Takayasu Akira

Takayasu Akira (高安 晃, Takayasu Akira, born February 28, 1990 in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, Japan) is a sumo wrestler from Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, Japan. He made his professional debut in 2005, and reached the top makuuchi division in 2011, the first wrestler born in the Heisei era to do so. His highest rank has been komusubi. He has been runner up in one tournament and earned four special prizes, two for Fighting Spirit and two for Outstanding Performance.

Early life and sumo background

Takayasu was born and raised in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki, to a Japanese father and a Filipino mother. He was a center fielder on his junior high school baseball team and through his father's recommendation he joined Naruto stable upon graduating from junior high school.

Career

On his entry to Naruto stable, he was already 180 centimeters tall and weighed 120 kilograms, and consequently had much expectation pinned on him from the start. His first tournament was in March, 2005. He made steady progress through the lower divisions, with only a few losing record or make-koshi tournaments. He won the yūshō or championship in the third makushita division in September, 2010 with a perfect 7–0 record. This propelled him into jūryō division, where along with Masunoyama became one of the first two sekitori to be born in the Heisei era. He decided against adopting a traditional shikona despite reaching the elite and will continue to use his birth name. In his first jūryō tournament in November he almost pulled off a second consecutive championship, losing to Toyohibiki in a playoff after both finished with 11–4 records.