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JAPAN SPORTS NOTEBOOK | Sumo's Takarafuji, Known for His Durability, Retires at 38
Wrestler Takarafuji participated in 78 sumo tournaments in the top division. His overall total of 1,398 consecutive bouts is the sixth-longest in history.
Sumo wrestler Takarafuji, who never missed a match in his professional career, announced his retirement on Thursday, October 2.
The 38-year-old, whose given name is Daisuke Sugiyama, competed for the final time at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament, where he compiled a 5-10 record in the second-tier juryo division. His final match was on September 28 at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
"I did everything I could, [and] I feel refreshed," Takarafuji told a news conference at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, according to Sports Nippon.
He then said, "I gave it my all, so I have no regrets."
The Aomori Prefecture native added, "My body has reached its limit. Injuries increased year by year, and I could no longer wrestle my own sumo. I thought it best to quit decisively here."
Success Early in His Career
An Isegahama stable wrestler, Takarafuji began his pro sumo career in January 2009. He made his makuuchi division debut in July 2011 and maintained his place in the top division for more than a decade.
In 2013, he had his most successful showing at March's Spring Basho, winning 11 of 15 bouts as a 10th-ranked maegashira. He finished tied for second behind legendary yokozuna Hakuho, who had a 15-0 record.
At the 2016 Nagoya Basho, in July, Takarafuji won the Fighting Spirit Prize as a second-ranked maegashira with a 10-5 record. As a result, he earned promotion to sekiwake, sumo's third-highest rank for the next tournament.
It was a short-lived experience at sekiwake ― one tournament. He went 4-11 in the 2016 Autumn Basho and was back as a maegashira for the year's final tourney that November.
Takarafuji was demoted to the juryo division before the 2024 Spring Basho, then went 8-7 in Osaka to secure promotion back to the makuuchi division.
In the first two tourneys in 2025, he had losing records as a rank-and-file wrestler in the top flight. After demotion, he went 5-10, 4-11 and 5-10 in the next three and called it a career.
Takarafuji Proud of His Work Ethic
The 186-cm, 168-kg wrestler appeared in 1,398 matches during his career. He had an overall record of 678 wins and 720 defeats. In the makuuchi division, he compiled a 544-626 record.
Wins and losses didn't define his career, though.
For Takarafuji, durability was the hallmark of his career.
Before his demotion in 2024, Takarafuji had 990 consecutive makuuchi division matches, which is seventh on the all-time list. And his overall record of 1,398 consecutive matches is seventh-longest in history.
At the retirement press conference, Takarafuji described his never-wavering commitment to his career.
"I didn't want to take a break," he said, according to Sports Nippon. "If I could wrestle, I wanted to keep doing it forever. For me, there was no such thing as a break."
What's Next for Takarafuji?
Now that he's retired as a wrestler, Takarafuji, a married father of three children, will start working as an oyakata, or sumo elder, known as Kiriyama.
At Isegahama stable in Tokyo, he'll work under former Mongolian-born yokozuna Terunofuji, who himself retired in January 2025 and became the new stablemaster.
"I want to teach what I've learned over 16 and a half years while also passing on the traditions of Isegahama stable," Takarafuji was quoted as saying by Sports Nippon.
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Baseball
Tigers' Sato Ends Regular Season on a High Note
Hanshin Tigers third baseman Teruaki Sato smacked a two-run home run off Tokyo Yakult Swallows starter Koyo Aoyagi in the fifth inning on Thursday, October 1.
It was Sato's 40th homer of the season.
The Tigers triumphed 6-2 at Koshien Stadium in their final game of the regular season.
Sato, 26, finished the season as NPB's leader in homers (40) and RBIs (102), both career-high totals. He also had his highest batting average (.277) and best slugging percentage (.579) in the fifth season of his pro career.
Tigers manager Kyuji Fujikawa spoke about Sato's impressive offensive statistics this season a day before the team's season finale. The skipper's comments underscored the team's focus on achieving success as a group rather than individual glory. He also offered advice to Sato.
"Of course, hitting number 40 would be great if he can do it," Fujikawa was quoted as saying by Sports Nippon on Wednesday. "If not, it'll be fuel for next year. Even if you hit 50, you probably won't be satisfied. For this year, just focus on your current numbers. There's no goal. I don't want you thinking of such small things as a goal."
Hanshin clinched the Central League pennant on September 7. The Tigers completed the season with a spectacular 85-54-4 record.
A Look Ahead to NPB's Playoffs
The Central League Climax Series First Stage pits the second-place and reigning Japan Series champion Yokohama DeNA BayStars against the third-place Yomiuri Giants, starting on October 11 at Yokohama Stadium.
As the winner of the pennant, Hanshin receives an automatic bye into the CL Climax Series Final Stage against the Yokohama-Yomiuri winner.
In the Pacific League Climax Series, the second-place Hokkaido Nipponham Fighters take on the Orix Buffaloes in the first round, also starting on October 11. The pennant-winning Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks face the Hokkaido-Orix winner in the final stage.
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Ohtani, Yamamoto Help Dodgers Advance to NLDS
The reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers swept the visiting Cincinnati Reds in a best-of-three National League Wild Card Series, winning 10-5 on Tuesday, September 30 and 8-4 on Wednesday, October 1.
