Mitoizumi Masayuki
Encyclopedia
Mitoizumi Masayuki is a former sumo
wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki
, Japan
. His professional career spanned 22 years, from 1978 until 2000. The highest rank he reached was sekiwake. He won over 800 career bouts and took the yusho
or championship in the top makuuchi
division in 1992. Mitoizumi was nicknamed the "Salt Shaker", due to his habit of throwing enormous quantities of purifying salt
onto the ring (dohyō
) during the pre-match preliminaries. He is now a coach, and is known as Nishikido-oyakata.
and made his professional debut in March 1978. 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.
He made the breakthrough to the salaried sekitori
ranks in May 1984 when he reached the jūryō division, in the same tournament in which Takamiyama announced his retirement. Mitoizumi was promoted to the top makuuchi
division just two tournaments later in September 1984. 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 tourney. After the next basho, he was demoted back to jūryō. 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 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 sanyaku ranks in November 1992 he remained in the top division until March 1999. He carried on fighting in the jūryō 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 ninth 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.
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.
who merged it with Wakamatsu stable. As a result, in December 2002 Mitoizumi instead opened up his own training stable, or heya
, Nishikido stable
, operating out of the old Takasago building. It has yet to produce any jūryō or makuuchi wrestlers. He remains unmarried, very unusual for the head of a stable. Mitoizumi also works as a shimpan
or judge of tournament bouts.
was overwhelmingly yori-kiri, 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.
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki
Mito, Ibaraki
is the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan and has a central location, moderately offset towards the coast in that prefecture. As of 2005, the city has an estimated population of 263,748 and a total area is 217.45 km², giving a population density of 1,212.91 persons per km²...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. His professional career spanned 22 years, from 1978 until 2000. The highest rank he reached was sekiwake. He won over 800 career bouts and took the yusho
Yusho
A Yūshō is a tournament championship in sumo. It is awarded in each of the six annual honbasho or official tournaments, to the wrestler who wins the most number of bouts. Yūshō are awarded in all six professional sumo divisions...
or championship in the top makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
division in 1992. Mitoizumi was nicknamed the "Salt Shaker", due to his habit of throwing enormous quantities of purifying salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
onto the ring (dohyō
Dohyo
thumb|A dohyōThe dohyō is the ring in which sumo wrestling bouts are held. A modern dohyo is a circle of rice-straw bales 4.55 meters in diameter, mounted on a square platform of clay 6.7m on a side, and 34 to 60 cm high. The surface is covered by sand.A new dohyō is built prior to each...
) during the pre-match preliminaries. He is now a coach, and is known as Nishikido-oyakata.
Career
Mitoizumi 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 stableTakasago stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables.It is correctly written in Japanese as "髙砂部屋", but the first of these kanji is rare, and is more commonly written as "高砂部屋"....
and made his professional debut in March 1978. Initially fighting under his own surname of Koizumi, he switched to the shikona
Shikona
A shikona is a sumo wrestler's ring name.As with standard Japanese names, a shikona consists of a 'surname' and a 'given' name, and the full name is written surname first. However, the given name is rarely used outside formal or ceremonial occasions. Thus, the former yokozuna Asashōryū Akinori is...
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.
He made the breakthrough to the salaried sekitori
Sekitori
A sekitori is a sumo wrestler who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: makuuchi and juryo.Currently there are 70 rikishi in these divisions...
ranks in May 1984 when he reached the jūryō division, in the same tournament in which Takamiyama announced his retirement. Mitoizumi was promoted to the top makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
division just two tournaments later in September 1984. 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 tourney. After the next basho, he was demoted back to jūryō. 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 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
Sansho (Sumo)
Sanshō are the three special prizes awarded to top division sumo wrestlers for exceptional performance during a sumo honbasho or tournament. The prizes were first awarded in November 1947.-Criteria:...
, 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
Akebono Taro
is a retired American born-Japanese sumo wrestler from Waimānalo, Hawaii. Joining the professional sport in Japan in 1988, he was trained by pioneering Hawaiian sumo wrestler Takamiyama and rose swiftly up the rankings, reaching the top division in 1990...
, 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
Kirishima
Kirishima is a Japanese surname may refer to* Kirishima City, a city in Kagoshima prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan* Kirishima National Park, a Japanese national park in both Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures on the island of Kyūshū...
and Musashimaru.
Mitoizumi was never able to reach those heights again, but after his final appearance in the sanyaku ranks in November 1992 he remained in the top division until March 1999. He carried on fighting in the jūryō 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 ninth highest in sumo history. He never earned any kinboshi
Kinboshi
Kinboshi is a notation used in professional sumo wrestling to record a lower-ranked wrestler's victory over a yokozuna....
, as all his victories over yokozuna came when he was fighting at komusubi or sekiwake rank.
Mitoizumi's nickname of the "Salt Shaker" was given to him by British sumo fans who followed his matches on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and in the exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
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.
Retirement from sumo
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 has remained in the sumo world as a coach at Takasago stable 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 AsashioAsashio Taro IV
Asashio Tarō IV is a former sumo wrestler from Muroto, Kochi, Japan. His highest rank was ozeki...
who merged it with Wakamatsu stable. As a result, in December 2002 Mitoizumi instead opened up his own training stable, or heya
Heya
In sumo wrestling, a heya , usually translated into English as stable, is an organization of sumo wrestlers where they train and live. All wrestlers in professional sumo must belong to one. There are currently 49 heya , all but four of which belong to one of five ichimon...
, Nishikido stable
Nishikido Stable
Nishikido stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It was founded in 2002 by Mitoizumi of the Takasago stable. It uses Takasago stable's old facilities, which became available when Takasago merged with Wakamatsu stable...
, operating out of the old Takasago building. It has yet to produce any jūryō or makuuchi wrestlers. He remains unmarried, very unusual for the head of a stable. Mitoizumi also works as a shimpan
Shimpan
are the judges of a professional sumo bout. In a sumo honbasho tournament five shimpan sit around the ring to observe which wrestler wins the matchup. When judging tournament bouts they wear formal Japanese dress of otokomono, haori with mon, and hakama...
or judge of tournament bouts.
Fighting style
Mitoizumi was not noted as a technician, and never won a Technique prize. His most common winning kimariteKimarite
Kimarite are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament , a sumo referee, or gyoji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner...
was overwhelmingly yori-kiri, 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.
Family
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 jūryō division on one occasion in July 1993. He now works at Nishikido stable as a manager.Top division record
See also
- Glossary of sumo termsGlossary of sumo termsThe following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. azukari : Hold. A kind of draw. After a mono-ii, the gyōji or the shimpan "holds" the result if it was too close to call...
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of sumo tournament winners