Terao Tsunefumi

was a Japanese sumo wrestler. He was born in Tokyo, but brought up in Kajiki, Aira District, Kagoshima, Japan. He fought out of Izutsu stable. The highest rank he reached was sekiwake. Despite his relatively light weight he had an extremely long career, spanning 23 years from 1979 until 2002, and was known as the "iron man" of sumo. After retiring, he was the owner of the Shikoroyama stable until his death in 2023.

Sumo family Terao had a long sumo pedigree. He was the third son of former sekiwake Tsurugamine, and younger brother of (former jūryō) and Sakahoko (former sekiwake). His paternal grandfather was a cousin of Satsumanishiki (former makushita). His father married the adopted daughter of former makushita Kaganishiki, who was adopted by Nishinoumi, the 25th yokozuna. His cousin is Tsurunofuji (former jūryō). Terao and his brothers Kakureizan and Sakahoko together hold various sumo records: they are the first three brothers ever to reach sekitori status; in September 1986 Terao and Sakahoko were the first brothers to win prizes together; He joined Izutsu stable, which was run by his father, alongside his two brothers. He started competing under the name Terao Setsuo (寺尾 節男) after his mother's maiden name Setsuko Terao (寺尾 節子, Terao Setsuko). his total number of makuuchi bouts (1378) is the fifth highest ever. His 860 wins are the tenth highest ever; When he had to sit out 1 day of the March 1997 tournament and the whole May 1997 tournament after breaking his big toe in a bout against Kyokushūzan it ended a run of 1359 bouts without absence, the seventh highest ever. 1063 of these were in makuuchi, the fourth highest ever. His 110 tournaments ranked as a sekitori (in the top two divisions) was an all-time record until it was broken by Kaiō in 2010.

Fighting style Terao was an oshi-sumo specialist, relying on pushing and thrusting techniques, keeping his opponent away from his mawashi. Throughout his career he consistently weighed around , a considerable disadvantage in an era when most of his opponents were over . He compensated by relying on his speed and agility, and was often able to use his quick reactions to outwit his heavier opponents. He was well known for his rapid series of thrusts to the chest (tsuppari), enabling him to win many of his matches by hataki-komi (the slap down), oshi-dashi (the push out) and tsuki-dashi (the thrust out). Due to his light weight he was vulnerable to defeat by yori-kiri (force out) if his opponents managed to contain him.

After retirement Terao was a toshiyori (a sumo elder) known as Shikoroyama Oyakata. In February 2004 he established Shikoroyama stable. He decided not to take any wrestlers from Izutsu stable with him, recruiting all the new stable's wrestlers himself. In January 2006 Hōmashō became his first wrestler to reach sekitori status. Hōmashō retired in January 2015, but later in that same year Seirō became the second wrestler coached by Shikoroyama to reach the top division. Shikoroyama has also produced the sekiwake Abi.

Personal life While active Terao was friendly with fellow top division wrestlers Masurao and Kotogaume. His own health declined in 2022, and he was unable to see his top wrestler Abi win the championship in Kyushu in November as he was hospitalized with arrhythmia.

Terao was admitted to the hospital again in September 2023 with heart issues. His health had been improving, but on 16 December 2023 his condition took a sudden turn for the worse. He died the next evening, on 17 December, at the age of 60.

Career record