In the series opener, Shohei Ohtani hit a pair of home runs: a leadoff blast in the first inning and a two-run shot in the sixth inning.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named the NL Pitcher of the Month for September, when he went 1-0 with a 0.67 ERA in four starts. He allowed seven hits in 27 innings and struck out 34.
Yamamoto continued his stellar mound work in his first postseason start of 2025. In Game 2, he held the Reds to four hits and two runs (both unearned) in 6⅔ innings. He walked two and fanned nine.
The Dodgers used four relievers to complete their victory. Roki Sasaki pitched a scoreless ninth and struck out two.
Ohtani was 1-for-4 with an RBI in Game 2 and scored a run.
Following their sweep of the Reds, Los Angeles faced the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of a National League Division Series (best-of-five format) on Saturday night, October 4 (Sunday morning JST).
Elsewhere, the Chicago Cubs eliminated the San Diego Padres in Game 3, winning 3-1. Yu Darvish took the loss in the series finale.
As a result, Seiya Suzuki, Shota Imanaga and their Cubs teammates move on to face the NL Central Division champion Milwaukee Brewers in the other NLDS.
Suzuki hit .273 with a homer and two doubles against the Padres.
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Boxing
Five-Division Champ Fujioka on IBHOF Ballot
The International Boxing Hall of Fame, which is located in Canastota (upstate), New York, has released ballots for the 2026 Hall of Fame class to voters worldwide.
An announcement was made on the organization's website on Wednesday, October 1.
Candidates are listed on ballots in the following categories: men's modern, women's modern, "early era" old timer (no later than 1942), non-participation and observer.
Naoko Fujioka, who retired in 2022, is among the three nominees on the women's modern ballot. The Miyagi Prefecture native became Japan's first five-division world champion, winning title belts at strawweight, super flyweight, bantamweight, light flyweight and flyweight.
Fujioka had a 19-3-1 career record with seven knockouts.
"The annual ballot mailing is a special time for the sport of boxing," Edward Brophy, executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, said in a news release. "There is tremendous anticipation as the Hall of Fame and the worldwide boxing community anxiously await the results to determine who will join the list of boxing immortals."
Voting results are scheduled to be unveiled in early December.
The Hall of Fame induction weekend is June 11-14, 2026.
Soccer
Sanfrecce Rally Past Zelvia in J.League Showdown
Trailing for most of the second half, the J.League's Sanfrecce Hiroshima tied it at 1-1 on a Jusung Kim goal in the 88th minute on Saturday afternoon, October 4 against visiting FC Machida Zelvia.
Tolgay Arslan, who entered the match in the 61st minute, scored the match-deciding goal in second-half injury time as Sanfrecce earned a 2-1 victory at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima.
Yuki Soma had given Zelvia a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute.
With the win, Sanfrecce (17-7-9, 58 points) climbed past Zelvia and took over fifth place in the J.League standings. At the same time, Zelvia (16-7-10, 55 points) slipped to sixth place.
Michael Skibbe, Sanfrecce's German manager, described it as a hard-fought triumph.
"When facing a physically strong opponent like Machida, creating numerous scoring chances is difficult," Skibbe told reporters. "I believe it was a match where we had to fight in every situation.
"After conceding the opening goal, we were able to apply pressure from the front," he added. "While it didn't lead to clear-cut chances, we won many set pieces and scored from one of those."
Sanfrecce's determination paid off, the manager said.
"I think it was fortunate we managed to overturn the deficit late," Skibbe commented. "But I believe we wouldn't have achieved this kind of win if we hadn't fought relentlessly until the very end, refusing to give up on victory."
Basketball
Daily Habits Bolster Brex's Recipe for Success
Since October 2023, the Utsunomiya Brex have played 121 regular-season games, and they've won 100 of 'em.
The reigning B.League champions opened their 2025-26 campaign with an 81-56 road victory over the Alvark Tokyo on Friday, October 3.
After the game, Brex head coach Zico Coronel answered a reporter's question about the excitement and mindset of playing at the brand-new Toyota Arena Tokyo.
His response encapsulated the franchise's character.
"From a business standpoint, they built this amazing facility," the New Zealander said at a post-game news conference.
Coronel insisted his team wasn't distracted by the glitz on display for the opener.
"From a basketball standpoint, it's more about who you are," the coach said, adding, "it doesn't matter where you are [playing]."
The focus, he said, is to "be great as us."
Great is a word that sums up the Brex for the past few years. They went 51-9 in the 2023-24 campaign under then-head coach Norio Sassa, but lost in the opening round of the playoffs.
For the next season, Kevin Braswell was promoted to head coach and unveiled his blueprint for the team's pursuit of excellence.
Braswell's successor embraced that approach, too, taking over in tragic conditions after he suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized in January 2025. Braswell died following heart surgery at age 46 in February.
Coronel continued to push the players to follow Braswell's example.
"We've got to be better this year," he said of the new season. And, he added, "we try to get better every day."
Those habits, he said, while referencing Braswell, are manifested in the team's attitude. "We don't want to treat anything as a small game," Coronel stated.
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.