Atamifuji Sakutarō

Atamifuji Sakutarō (熱海富士 朔太郎), born 3 September 2002 as Sakutarō Takei (武井 朔太郎) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture. He wrestles for the Isegahama stable and made his debut in November 2020. He won the championships in the two lowest divisions of jonokuchi and jonidan in early 2021. In November 2022 he was promoted to makuuchi, becoming one of the fastest in the history of professional sumo to reach the top division. His highest rank has been maegashira 1.

Early life and sumo beginnings
Born in Chiba prefecture, Sakutarō Takei grew up in a single-parent household. He moved to Atami in Shizuoka prefecture in his second year of elementary school. He joined a sumo club in the nearby city of Mishima at the age of six. He joined Nihon University Mishima Junior High School where he was a part of the judo club, before turning to the sumo club during his second year of junior high school. During his high school years, he supported his family by cooking lunch boxes and doing part-time work as a dishwasher. Sakutarō then transferred to Atami Shiritsu Atami Junior High School before finally transferring to Hiryū High School in Numazu where he was an active member of their well known sumo club. Atamifuji stood out as a wrestler who was not exceptional but who showed great passion for training. During his years at Hiryū High, he finished fourth in the 2019 National Athletic Meets. Although he failed to win the tournament, he credited his defeat with giving him the courage to turn pro as he could now compete at the national level. Although anticipating the National High School tournament in the summer of 2020, the tournament was cancelled due to the spread of the covid epidemic, and Sakutarō decided to turn pro upon graduating from high school in November 2020. He joined Isegahama stable because two graduates of Hiryū High School were already wrestling there (including Midorifuji) and the stable offered many advantages in terms of training facilities.

Career
Sakutarō was given the shikona, or ring name, Atamifuji (熱海富士), a combination of "Atami" (熱海) coming from his hometown and "Fuji" (富士) from his stablemaster's ring name Asahifuji (旭富士). While in maezumō, Atamifuji won all three of his matches and entered the January 2021 tournament at the rank of jonokuchi 25. In his professional debut, he won the jonokuchi championship in a playoff. In the following tournament in March he won the jonidan championship with a perfect 7–0 record. He continued to post strong winning records in the lower divisions, breezing through sandanme and reaching the makushita division for the July 2021 tournament. During his first tournament in that division, his hometown of Atami was hit by a massive landslide, making it a particularly emotional tournament for him as he continued to receive messages of support from stricken residents. It took only four tournaments in makushita to Atamifuji to be promoted to the jūryō division.

At the time of his jūryō promotion, Atamifuji had not produced a single losing record and was also the seventh-fastest promotion to jūryō in sumo history (excluding makushita tsukedashi) since 1958, when the six-tournament per-year system was introduced. His promotion also makes him the only sekitori from Atami. At the time of his promotion to sekitori, Atamifuji also received a keshō-mawashi from Hiryū High School.

After suffering his first losing record in his debut tournament as a sekitori in March 2022, Atamifuji would post three straight winning records. In September 2022, Atamifuji earned a promotion to makuuchi, sumo's top division, for the November 2022 tournament with an eighth victory on Day 14 over. It took only 12 tournaments to Atamifuji to reach the top division, which ties him in eighth place for the record of fastest progress to the top division since 1958. However, following poor results in the top division, Atamifuji was demoted to the jūryō division for the January 2023 tournament. At the time of his demotion he received harsh comments from his master and his senior Terunofuji who commented that he "had not yet taken shape" because "he has only risen to the makuuchi ranks on the basis of his qualities alone" and not because of his technique. During the next tournament, in January 2023, Atamifuji had to leave the tournament on Day 11 due to a case of influenza. As his absence was not related to a case of covid, his rank was not protected and Atamifuji was demoted to the rank of jūryō 8. At the May 2023 tournament, Atamifuji was runner-up for the entire competition, beaten on score only by Ochiai and Gōnoyama, the winner of the jūryō tournament. Atamifuji finished the tournament with a score of 13–2 and inflicted his only defeat on Gōnoyama on Day 10. At the July tournament, Atamifuji, then ranked jūryō 1, won an eighth victory over, reinforcing the hypothesis of a repromotion to the makuuchi division. On the subject of this repromotion, he congratulated himself on maintaining his efforts and step through his kimon ('devil's gate'), to secure an eighth victory early in the tournament, in contrast to his previous jūryō tournaments where, after securing seven victories, he would often collapse only to complete a barely achieved kachi-koshi. Atamifuji then went on to win the jūryō tournament, after a playoff victory over Daiamami.

