Hōmashō Noriyuki

Hōmashō Noriyuki (born April 16, 1981 as Yōsuke Yamamoto in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan), is a former sumo wrestler.

He turned professional in March 2004 and reached the top makuuchi division in May 2006 as the first sekitori from Shikoroyama stable, without any losing scores on his record.

He took his first make-koshi or losing score in his top division debut in May 2006, but an exceptional result of 12-3 in November of that year, in which he was runner-up, gained him two prizes.

He only managed a 7-8 score there and so slipped down the rankings slightly, but he produced a strong 11-4 record from maegashira 5 in March 2007, which earned him his second Technique prize.

Hōmashō suffered his first big setback in the May 2007 tournament, dropping his last four matches (all against maegashira ranked wrestlers) to finish with a poor 5-10 record.

He returned to maegashira 1 in September and recorded eight wins, but again was not promoted to the san'yaku ranks, instead being moved from the west to the east side of the banzuke.

At the end of 2007 he dropped 10 kilos in weight, due to the effects of medication for high cholesterol, and he turned in a poor 4-11 score in January 2008, sliding to maegashira 13 for the March 2008 tournament.

He had climbed to maegashira 2 by September 2008 but was unable to compete in that tournament due to a wrist injury, the first time in his career that he has missed any bouts.

He was one of seven wrestlers who NHK commentator Shuhei Nagao (the former Mainoumi) in 2008 called the "Seven Samurai" and identified as "holding the key" to a Japanese resurgence in sumo, which was dominated by foreigners in the top ranks.

Hōmashō was in better condition for the January 2009 tournament and from the very bottom maegashira 16 rank he scored eleven wins and won the Fighting Spirit Prize.

In the following tournament in March he won nine bouts in a row from 2-3, finishing as a runner-up with another 11-4 score and winning his second successive Fighting Spirit Prize, and third overall.

[citation needed] He made a strong comeback in July, winning his first ten bouts and finishing joint runner-up alongside Aran and Kakuryū on 11-4.

[7][2] He put on his mawashi again in February 2016 when he took part in an exhibition bout against Furiwake-oyakata (the former Takamisakari) in the 40th Fuji TV Grand Sumo Tournament held at the Kokugikan.