Mitoizumi Masayuki

Mitoizumi Masayuki - 水戸泉眞幸 (born September 2, 1962) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki. He made his debut in March 1978 and wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 1984 and has 7 special prizes and 1 top division championship. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in September 2000.

Early Life[]

Koizumi lost his father from an early age and was solely raised by his mother. He attended Iitomi Junior High School where he excelled at judo. Koizumi was discovered by Takamiyama, a famous Hawaiian born sumo wrestler, who met the 16-year-old and his brother at a department store where Takamiyama was making a personal appearance. He was persuaded to join Takasago stable and made his professional debut in March 1978.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Initially fighting under his own surname of Koizumi, he switched to the shikona of Mitoizumi (reference to his birthplace) in 1981. He was troubled early in his career by illness and in 1982 he seriously injured his knee and was hospitalised for four months, causing him to miss tournaments and plunge down the rankings. This was just one of many injuries he would have to battle with over the course of his long career.

Juryo Career[]

He made the breakthrough to the salaried sekitori ranks in May 1984 when he reached the juryo division, in the same tournament in which Takamiyama announced his retirement. Mitoizumi breezed through juryo in two tournaments where he posted 9-6 and 11-4 results. He was promoted to makuuchi in September 1984.

Makuuchi Career[]

Imy609-jpp00647602 — Mitoizumi was known for throwing a large amount of salt during the pre-bout rituals (c. 2000)

Mitoizumi had a strong run in his first couple tournaments and was runner-up in his third makuuchi tournament. However, he was to suffer more misfortune. Just before the May 1985 tournament he was involved in a motor accident, receiving cuts to his face; and was forced to sit out part of the tournament. After the next tournament, he was demoted back to juryo. In September 1986, after he had managed to return to the top division and reach a new highest rank of sekiwake, he injured his knee again in a bout with ozeki Onokuni and returned to the second division once more. It took him until January 1988 to fight his way back to the top division, but this time he was to remain there for the next eleven years.

Mitoizumi was ranked at sekiwake on several more occasions and won seven special prizes, but the highlight of his career came in July 1992, when he took the top division tournament championship for the only time. Ranked at maegashira 1, he took advantage of the absence of the top ranked wrestler at the time, ozeki Akebono, and clinched the championship on the 14th day with a win over Takanonami. He finished on 13-2, two wins ahead of his nearest challengers Kirishima and Musashimaru.

Mitoizumi was never able to reach those heights again, but after his final appearance in the san'yaku ranks in November 1992 he remained in the top division until March 1999. He carried on fighting in the juryo division until September 2000, when he finally announced his retirement at the age of 38, rather than be demoted to the third makushita division. He had been an active wrestler for more than 22 years. His tally of 807 career wins is the twelfth highest in sumo history. He never earned any kinboshi, as all his victories over yokozuna came when he was fighting at komusubi or sekiwake rank.

Retirement from Sumo[]

G20160213012031610 view — Nishikido Oyakata (c. 2016)

Mitoizumi's official retirement ceremony (danpatsu-shiki) took place on 9 June 2001, with a record 470 patrons, wrestlers and coaches taking part in the hair-cutting ritual.

He remained in the sumo world as a coach at Takasago stable under the elder name Nishikido Oyakata and he effectively led it during the illness of its head, former komusubi Fujinishiki. However, he lost out on the chance to succeed him, due to personal problems with his fianceé from whom he eventually split. Instead, control of Takasago stable passed to former ozeki Asashio who merged it with Wakamatsu stable. As a result, in December 2002 Mitoizumi instead opened up his own training stable, or heya, Nishikido stable. The stable did not produce a sekitori until November 2017 when Mitoryu was promoted to juryo. Unusually for the head of a stable, he remained single for many years, before marrying a soprano, Yukiko Ono, in February 2016. Nishikido also works as a judge of tournament bouts.

Personal Life[]

Mitoizumi's nickname of the "Salt Shaker" was given to him by British sumo fans who followed his matches on Channel 4 and in the exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in 1991. It referred to his habit during the pre-match rituals (but only on the final throw) of grabbing a huge handful of purifying salt and flinging it high into the air. After his retirement his routine was taken up by maegashira Kitazakura.
Mitoizumi's younger brother, Umenosato, was also a sumo wrestler at Takasago stable. He fought for 21 years from 1980 to 2001 but only made the juryo division on one occasion in July 1993. He now works at Nishikido stable as a manager.
After his retirement ceremony, Mitoizumi shaved off all of his hair. He cited that he had alopecia and that he shaved his hair so it would not be very noticeable. He has since grew back his hair since his alopecia went away.
Mitoizumi's hobbies are oil painting.

Fighting Style[]

Mitoizumi was not noted as a technician, and never won a Technique prize. His most common winning kimarite was overwhelmingly yorikiri, a straightforward force out, which accounted for over half of his victories at sekitori level. However, due to his height and strength he also regularly employed kimedashi, or arm barring force out, a technique seldom seen today.