Umenosato Shoji

Umenosato Shoji - 梅の里昭二 (born May 3, 1964) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki. He made his debut in March 1980 and wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the juryo division in July 1993. His highest rank was juryo 13 and he retired in January 2001.

Early Life[]

Koizumi was discovered by Takamiyama, a famous Hawaiian born sumo wrestler, who met the 14-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 1980.

Career[]

He was given the shikona "Umenosato" (梅の里 later respelled 梅乃里) which is derived from the local Mito plum blossom festival which his family use to take part in. He was promoted to sandanme in March 1982, but he could not establish himself in the division. He won the jonidan yusho with a perfect 7-0 record in September 1983 and in January 1985 he was promoted to makushita.

In May 1993, Umenosato posted a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 5 and was promoted to juryo in the following July 1993 tournament. Like his brother Mitoizumi, Umenosato also put on a gold mawashi which made them look identical from far as they shared similar builds. Umenosato could only manage 5 wins in his sekitori debut and was demoted back down to makushita after one tournament in juryo. This proved to be his only appearance as a sekitori.

Umenosato tried to return back to juryo, but a knee injury deteriorated his sumo considerably and he fell down to sandanme in March 1996. He became a sandanme regular by September 1997 and ultimately announced his retirement after the January 2001 tournament.

Retirement from Sumo[]

After retirement, Umenosato tried his hand in acting. In April 2001, Umenosato auditioned for the reality TV show Asayan, and remained until the final selection. Currently, Umenosato serves as the manager for Nishikido stable which his brother opened up in 2002.

Personal Life[]

Umenosato's older brother, Mitoizumi, was also a sumo wrestler who wrestled from 1978 to 2000 and he rose as high as sekiwake. Umenosato served as his tsukebito, or personal servant, and now works as a manager for Mitoizumi's Nishikido stable.
Umenosato's hobby is reading.

Fighting Style[]

Umenosato was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out.