Daishōhō Masami (7 May 1967 – 4 December 1999) 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

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

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 ...

. His highest rank was '' komusubi.''

Career

Born in Sapporo, he took up skiing as a young boy, as he came from an area famous for its ski slopes. He also played basketball at school. However his father was an amateur sumo enthusiast and encouraged his son to try the sport. In his third year of junior high he took part in the National Junior High School Sumo Championships, held in Tokyo, and was put up in Tatsunami stable during the championships. Daishoho was an amateur sumo champion at Nihon University, and after graduation he returned to Tatsunami stable. He entered professional sumo in January 1990 at the '' makushita'' level, and quickly reached the top '' makuuchi'' division in July 1991. His best performance in a tournament was in September 1992 when he was runner-up to Takahanada with 11 wins. He reached his highest rank of ''komusubi'' in January 1993, but after that he was plagued by a number of injuries to his knees, back and triceps. He fell back to the ''jūryō'' division after pulling out of the January 1997 tournament on the 4th day.

Retirement and death

In 1999 Daishoho was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

. He wanted to receive treatment whilst still remaining active on the '' dohyo'', but in June he was persuaded by his doctors to enter hospital full-time and so retired from sumo. Since it was clear that he would be unlikely to live long enough to have a formal retirement ceremony ('' danpatsu-shiki'') at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, which normally takes place up to a year after retiring, in October 1999 his fellow wrestler and graduate of Nihon University Mainoumi organised a private function for him which was attended by around 400 people including wrestlers such as Konishiki and Musashimaru and his former stablemaster Haguroyama, although senior members of the Sumo Association and his former coach at Nihon University Hidetoshi Tanaka did not attend as it was an unsanctioned event. Daishoho's weight had dropped from 150 kg to below 90 kg. He died on 4 December 1999 at the age of 32 due to pancreatic cancer.

Fighting style

Daishoho liked pushing techniques, particularly ''tsuppari'', a series of rapid thrusts to the chest. However, he was also good at fighting on the '' mawashi'' or belt, where he preferred a ''migi-yotsu'' grip, a left hand outside and right hand inside position. His most commonly used '' kimarite'' were ''yorikiri'' (force out), ''oshidashi'' (push out) and ''uwatenage'' (overarm throw).

Career record

References

External links