Masuiyama Daishiro (born 1948)

Masuiyama Daishiro - 増位山太志郎 (November 16, 1948 - June 15, 2025) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Himeji, Hyogo. He made his debut in January 1967 and wrestled for Mihogaseki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1970 and has five special prizes as well as four kinboshi. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in March 1981.

Early Life[]

Sawada was born in Sumida, Tokyo, but would use his father's hometown of Himeji in Hyogo Prefecture as his official birthplace when joining sumo. he was the son of former ozeki Masuiyama Daishiro I, and the grandson of a komusubi in Osaka sumo, Tamanomori. He was a talented swimmer at school but wanted to follow his father into sumo. Initially turned down because of his size, he eventually persuaded his father to let him join his Mihogaseki stable in January 1967.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He began at the same time as stablemate Kitanoumi, a future yokozuna. He began fighting under the name Suiryu (his own surname was being used by another wrestler), adopting the Masuiyama shikona the following year. He was promoted to sandanme in September 1967 and makushita in July 1968. He produced nine straight winning records from his debut with his first losing record coming when he was already ranked in the mid-makushita ranks. Nevertheless, after four consecutive winning records, he was promoted to juryo in July 1969.

Juryo Career[]

At the time of his juryo promotion, Masuiyama had only produced one losing record and it had only taken him 15 tournaments to reach elite sekitori status. However, he finished with a 7-8 record in his juryo debut. Luckily, he did not fall to the unsalaried ranks and he followed with three consecutive winning records which earned him a promotion to makuuchi.

Makuuchi Career[]

He made his makuuchi debut in March 1970. Weighing barely 100 kg, and prone to injury, he was not able to establish himself in the division until 1972, temporarily dropping back to juryo where he won his only yusho or tournament championship in January of that year. In November 1972 he won the first of his five Ginō-shō or Technique prizes and earned promotion to komusubi.He was demoted after only one tournament and mostly remained in the maegashira ranks for the next few years. In May 1974 he scored 12 wins and was a tournament runner-up behind stablemate Kitanoumi.

24fbd927fa175edfa9b8082edf8aa818009b70b8 — Masuiyama celebrates promotion to ozeki with his father (c. 1980)

In July 1978 he finally earned promotion to the third highest sekiwake rank, but once again was unable to maintain it, dropping back to maegashira level. At the end of 1979 he returned to sekiwake and scored 11 wins. In January 1980 he was again a tournament runner-up, this time to yokozuna Mienoumi, and after the tournament he was promoted to ozeki. Masuiyama only accumulated 31 wins from the previous three tournaments rather than the traditional 33 wins, however, since there was only one ozeki at the time (Takanohana), the Japan Sumo Association felt that it was necessary for Masuiyama to join him. It had taken him 60 tournaments to get there from his top division debut, a record, and at thirty one years two months he was also the oldest to reach the rank since the introduction of the six tournaments a year system in 1958 (The latter record was broken by Kotomitsuki in July 2007). Masuiyama and Mihogaseki Oyakata became the first father and son ozeki in sumo history.

Ozeki Career[]

Masuiyama's ozeki career was brief and rather unspectacular. In his first tournament, he withdrew on the 8th day after only accumulating three wins and cited left elbow pain as the reason. He followed, with a series of 8-7 and 9-6 record, before producing a disastrous 3-12 record in November 1980. He saved his ozeki rank by finishing with a 10-5 record in January 1981, his best performance as an ozeki. However, he retired midway in the following March 1981 tournament.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Masuiyama remained in the sumo world as an elder initially under the name Onogawa, and in November 1984 he succeeded his father as head coach of Mihogaseki stable, when the latter reached the retirement age of 65. His father died in 1986. He inherited ozeki Hokutenyu, and produced four other top division wrestlers: Higonoumi, Hamanoshima, Baruto and Aran. Known as Mihogaseki Oyakata, he ran the stable until October 2013, when he dissolved the stable and moved his wrestlers to Kasugano stable. He was also formerly on the board of directors of the Japan Sumo Association. He reached the Sumo Association's mandatory retirement age of 65 in November 2013.

Enka Musician[]

Masuiyama is also an enka musician. His debut release was "Iroha koiuta" (いろは恋唄)in 1974. His musical career was in parallel with sumo wrestling, with his performances in clubs reportedly earning him 1.5 million yen a night, until the Sumo Association banned such extra-curricular activities. His notable songs include "Sonna Yuko ni horemashita" (そんな夕子にほれました)(1974), "Sonna onna no hitorigoto" (そんな女のひとりごと)(1977) which sold 1.3 million copies, "Otoko no Senaka" (男の背中), "Hisoyakani Hanayakani" (秘そやかに華やかに) (a duet with Naomi Matsui)(2012),"Yuko no Omise" (夕子のお店) (2013), "Fuyuko no blues" (冬子のブルース) (2013) and "A man's cup-sake" (男のコップ酒). In 2013, he retired from the Sumo Association and re-started exclusively as an enka musician. In 2015 he opened a chanko restaurant, Chanko Masuiyama, on the premises of the now-closed Mihogaseki stable.

Death[]

In December 2022, Masuiyama complained of feeling ill and was diagnosed with sepsis. He suspended his enka activities to undergo treatment and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, on June 15th, 2025, he passed away due to liver failure. The wake and funeral will be held for family only. <ref>Former ozeki and enka singer Masuiyama Tashiro dies of liver failureCite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

Fighting Style[]

He began as a tsuppari specialist and would attack his opponents with a series of rapid thrusts to the chest. Following a left wrist injury he changed his style and would use his right hand to grab his opponent's mawashi and draw him in. He would use his great reflexes and flexible lower back to win with techniques such as uwatenage (overarm throw), uchimuso (inner thigh twist down), katasukashi (shoulder swing down) and other leg and yotsu-sumo moves. However he lacked the power to consistently beat the top ranked wrestlers.