There is a saying in Mongolia, "A strong wrestler [of Mongolian wrestling] definitely has a hero among his ancestors." This is what Mongolians think.
For example, Hakuho's father, a renowned champion in Mongolian wrestling, made a name for himself as the country's first-ever Olympic medalist, winning the silver in the middleweight men's division of freestyle wrestling in the Mexico City Games in 1968.
Likewise, the fathers of Asashoryu and Harumafuji held a rank equivalent to sekiwake in Mongolian wrestling. Kyokushuzan, who blazed a path for Mongolian sumo wrestlers, also has said his grandfather was a renowned wrestler.
Meanwhile, Tamawashi, who clinched his first title at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament this year, is regarded as a wrestler with a unique background. His father is a high school art teacher, and his mother is a university professor. His sister graduated from the University of Tokyo and studied educational sociology at its graduate school.
In autumn 2003, his sister recommended that he try sumo in Japan. At that time, sumo was booming in Mongolia due to Asashoryu's promotion to yokozuna. The then 19-year-old Tamawashi thought, "I'm Mongolian just like him, so there's no reason I can't do it." He made his debut under the Kataonami stable in 2004.
He barely had any experience even in Mongolian wrestling, but he is blessed with a massive frame. He was 187 centimeters tall and weighed 135 kilograms when he entered the stable. Now he is 188 centimeters tall and weighs 172 kilograms.
Due partly to his characteristic of being zealous in practice, he was progressed rapidly thereafter. He was promoted to the juryo division, in which wrestlers can receive a monthly salary, in four years. After four basho in which he won more matches than he lost, he was promoted to the makuuchi division in the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament in September 2008.
Since then, he has spent 10 years working toward finally winning a makuuchi championship. It came when he was 34. He attracts fans with his pushing style of sumo. When he was about 32 years old, he started tapping his potential while maintaining the pushing style.
He also is good at dealing squarely with opponents in bouble-grips -- in which each wrestler grips the other's belt with two hands -- but abandoned this display of dexterity. For that reason, his rank has almost always settled at sekiwake or komusubi, the two ranks below yokozuna and ozeki. In this sense, he is quite an interesting sumo wrestler.
Ahead of the Spring Grand Tournament to be held in March, 22-year-old Takakeisho's prospect of being promoted to ozeki is being talked about a lot among sumo fans, but people also hold high expectations for Tamawashi. I believe he will be attractive as a remarkable wrestler in the first half of this year.
-- Miki is a sumo expert.
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