On his return to sumo's top division, Atamifuji, then the division's youngest active competitor at 21, maintained a leading position along Takayasu in the first half of the tournament, obtaining his first kachi-koshi in the top division on day nine, losing only on day five to Tsurugishō. From the tenth day, he became the only leader of the competition having defeated his co-leader and former ōzeki by oshitaoshi. However, Atamifuji lost his lead in the title race by recording two consecutive defeats against sekiwake Daieishō and ōzeki Takakeishō, on days twelve and thirteen respectively. During the latter part of the tournament, however, Atamifuji maintained a winning lead over three other wrestlers (Takakeishō, Daieishō and Hokuseihō). In his final match, he faced former ōzeki Asanoyama, needing to win the match to win the tournament outright and avoid a playoff situation with the other wrestlers having reached 11–4. However, Atamifuji lost the match by yorikiri, eventually taking him into a playoff against Takakeishō. Atamifuji also lost the playoff and missed out on the championship. For leading the championship for most of the tournament, however, Atamifuji received the Fighting Spirit award.

During the November 2023 tournament Atamifuji also found himself in the group of wrestlers leading the tournament, recording five consecutive victories since the first day of the tournament. However, he lost his lead after suffering back to back defeats at the hands of Sakaigawa stablemates Sadanoumi and Hiradoumi, on Day 6 and 7 respectively. Atamifuji bounced back, however, and recorded six consecutive wins from day eight onwards, including a victory over Ōzeki Hōshōryū on the twelfth day of the tournament. With eleven victories to his name, Atamifuji remained at the top of the standings, being equalled on day thirteen only by Ōzeki Kirishima, with the championship victory to be decided on day fourteen, in the match between these two competitors; Atamifuji also competing for the fastest championship win in the history of the sport if he managed to achieve a yūshō in 18 tournaments since his debut. The ōzeki won the match by yorikiri, securing a lead over Atamifuji, who now had to win on the final day and bank on a Kirishima defeat to force a playoff. On the final day, Atamifuji lost his match against Kotonowaka, ending his playoff hopes. For his efforts, however, it was announced that Atamifuji would be the recipient of the sanshō for Fighting Spirit.

At the May 2024 tournament, Atamifuji stood out by inflicting defeat on ōzeki Hōshōryū.

Fighting style
Atamifuji is a wrestler specialized in yotsu-sumo grappling techniques. His preferred grip on his opponent's mawashi, or belt, is migi-yotsu, a right (migi) hand inside grip.

Personal life
Atamifuji is the eldest of two siblings. His younger sister, Hina Takei, is the current captain of the Hiryū High School sumo team. Hina is the first female captain of a club that produced sekitori and is particularly committed to the development of women's sumo.

Atamifuji is known for his demonstrative attitude, frequently smiling in the hanamichi when he wins and showing a sad face when he loses, which makes him popular with fans. On this subject, his coach Tateyama calls him "The Takamisakari of the Reiwa era" (令和の高見盛). During an interview at Okinoumi's retirement ceremony, his senior Terunofuji also dubbed him Kakukai no pudding (角界のプリン), meaning "Kakukai's pudding" referring to "Atami Pudding", a brand that recently sponsored Atamifuji.