Flameho “exceeds his pre-injury self” After suffering a serious neck injury and being bedridden, he appears in the summer tournament as a juryo for the first time in three years.

The first ever wrestler with experience in the makuuchi division!

Everyone had been waiting for this day.

It has been about three years since the former makuuchi wrestler Flameho (Tomoya, 31) disappeared from the stage.

On May 10, the first day of the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament, Flameho, wearing a “Beaver” cosmetic mawashi, a popular snack given to him by a supporter in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, appeared in high spirits as he entered the juryo ring.

Flame Peng, welcome back!”

A fan’s banner fluttered over the Ryogoku Kokugikan (Sumida Ward, Tokyo).

Flameho, who was less than 167 cm and weighing less than 100 kg, entered sumo in the spring of 2005, after graduating from Kanazawa Gakuin University, because of his admiration for yokozuna Hakuho. Despite his small stature, he became instantly popular for his athleticism. He and his brother Ishiura (now Magaki Oyakata) once performed in Hakuho’s yokozuna ring-entering ceremony.

However, in the summer tournament of 1948, tragedy struck him as he continued to build his career as a sekitori. Although he was a lightweight, his head-on sumo put a tremendous strain on his neck, unintentionally. Here is his recollection of the incident (all comments are his own).

I had no idea that I had a cervical spine injury,” he told ……. I didn’t know enough about it. I lost the ability to move my arms and legs and became bedridden.

What am I doing?”…… During his two-week stay in the hospital, he spent many days staring at the ceiling of his hospital room.

Even after being discharged from the hospital, he is still in a steady rehabilitation program that involves moving his fingers. I couldn’t even walk, and I couldn’t feed my dog at home, so I had to leave him at my parents’ house.

Finally, the doctor stopped him.

I think you should quit wrestling now.

If he underwent surgery, he might be able to lead a normal life. However, there was a risk of residual aftereffects, and he stubbornly refused to undergo surgery because his goal was to return to the world of sumo.

If I quit here, I would be just a person,” he said. I will be glad I got injured! I gritted my teeth with one thought in mind: “I’m going to be glad I got injured!

What has been, is what will be.”

As he remained absent from the tournament until the summer tournament of 2012, his rank dropped from juryo to shichinokuchi. When the Miyagino stable was closed, he transferred to the Isegahama stable, where he was a mere “young man. He also had to do chores such as cleaning.

At that time, I was saved by ‘rice. Since I was a boy, I had never been able to gain weight because I didn’t like eating white rice, but when an acquaintance gave me a good rice cooker as a gift, I learned the taste and depth of rice.

He found himself gradually gaining a belly and becoming more like a rikishi. He retrained his neck muscles and recovered his strength and energy.

He returned to the ring in July 2012. However, his start at the top was more difficult than he had expected. He managed to move up to the makushita rank, but his performance continued to fall back and forth.

Then, in the first tournament of this year, a great opportunity presented itself.

He won six consecutive victories in the 11th makushita rank. The match against Nobuhara on the 13th day of the tournament, which featured six consecutive victories, was as big a deal as a championship match between makuuchi rikishi.

However, flameho, who had injured his leg in the sixth sumo bout, lost the match. He was not promoted to juryo. As he came back down the aisle, he was surrounded by nearly 40 members of the press.

He said, “I’m sorry, I’m not sure if I’m …….”

He could not continue to speak after saying, “Um, ,” and his eyes were slightly teary.

His eyes were slightly teary. His frustration oozed from his eyes, as he had been betting on this match.

Two months had passed since then.

He finally achieved a great accomplishment: he won five matches and lost two, and became the first rider in history to be promoted from the early ranks of the makushita division to the juryo division again.

He was the first rider in history to be renamed juryo from shikanokuchi, a rank he had previously held. He encouraged me, saying, “Always keep your heart on fire! He encouraged me to do so. And recently, I was told by an acquaintance that the name “Flame Peng” also means “phoenix. ……

On the first day of the summer tournament, he won for the first time in a long time as a sekitori with his characteristic low, sharp sumo attack on his opponents.

He said, “What has been is what will be. I want people to see the new, reborn ‘Flame Peng. I will surpass the person I was before my injury.

The new wisteria-colored shimekomi was inspired by Mai no Kai (now a commentator), who was also a small fighter.

The next 15 days of the “Phoenix” Flamehyo will be a focus of attention.

From the May 29, 2026 issue of FRIDAY