Dejima Takeharu
| Dejima Takeharu | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Height | 180.0cm (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 160.0kg (352lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Musashigawa |
| Current rank | Maegashira 8 |
| Record | 512-386-98 |
| Debut | March 1996 |
| Highest rank | Ōzeki (September, 1999) |
| Championships | 1(Makuuchi) 1(Juryo) 1(Makushita) |
| Special Prizes | Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (4) Technique (3) |
| Gold Stars | 6 (Akebono (2), Takanohana (2), Wakanohana, Asashōryū) |
| * Up to date as of May 2007. | |
Dejima Takeharu (出島 武春, born March 21, 1974) is a sumo wrestler from Ishikawa, Japan. His highest rank has been ōzeki.
Dejima joined professional sumo in March 1996 at the age of 22. He joined Musashigawa stable, home to then ōzeki Musashimaru. Having been an amateur champion at Tokyo University, he was allowed to make his debut in the third makushita division. In January 1997 he captured the tournament championship in the second jūryō division and was promoted to the top makuuchi division. He scored an impressive 11 wins in his makuuchi debut, and was awarded two special prizes. He made his sanyaku debut at sekiwake in November 1997 but injured himself and missed the next two tournaments. However he made a full recovery and in July 1999 he won his first top division title, defeating yokozuna Akebono in a playoff. This was enough to earn him promotion to ōzeki. His stablemates Musōyama and Miyabiyama also made ōzeki, in March and May 2000. With Musashimaru at yokozuna, Dejima had three of his colleagues in the top two ranks, an advantage as sumo wrestlers never fight members of their own stables except in playoffs.
Dejima held onto his ōzeki rank for two years, but in July 2001 he was forced to pull out of the tournament with only three wins. As he had also made a losing score in May, he was demoted from ōzeki. Subsequent injuries prevented Dejima from making any sustained attempt to regain ōzeki status, and he has been in the maegashira ranks for the last three years. He is nearing the end of his career but is still capable of beating anyone on his day, as he proved in January 2007 by defeating yokozuna Asashōryū, the only wrestler to do so in that tournament. In May he produced a strong 12-3 record, his highest score in a tournament since his title win, and was awarded his fourth fighting spirit prize.
External links
- Sumo Association Biography (English) (Japanese)
- Official profile
- Dejima's basho results
- complete biography and basho results (Japanese)