Shishihō Yoshimasa (born Osamu Tanaka; August 14, 1955 – October 7, 2006) was a

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler from Moriyama,

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He made his professional debut in January 1971, and became the first ''

sekitori A ''sekitori'' (関取) is a ''rikishi'' (力士, sumo wrestler) who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: ''makuuchi'' and ''jūryō''. The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fract ...

'' from

Taiho stable Taihō or Taiho can refer to: *Taihō (era), a Japanese name for the years 701–704 *Taihō Code, a reorganization of the Japanese government at the end of the Asuka period * Taiho Pharmaceutical *Taihoku Prefecture, a former administrative dis ...

when he reached the ''

juryo Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...

'' division in July 1977. He reached the top division in September 1979. His highest rank was ''

maegashira , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'' 2. His favourite techniques were ''migi-yotsu'' and ''uwatenage''. Upon retirement in May 1987 he was hired by the

Sumo Association The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling (called ''Ōzumō'', 大相撲) in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japanese Ministry of Education, Cultu ...

as a '' wakaimonogashira''. He left the sumo world in July 1991. He died of cancer in 2006.

Career record

References

1955 births Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Nagasaki Prefecture 2006 deaths {{sumo-bio-stub

Career record

See also

References