Masudayama Yasuhito

Masudayama Yasuhito - 舛田山靖仁 (born April 10, 1951) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nanao, Ishikawa. He made his debut in March 1974 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 1976 and has three special prizes as well as one kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in July 1989.

Early Life[]

Masuda played baseball in elementary school before switching to sumo in junior high school. In high school, he won the National Student Sumo Championships and earned the title of high school yokozuna. He later enrolled at Takushoku University where he was a member of the school's sumo club and played an active role during national competitions. After graduating, he was offered a job at Kanazawa City Hall, but he rejected it and joined Kasugano stable instead.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Masuda made his professional debut in March 1974 alongside college rival Dewanohana. Due to his amateur accomplishments, he was granted makushita tsukedashi status which allowed him to start at the bottom of the makushita division. He was given the shikona "Masudayama" (舛田山) and after five tournaments in the unsalaried ranks where he earned nothing but winning records, he was promoted to juryo in January 1975.

Juryo Career[]

760a6d6d536f0939d75f4e3d6ee0b582c27d865d — Masudayama prepares for his upcoming match

Masudayama got off to a good start as a sekitori and produced two consecutive winning records, but in July 1975, he broke his heel in a match against Aobayama in the 7th day which resulted in him withdrawing from the tournament. He sat out of the following September tournament and finished with a 5-10 record in November 1975 which resulted in a fall back down to makushita. He returned to juryo after two tournaments in makushita. In his return, he posted three consecutive winning records and was promoted to makuuchi in November 1976.

Makuuchi Career[]

Masudayama was ranked in the top division for a total of 47 tournaments. In May 1980, he finished with an 11-4 record and was awarded his first Fighting Spirit prize. In November 1980, he defeated yokozuna Wakanohana II on the 10th day to earn his first kinboshi; he finished the tournament with a 9-6 record and was awarded his first Outstanding Performance prize. He was promoted to komusubi in the following tournament, but he could only manage a 5-10 record at that rank. He returned to komusubi in July 1983 where he defeated yokozuna Chiyonofuji and finished with an 8-7 record to earn his second Outstanding Performance prize. He was promoted to sekiwake in the following September 1983 tournament, but he could only manage a 3-12 record.

Later Career[]

Masudayama's last makuuchi appearance was in may 1985 and he spent the next four years of his career in juryo. In July 1987 he won the juryo yusho with an 11-4 record and became the oldest rikishi to win the juryo yusho (36 years 3 months).

Retirement from Sumo[]

In July 1989, Masudayama finished with a 4-11 record at the rank of juryo 10. He retired after the tournament to avoid an inevitable demotion to the unsalaried ranks. He was the oldest man in any of the professional sumo divisions at the time of his retirement.

20210409-00000076-chuspo-000-1-view — Chiganoura Oyakata (c. 2021)

He remained in the Japan Sumo Association as an elder under the name Chiganoura. He worked as a coach for Kasugano stable. He set up Chiganoura stable (now renamed Tokiwayama stable) in 2004 at the age of 53, after he was passed over for the head coach position at Kasugano stable the previous year. He tried to bring in fellow Takushoku graduate makuuchi veteran Tochinonada, but missed out and instead took in Makushita veteran Tochinoyama, who was also a Takushoku University alumnus. He went on to recruit more collegiate wrestlers such as Masuhikari of Chuo University, Takunishiki of Takushoku University, and Masumeidai of Nagoya University, but none managed to reach the sekitori level. Chiganoura also recruited Hungarian Attila Toth (Masutoo) who was the runner-up in the 2004 Junior World Sumo Championships, but he never rose higher than the makushita division.

Chiganoura produced his first sekitori Masunoyama who was promoted to juryo in November 2010 and makuuchi in September 2011. Masunoyama was the only sekitori that Chiganoura himself produced, but the stable went on to absorb Takanohana stable which included many future and current sekitori, including Takakeisho, Takagenji, Takanoiwa and Takakento.

He retired upon reaching 65 years of age in April 2016, but was re-employed by his stable as a consultant, which expired upon his 70th birthday in April 2021. He continued to live at the old Chiganoura stable premises after it relocated earlier in 2021.

Fighting Style[]

Masudayama was an oshi-sumo specialist, preferring pushing and thrusting techniques. He liked to employ tsuppari, a series of rapid thrusts to the chest. His most common winning kimarite was hatakikomi, or slap down, followed by oshidashi, or push out.