1949 as Shigeru Akutsu) is a former sumo wrestler from , , , Japan.
He played basketball in high school. He began his career in May 1967, joining Kataonami stable. However, he ran away from the stable shortly after fighting his first tournament in the lowest jonokuchi division, and joined the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. After being discharged, he returned to sumo in September 1970, winning two straight tournaments (or yūshō) in the jonokuchi and jonidan division. He reached sekitori status in November 1973 upon promotion to the jūryō division. In September 1974 he reached the top makuuchi division. In January 1978 he scored 11 wins against 4 losses at the rank of komusubi, including wins over all four ōzeki. As a result, he was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize and promotion to sekiwake for the following tournament. He held the rank a further five times, and stayed in the san'yaku ranks for eight consecutive tournaments. In September 1979 he defeated the eventual tournament winner, yokozuna Kitanoumi to earn his first kinboshi (he had defeated yokozuna Wajima on two previous occasions but had been ranked in san'yaku so was not eligible for a kinboshi). The victory was remarkable as Tamanofuji had lost every one of his previous 19 matches with Kitanoumi. He was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize. He defeated Kitanoumi again in the next tournament in November 1979, but did not get a kinboshi as he was ranked as a komusubi (he also defeated Wajima for the third time in this tournament, and was awarded his second Fighting Spirit prize). However, he did pick up another kinboshi in November 1980 with a win over Mienoumi. In 1981 he fell back to the jūryō division and he retired in November of that year.
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