Photo by Michihiro Taguchi — shot ringside.
Shodai: The Student-Origin Ozeki Who Won the September 2020 Title
Shodai is a former ozeki sumo wrestler from Kumamoto Prefecture, known for winning the September 2020 top-division championship and reaching ozeki straight off that title. He wrestled at Tokyo University of Agriculture, then joined Tokitsukaze stable and started his professional career from the unranked preliminary. He held the rank for 13 tournaments and lost it after six losing records; he is 34, has been in the top division without a break since January 2016, and was East maegashira 6 at Nagoya 2026. This guide explains his rise, his fighting style, his title run, and where he stands today.
Key takeaways
- Shodai is a student-origin wrestler from Kumamoto who came up through Tokyo University of Agriculture and Tokitsukaze stable.
- He won his first and only top-division championship at the September 2020 (Aki) basho, clinching it on the final day.
- He was promoted to ozeki on the strength of that title and made his ozeki debut in November 2020.
- He held ozeki for 13 tournaments, posted six losing records there, and was demoted on the January 2023 banzuke.
- He is still in the top division as a former ozeki, ranked East maegashira 6 for the Nagoya 2026 tournament.
Where he stands now
Shodai is 34, stands 184 cm and weighs 168 kg, and fights for Tokitsukaze stable. He was East maegashira 6 at Nagoya 2026 and went 5–10. His career record is 539 wins, 482 losses and ten days out over 74 tournaments; in the top division, 471–464 with ten days out over 63. He has been in the top division continuously since January 2016.
| Tournament | Rank | Record |
|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | East maegashira 11 | 10–5 |
| November 2025 | West maegashira 5 | 4–11 |
| January 2026 | East maegashira 8 | 7–8 |
| March 2026 | West maegashira 8 | 8–7 |
| May 2026 | West maegashira 5 | 6–9 |
| July 2026 | East maegashira 6 | 5–10 |
He has been back in the titled ranks twice since losing ozeki — komusubi in May 2023 and again in November 2024 — and lost both fortnights, the second at 4–11. He has not been ranked above maegashira 4 since.
Taguchi keeps a running list of the former ozeki, and Shodai is on it
Michihiro Taguchi maintains a tally of the wrestlers still active who once held ozeki and lost it. On the Nagoya 2026 ranking sheet there were five: Takayasu, Asanoyama, Shodai, Mitakeumi and Aonishiki, who had just dropped out of the rank himself.
His judgement of Shodai’s ozeki years is short. Thirteen tournaments at the rank, six of them losing ones, and not once in contention for a championship. Holding the rank, he wrote, looked beyond him from the start. Measuring the first seven tournaments after the demotion, up to January 2024, he had Shodai at 46–59, with two wins over yokozuna (one of them a forfeit) against one defeat, and 2–8 against ozeki. His summary of the group ran: apart from Asanoyama, the former ozeki are all falling short — is this how it ends for them?
Two and a half years on, the answer for Shodai is a maegashira career in the middle of the division that has not stopped: three losing records in his last four fortnights, and no absence longer than the ten days he has missed in seventy-four tournaments. He is one of the most durable men in the sport, and he has spent the years since his championship being ranked further and further from it.
Career and rise
Shodai grew up in Kumamoto Prefecture, where he spent his middle-school and high-school years. He went on to wrestle at Tokyo University of Agriculture, and that connection led him to join Tokitsukaze stable. Because he carried no notable record from his final university year, he started his professional career from maezumo, the unranked preliminary that sits beneath the formal ranking sheet.
The climb that followed was fast. Shodai reached the juryo division in only eight tournaments without a single losing record, taking the jonokuchi and makushita championships along the way for a combined 44-12 mark, a .786 winning rate. He then cleared juryo in two tournaments, going 11-4 and then 13-2 with the divisional title.
His top-division debut came at the January 2016 basho, where he went 10-5 and won the Fighting Spirit Prize. He claimed a second Fighting Spirit Prize that November with an 11-4 record, and in March 2017 he recorded his first win over a yokozuna by beating Hakuho. For years, though, the same obstacle recurred: in tournaments where he faced a full slate of yokozuna and ozeki, he kept failing to secure a winning record. At the January 2020 basho he went 13-2 and finished runner-up, beating ozeki Takakeisho during the tournament but missing the title.
Style and techniques
Shodai wrestles a belt-fighting game. His core method is a right-hand-inside (migi-yotsu) force-out, set up by a quick attack from the double-inside grip (moro-zashi) that he uses to walk an opponent straight back and out. He also keeps a tsukiotoshi — a thrust-down — in his arsenal, and that technique decided the bout that sealed his championship.
Notable results
Shodai won his first top-division championship at the September 2020 (Aki) basho, clinching it on the final day (senshuraku). He secured the title by winning the decisive head-to-head bouts against Takakeisho and Asanoyama, then taking the final-day bout against Tobizaru by tsukiotoshi.
