Takamiyama Daigorō (髙見山 大五郎, born 16 June 1944 as Jesse James Wailani Kuhaulua) is an American-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler.
Due to his impressive height and weight of 6 foot 2 inches (189 cm) and 280 pounds (127 kg), he was recruited as a tackle for the Henry Perrine Baldwin High School football team.
His football coach noticed that he had weak legs and hips, and recommended that he train his lower body through sumo, a sport popular among the local Japanese-American community.
However, Takamiyama still holds the record for the most consecutive bouts in the top division (1231), as he did not miss a match from his debut until he was forced to withdraw from the September 1981 tournament because of a training injury.
[1] He won a total of twelve kinboshi (gold stars awarded for maegashira wins against a yokozuna), a record which stood until Akinoshima surpassed it in the 1990s.
A congratulatory letter from US President Richard Nixon was read out by the US Ambassador to Japan at the presentation ceremony, marking the first time English had been officially spoken on the dohyō.
Due to his exceptionally large size – he weighed over 200 kg as his peak – and trademark sideburns and bright orange mawashi, Takamiyama was an instantly recognisable figure to the Japanese public, even amongst those who did not regularly follow sumo.
His great fighting spirit, and his determination to never miss a bout no matter what injuries he might be carrying – a Japanese character trait known as gaman – were much admired.
Takamiyama's goal had always been to fight until the age of forty,[1] but a serious elbow injury sustained in November 1983 caused him to fall to jūryō, and in May 1984, facing certain demotion to the third makushita division, he announced his retirement after twenty years in sumo.
One of Azumazeki's stated goals after this was to coach a Japanese wrestler to the top division, and this was achieved in July 2000 when the popular Takamisakari made his makuuchi debut.
He was later joined by Ushiomaru, who in 2009 took over the running of the stable when Azumazeki reached the Sumo Association's mandatory retirement age of sixty-five.