Sanbeyama Masao - 三瓶山 征夫 (born June 8, 1938) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Oda, Shimane. He made his debut in May 1957 and last wrestled for Nishonoseki stable. He reached the juryo division in January 1963. His highest rank was juryo 4 and he retired in May 1968.
Early Life[]
Masao Shigeta was born the second son of a joinery shop owner in Oda, Shimane. He liked baseball as a kid, but also took part in judo and swimming. In addition to these sports, he also participated in amateur sumo. Because of this, he was introduced to Nakamura stable by a friend and made his professional debut in may 1957.
Career[]
Initially wrestling under the shikona "Ishimifuji" (石見冨士), he won the jonokuchi yusho in his first professional tournament. He was promoted to sandanme in July 1958 and makushita in March 1960. In 1961, his Nakamura stable closed down and he transferred to Nishonoseki stable. In November 1962, he posted a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 1 and was promoted to juryo for the January 1963 tournament.
Upon reaching the elite sekitori ranks he changed his shikona to "Sanbeyama" (三瓶山). He posted three consecutive winning records from his juryo debut and was promoted to the rank of juryo 4 in July 1963. In this tournament, he wrestled his first and only match in makuuchi against Toyokuni. However, he finished with a 5-10 record and never managed to reach the top division. In November 1965 he fractured his left ankle in a match against Yoshinohana on the 13th day and had to pull out of the tournaments. He continue to sit out of the following tournament and was demoted back down to makushita in March 1966.
He returned to juryo after winning the makushita yusho in November 1966. However, he was unable to establish himself in juryo and was demoted back down to makushita in January 1968. He retired from sumo in May 1968 after wrestling a total of 24 tournaments in juryo.
Fighting Style[]
Sanbeyama was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite was oshidashi (push out), followed by tuskidashi (thrust out), and yorikiri (force out).
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 341-307-1/647 (66 basho)
- Juryo: 166-178-1/343 (24 basho)
- Makushita: 102-82/184 (26 basho)
- Sandanme: 46-34/80 (10 basho)
- Jonidan: 20-12/32 (4 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 7-1/8 (1 basho)
Championships[]
- 1 Makushita Championship (November 1966)
- 1 Jonokuchi Championship (September 1957)
Shikona History[]
- Ishimifuji Masao (1957.11 - 1962.11)
- Sanbeyama Masao (1963.01 - 1968.05)
Gallery[]
