Aobajō Yukio

{{Short description|Japanese sumo wrestler}} {{hatnote|In this Japanese shikona name, the surname is Aobajō.}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}} {{Infobox sumo wrestler | native_name = 青葉城幸雄 | name = Aobajō Yukio | image = File:横綱審議委員会ー１ (cropped).JPG | caption = Aobajō in December 2011 | birth_name = Shōji Yukio | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1948|11|14}} | birth_place = Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan | height = {{height|meters=1.81}} | weight = {{convert|152|kg|lb st|abbr=on}} | heya = Nishonoseki, Oshiogawa | rank = | record = 789-842-0 | debut = March 1964 | highestrank = Sekiwake (July 1983) | retireddate = July 1986 | eldername = Shiranui | yushos = 1 (Jūryō)<br/>1 (Makushita) | prizes = Fighting Spirit (1) | goldstars = 1 (Kitanoumi) | update = June 2020 }} {{nihongo|'''Aobajō Yukio'''|青葉城幸雄||born 14 November 1948 as {{nihongo|'''Yukio Shōji'''|庄司幸雄}}|lead=yes}} is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. He did not miss a single bout in his 22-year professional career, and held the record for the most consecutive matches fought, at 1,630, until September 10, 2024, when Tamawashi Ichirō broke the record with 1,631 consecutive bouts.<ref name="kyodo100924">{{cite web |date=10 September 2024 |title=Sumo: Iron man Tamawashi sets record for most consecutive bouts |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/09/e590fc9c542f-sumo-iron-man-tamawashi-sets-record-for-most-consecutive-bouts.html |access-date=10 September 2024 |publisher=Kyodo}}</ref> After his retirement from active competition, he served as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association and worked as a coach.

==Career== He made his debut in March 1964, joining Nishonoseki stable. He reached the top ''makuuchi'' division for the first time in January 1975. In only his fourth top division tournament, he finished as a runner-up, won a ''sanshō'' (for Fighting Spirit), and earned a ''kinboshi'' for defeating a ''yokozuna''. Although he never achieved any of those things again, he fought in the top division for a total of 62 tournaments. He made his ''san'yaku'' debut in September 1975 at ''komusubi'' and in October of that year he followed the former ''ōzeki'' Daikirin to the newly established Oshiogawa stable.<ref name="Sharnoff">{{Cite book |author=Sharnoff, Lora |title=Grand Sumo|publisher=Weatherhill |year=1993|pages=197|isbn=0-8348-0283-X}}</ref> He dropped into the ''jūryō'' division in 1981, but fought his way back, and an 8-7 score at ''maegashira'' 1 in May 1983 took him to his highest rank of ''sekiwake'', which he held for just one tournament. This was his second and final appearance in the ''san'yaku'' ranks, coming 47 tournaments after his first—the longest such gap since the six tournaments per year schedule began in 1958. It also took him 116 tournaments from his professional debut to reach the rank of ''sekiwake'', which is the slowest ever. In 1985, he surpassed Fujizakura's record of 1,543 consecutive career appearances. When he retired in July 1986—having not missed any matches since his debut—he had set a new record of 1,630 consecutive bouts. He was nearly 38 years old, having been an active wrestler for over 22 years.

==Retirement from sumo== After retirement from active competition, he became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association (at Deputy Director level) under the name Shiranui Oyakata.<ref>{{cite web|title=Who's who: Oyakata (coaches) |publisher=Japan Sumo Association |url=http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_meikan/kyokai_in/oyakata/oyakata.php |accessdate=25 February 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202103416/http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_meikan/kyokai_in/oyakata/oyakata.php |archivedate=2 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He later on coached at the Oshiogawa and Oguruma stables and reached the Sumo Association's mandatory retirement age of 65 in November 2013.<ref>{{cite news|script-title=ja:定年３親方が記者会見、思い出しみじみ|url=http://www.nikkansports.com/sports/sumo/news/f-sp-tp3-20131122-1221666.html|accessdate=4 December 2013|newspaper=Nikkan Sports|date=22 November 2013|language=Japanese}}</ref>

==Fighting style== Aobajo was a ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler, preferring a ''hidari-yotsu'', or right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent's ''mawashi''. His most common winning ''kimarite'' was ''yori-kiri'' (force out), though he also regularly used ''tsuri-dashi'' (the lift out) and ''sukuinage'' (the scoop throw).

