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Toyozakura Toshiaki (born March 12, 1974 as Toshiaki Mukō) is a former sumo wrestler from Hiroshima, Japan. He made his debut in 1989, and after many years in the lower ranks he reached the top division for the first time in 2003. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 5. He was a runner-up in one tournament and earned one special prize for Fighting Spirit. He is the younger brother of Kitazakura. He was forced to retire in April 2011 after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association found him guilty of match-fixing. ==Career== Toyozakura's father was also a sumo wrestler, who fought under the same ''shikona'' or sumo name, but he never climbed higher than the fourth ''sandanme'' division. He encouraged his son to join a different stable than Kitakazura, so Toyozakura joined Tatsutagawa stable. This stable folded in 2000 upon the stablemaster's retirement and Toyozakura moved to Michinoku stable. He made his professional debut in March 1989. He first reached elite ''sekitori'' status in September 1998 upon promotion to the second ''jūryō'' division but he could not maintain that rank. It took him another five years to reach the top division, which he finally achieved in November 2003 after re-entering the second division in September 2002. The 88 tournaments it took him to get there is the fifth slowest ever - even longer than Kitazakura, who took 86 tournaments to reach ''makuuchi'' (in 2001). Though Toyozakura is lesser known than his brother Kitazakura, he spent 17 tournaments in the top ''makuuchi'' division, which was five more than his brother, and he also reached a higher rank, ''maegashira'' 5. He achieved this after a strong 12-3 record in July 2004, where he finished runner-up to ''Yokozuna'' Asashōryū, winning the Fighting Spirit prize. He peaked with this performance however, as he only managed a majority of wins against losses on two further occasions in ''makuuchi'', and spent more time back in ''jūryō'' than in the top division. In May 2008 it emerged that the previous January Toyozakura had beaten a junior wrestler in his stable up to ten times with a ladle, so badly that he required eight stitches. Coming in the wake of the death of trainee Takeshi Saito, he was severely criticised for such actions and issued an apology. Both he and his stablemaster Michinoku Oyakata were docked 30 percent of their salary by the Japan Sumo Association for three months. His 10-5 performance at the rank of ''jūryō'' 4 in January 2009 was enough for a surprise return to the top division for the first time in over two years at ''maegashira'' 16. However, he could win only five bouts in the March 2009 tournament. Following the suspension and subsequent demotion of six wrestlers to the ''jūryō'' division in September 2010, he returned to ''makuuchi'' once again at the age of 36 despite only barely making his majority of wins at the rank of ''jūryō'' 11 in the July tournament. His tenth promotion to the top division for the January 2011 tournament put him in fourth place on the all-time list behind Oshio, Onishiki and Otsukasa for most promotions to ''makuuchi''. Toyozakura was one of 23 wrestlers found guilty of fixing the result of bouts after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association, and he was forced to retire in April 2011. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Toyozakura Toshiaki」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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