Takatoriki, took the Haru Basho yusho with a 13-2 record. An ecstatic Taiho termed it a happier moment for him than any of his own 32 yusho.

The Future...?

Asashoryu, the first dai-yokozuna of the new decade, has been actively seeking Taiho's advice in recent months, perhaps as a way of dealing with his new-found status, and in a desire to be seen as truly worthy of the title. It appears to be working, as Asashoryu has shown considerable maturation in that time, much to Taiho's satisfaction.

Still, Taiho has one task yet incomplete. Though perhaps the greatest of the yokozuna, he has yet to produce a true heir to those achievements, something he has longed to do for many years, despite raising 13 sekitori. His best chance lies with Roho, a powerful young Russian/North Ossetian rikishi he brought in and raised to the level of maegashira before turning Taiho-beya over to Odake Oyakata (former sekiwake Takatoriki). Taiho has stayed on to advise Roho, and

Home Next

Losing by yoritaoshi, he felt he had reached his limit. He then announced his retirement at a press conference attended by more than 200 reporters. Taiho was only 30 years old. Upon retirement, he assumed "Ichidai Toshiyori (One-Generation Elder)" status. When he achieved his 30th yusho, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai granted him this special honor in recognition of his extraordinary achievements. This status allowed him to keep his shikona as his elder name, apart from the existing 105 elder names that retiring rikishi must otherwise acquire if they want to stay with the Kyokai upon quitting the dohyo. The name would, however, end with him and could not be passed down as are the traditional 105 names.

Anticipating a fruitful retirement, he opened his own Taiho-beya in December, and began recruiting rikishi. He later became assistant head of the Judging Division in 1976. But fate had something different in store. After just five years with his heya, the high blood pressure that had plagued him for years, even

hospitalizing him during the 1964 Nagoya Basho, would come back to haunt him. In February 1977, he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed.

Gradually, he regained a fair amount of movement in his body, though was obviously not as mobile before. He kept fighting and managed to recover enough to serve a 14-year stint in charge of the Nagoya Basho from 1980 to 1994, followed by two years as head of the Kyokai's in-house educational institute. There were limitations, though. In 2000, when the time came for his Kanreki Dohyo-iri - a special dohyo-iri performed in a red tsuna by retired yokozuna to mark their 60th birthday - he was unable to rise to the task, so pictures were taken in each of the main poses instead. Since then, he has come to occasionally use a wheelchair, but continues to do his best to retain body strength. He also received a happy surprise in March 2000, when his son-in-law, maegashira 14,