==Career record== {{Sumo record box start|Aobajō Yukio<ref>{{cite web | author= | title=Aobajō Yukio Rikishi Information | publisher=Sumo Reference | url=http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=4102 | date= | accessdate=2012-08-17}}</ref>}} {{Sumo record year start|1964}} {{Basho}} {{Basho|MAEZUMOU}} {{Basho|jk|24|e|3|4}} {{Basho|jo|131|e|5|2}} {{Basho|jo|74|w|3|4}} {{Basho|jo|84|e|5|2}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1965}} {{Basho|jo|33|w|2|5}} {{Basho|jo|65|e|4|3}} {{Basho|jo|35|w|1|6}} {{Basho|jo|70|e|2|5}} {{Basho|jo|87|w|4|3}} {{Basho|jo|46|w|3|4}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1966}} {{Basho|jo|65|e|5|2}} {{Basho|jo|25|e|6|1}} {{Basho|sa|71|w|5|2}} {{Basho|sa|29|w|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|10|e|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|89|w|3|4}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1967}} {{Basho|ma|98|w|3|4}} {{Basho|sa|7|w|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|39|w|4|3}} {{Basho|sa|22|w|3|4}} {{Basho|sa|30|w|5|2}} {{Basho|sa|6|w|4|3}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1968}} {{Basho|ma|55|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|44|e|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|52|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|39|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|26|w|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|31|e|4|3}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1969}} {{Basho|ma|25|w|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|31|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|25|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|22|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|10|e|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|8|e|4|3}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1970}} {{Basho|ma|7|e|2|5}} {{Basho|ma|15|w|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|20|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|15|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|7|e|3|4}} {{Basho|ma|12|e|6|1|P<br>Champion}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1971}} {{Basho|ma|4|e|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|2|w|5|2}} {{Basho|j|12|w|8|7}} {{Basho|j|9|w|8|7}} {{Basho|j|8|e|7|8}} {{Basho|j|9|w|7|8}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1972}} {{Basho|j|10|w|9|6}} {{Basho|j|4|e|8|7}} {{Basho|j|2|w|5|10}} {{Basho|j|7|e|6|9}} {{Basho|j|9|e|7|8}} {{Basho|j|10|e|9|6}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1973}} {{Basho|j|4|w|3|12}} {{Basho|j|13|w|2|13}} {{Basho|ma|10|e|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|9|e|5|2}} {{Basho|ma|5|w|4|3}} {{Basho|ma|3|e|4|3}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1974}} {{Basho|ma|1|e|5|2}} {{Basho|j|12|w|9|6}} {{Basho|j|7|e|8|7}} {{Basho|j|5|w|7|8}} {{Basho|j|6|w|8|7}} {{Basho|j|3|e|10|5|P}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1975}} {{Basho|m|11|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|10|e|8|7}} {{Basho|m|7|e|8|7}} {{Basho|m|5|e|12|3||j|f|*}} {{Basho|k|1|e|6|9}} {{Basho|m|3|e|6|9}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1976}} {{Basho|m|5|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|2|w|6|9}} {{Basho|m|5|e|9|6}} {{Basho|m|1|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|1|e|3|12}} {{Basho|m|8|e|8|7}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1977}} {{Basho|m|5|e|6|9}} {{Basho|m|8|w|9|6}} {{Basho|m|2|w|7|8}} {{Basho|m|3|w|6|9}} {{Basho|m|7|e|7|8}} {{Basho|m|8|e|7|8}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1978}} {{Basho|m|9|e|8|7}} {{Basho|m|5|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|3|e|3|12}} {{Basho|m|12|w|9|6}} {{Basho|m|6|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|5|e|6|9}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1979}} {{Basho|m|8|w|9|6}} {{Basho|m|2|w|3|12}} {{Basho|m|9|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|6|8|6|9}} {{Basho|m|11|e|10|5}} {{Basho|m|3|w|5|10}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1980}} {{Basho|m|7|w|6|9}} {{Basho|m|12|e|9|6}} {{Basho|m|7|w|4|11}} {{Basho|m|13|e|8|7}} {{Basho|m|11|e|4|11}} {{Basho|j|4|w|8|7}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1981}} {{Basho|j|2|e|7|8}} {{Basho|j|2|w|6|9}} {{Basho|j|6|w|8|7}} {{Basho|j|2|w|10|5<br>Champion}} {{Basho|m|11|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|7|w|7|8}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1982}} {{Basho|m|8|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|3|w|7|8}} {{Basho|m|5|e|7|8}} {{Basho|m|6|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|3|e|4|11}} {{Basho|m|10|e|9|6}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1983}} {{Basho|m|4|w|6|9}} {{Basho|m|8|e|8|7}} {{Basho|m|1|w|8|7}} {{Basho|s|1|w|4|11}} {{Basho|m|5|e|7|8}} {{Basho|m|6|e|8|7}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1984}} {{Basho|m|2|e|6|9}} {{Basho|m|3|w|6|9}} {{Basho|m|6|w|7|8}} {{Basho|m|9|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|5|e|4|11}} {{Basho|m|11|w|10|5}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1985}} {{Basho|m|3|e|6|9}} {{Basho|m|5|w|6|9}} {{Basho|m|9|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|5|e|5|10}} {{Basho|m|11|w|8|7}} {{Basho|m|6|w|6|9}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record year start|1986}} {{Basho|m|12|e|4|11}} {{Basho|j|4|e|8|7}} {{Basho|j|2|e|4|11}} {{Basho|INTAI|rank=j|r-no=10|tozai=w|win=4|loss=8}} {{Basho}} {{Basho}} {{Sumo record year end}} {{Sumo record box end}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aobajo, Yukio}} Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese sumo wrestlers Category:Sportspeople from Sendai Category:Sumo wrestlers from Miyagi Prefecture Category:Sekiwake Category:20th-century Japanese sportsmen