That championship earned him promotion to ozeki. The messenger ceremony was held at Tokitsukaze stable, where he pledged to pursue sumo with the spirit of shisei ikkan — utmost sincerity. He became a student-origin ozeki at age 28; among earlier student-origin ozeki, only Wajima had gone on to reach yokozuna. Shodai made his ozeki debut at the November 2020 basho.
| Milestone | Detail |
|---|---|
| Top-division debut | January 2016, 10-5, Fighting Spirit Prize |
| Second Fighting Spirit Prize | November 2016, 11-4 |
| First win over a yokozuna | March 2017, beat Hakuho |
| Runner-up | January 2020, 13-2 |
| Top-division championship | September 2020 (Aki), clinched on senshuraku |
| Ozeki debut | November 2020 |
| Ozeki tenure | 13 tournaments, six losing records |
| Demotion from ozeki | January 2023 banzuke |
Ozeki tenure and demotion
Shodai held the rank of ozeki for 13 tournaments. That was the second-longest tenure among the then-current former ozeki, behind Takayasu at 15, yet he never contended for a championship while at the rank. Across those 13 tournaments he posted six losing records.
He wrestled the November 2022 Fukuoka basho on kadoban, the warning status an ozeki carries after a single losing tournament. Mid-tournament he stood at 4-5 and lost to Hoshoryu, while local fans cheered him near his native Kumamoto. Under the rule that two consecutive losing records (make-koshi) cost an ozeki his rank, his demotion took effect on the January 2023 banzuke. By the March 2023 basho he was competing as a sekiwake, beating Kiribayama and Hoshoryu and losing to ozeki Takakeisho.
Current status
As of the January 2024 basho, Shodai was one of four active former ozeki, alongside Takayasu, Asanoyama, and Mitakeumi. Through that tournament his record as a former ozeki stood at 46-59, with a 2-1 mark versus yokozuna (including a forfeit win) and 2-8 versus ozeki. He has not won a special prize since his demotion. He weighed 169 kg in the 2024 top-division weight ranking, and the Japan Sumo Association listed him at 168 kg and 34 years old in August 2026, among the top-division wrestlers over 30.
Shodai photographs, shot from ringside
Two of the frames below bracket Shodai’s time at sumo’s second-highest rank: the day in September 2020 when his promotion to ozeki was decided, and the loss to Tamawashi in November 2022 that confirmed he would lose it. Michihiro Taguchi shot all of them from the ringside seats.
Shodai: the official record
| Field | Shodai |
|---|---|
| Ring name | Shodai Naoya |
| Birth name | Shodai Naoya |
| Ring names used | Shodai — he wrestles under his own surname, which is unusual |
| Stable | Tokitsukaze |
| Height and weight | 184.0 cm, 168.0 kg |
| Highest rank | Ozeki |
| Rank, Nagoya 2026 banzuke | East maegashira 6 |
| Career record | 539 wins, 482 losses, 10 days absent, over 74 tournaments |
| Top-division record | 471 wins, 464 losses, 10 days absent, over 63 tournaments |
| Championships and prizes | 1 top-division championship, 1 juryo championship, 1 makushita and 1 jonokuchi title; 1 Outstanding Performance prize, 6 Fighting Spirit prizes, 2 gold stars |
| Most-used winning moves | tsukiotoshi, thrust down, 18%; oshidashi, push out, 15%; hikiotoshi, pull down, 13% |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What happened to Shodai?
He lost the ozeki rank at the November 2022 tournament and has wrestled in the rank-and-file ever since. He held ozeki for 13 tournaments, from November 2020 to November 2022. On the Nagoya 2026 banzuke he sat at East maegashira 6 and finished 5–10.
Q. What does the name Shodai mean?
It is his family name, not an invented ring name. Most wrestlers take a shikona chosen by their stablemaster; Shodai kept the surname he was born with, which is rare in the top division.
Q. How does Shodai usually win?
By absorbing and countering. The Association’s breakdown of his last six tournaments is led by tsukiotoshi (thrust down) at 18 per cent and hikiotoshi (pull down) at 13 per cent — two moves that work off an opponent’s own momentum, and an unusual profile for a former ozeki.
Where is Shodai from?
Shodai is from Kumamoto Prefecture, where he spent his middle-school and high-school years before wrestling at Tokyo University of Agriculture.
When did Shodai win his championship?
He won his first top-division championship at the September 2020 (Aki) basho, clinching it on the final day with a thrust-down win over Tobizaru.
How long was Shodai an ozeki?
He held ozeki for 13 tournaments, from his November 2020 debut until his demotion took effect on the January 2023 banzuke. He posted six losing records over that span.
Why was Shodai demoted from ozeki?
An ozeki who records two consecutive losing tournaments loses the rank. After the November 2022 Fukuoka basho, Shodai’s back-to-back losing records triggered the demotion, which took effect on the January 2023 banzuke.
What is Shodai’s fighting style?
He favors a right-hand-inside force-out, set up by a quick attack from the double-inside grip, and keeps a thrust-down (tsukiotoshi) as a secondary weapon.
Is Shodai still wrestling?
Yes. He remained active in the top division as a former ozeki into 2026.
Reporting note: this article draws on Michihiro Taguchi’s ringside reporting and original statistical work published in Dohyo no Mokugekisha — his running tally of the former ozeki still wrestling, first published February 14, 2024 and kept current to the Nagoya 2026 ranking sheet. Rank, age, measurements, stable, career totals and per-tournament results were rechecked against the Japan Sumo Association’s wrestler profiles and tournament sheets on August 6, 2026. Figures described as our count are arithmetic on those published sheets, not the Association’s own totals.
Updated August 6, 2026.
Read next: the ozeki rank explained · kadoban: the rule that costs an ozeki his rank · the maegashira ranks explained · all ten ranks, in order
