Ishiura Masakatsu

is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tottori Prefecture. He debuted in sumo wrestling in January 2013 and made his ''makuuchi'' debut in November 2016. His highest rank has been ''maegashira'' 5, and he has one special prize for Fighting Spirit. He wrestles for Miyagino stable.

Background

Ishiura was born in Tottori, the principal city of Tottori Prefecture, which is the most sparsely-populated prefecture in Japan. He studied at Nihon University. He nearly gave up sumo and moved to Australia to study at an English language college in 2012. While there he won the Australian Open and Lightweight Sumo titles and while staying in Sydney was cast as an adversary for Wolverine in a new movie, but he withdrew from the role and decided to return to Japan and try professional sumo after being inspired by the success of some of his friends from his amateur days. At 23 he was at the upper end of the age limit to enter professional sumo and knew this was his last chance.

As of 2019 he still wrestles under his real name and is yet to adopt a formal ''shikona'' or ring-name. Ishiura is of unusually small stature for a sumo wrestler: when he made his ''makuuchi'' debut at he was officially lighter than any other competitor in the division, although he outweighs Terutsuyoshi and his stablemate Enho who have made the top division subsequently.)

He has also been known for his contributions on social media, posting video clips on Twitter of his fellow wrestlers playing arcade games and competing in sprint races.

He is sponsored by McLaren Automotive, and on his 27th birthday he arrived at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in a sports car that they provided for him.

Career

Ishiura joined the Miyagino stable and entered professional sumo in 2013 at the relatively advanced age of 23. He made an immediate impact, winning the ''jonokuchi'' division in March and the ''jonidan'' division in May with unblemished 7-0 records and earning a third straight promotion with six wins at ''sandanme'' in July. As he worked his way up the ranks he served as a ''tsukebito'' or personal attendant to ''yokozuna'' Hakuhō. He spent the next nine tournaments in the third ''makushita'' division before earning another promotion with a 6–1 record in January 2015. He was the first new ''sekitori'' from Tottori Prefecture since Kotozakura 52 years earlier. In the second division (''jūryō'') he proved himself a consistent performer, recording seven winning records (''kachi-koshi'') in ten tournaments and clinching yet another promotion with nine wins in September 2016.

Ishiura made his ''makuuchi'' debut in November, 2016 debuting at East ''Maegashira'' 15. After losing on the first day of the tournament to Chiyotairyu Ishiura won the next ten days straight putting him on the leader board for a while. However, on day 12 Ishiura suffered his second loss to Ikioi and then continued to lose for the rest of the tournament finishing off with a 10–5 record which was enough to win him his first special prize, for Fighting Spirit. In his debut tournament he was able to get ten straight victories, double digit wins, and his first special prize. His ten wins equaled the performance of Shōdai in January 2016 and was otherwise the best by a top-division debutante since Ichinojo's thirteen wins in September 2014. In the January 2017 tournament, at ''Maegashira'' 9, he was only able to secure a 6–9 record. The March 2017 tournament saw him at ''maegashira'' 11, and he had mixed results. On the final day his record was 7–7, however he was unable to get the win against Takarafuji and end the tournament with a losing record of 7–8. He won only three bouts at ''maegashira'' 10 in the September 2017 tournament and was demoted back to the ''jūryō'' division, but an 8–7 record at the rank of West ''Jūryō'' 1 in November 2017 was sufficient to return him to ''makuuchi''.

Ishiura remained in the top division for the next five tournaments, but after four straight losing records was demoted to ''jūryō'' again after the September 2018 tournament. After a two tournament stint in ''jūryō'' he returned to the top division in March 2019. He dropped to ''jūryō'' in July, but is ranked in ''makuuchi'' for September 2019. This was the first tournament that he and his stablemates Hakuhō and Enhō were all fit and in ''makuuchi'' together, allowing them all to take part in the '' yokozuna dohyo-iri'' ceremony.

In training at his stable before the January 2020 tournament he came to blows with a junior ranked wrestler, Hokahō, after a series of heated bouts and the pair had to be separated by Hakuhō. The incident was reported to the Sumo Association by Miyagino Oyakata, and Ishiura was docked 20 percent of one month's salary. He missed the start of the September 2020 tournament due to a right ankle injury suffered on Day 14 of the July tournament, but returned from Day 8. He was forced to sit out the January 2021 tournament after his stablemate Hakuhō tested positive for COVID-19, and sat out in September 2021 because of another COVID-19 outbreak.

Ishiura pulled out of the March 2022 tournament after he suffered a pinched nerve in his Day 3 bout with Kotonowaka, but returned on Day 11. He withdrew again at the start of the May 2022 ''basho'' due to cervical spine injuries which would require about three weeks of treatment. The same injury forced him to withdraw from the following tournament in July after being demoted to ''jūryō''.

Fighting style

Ishiura favours a right hand inside, left hand outside grip on his opponent's ''mawashi'' or belt. His favourite ''kimarite'' or winning technique is ''shitatenage'', the underarm throw. In November 2019, Ishiura won a victory in the Fukuoka Tournament ('Basho') over Nishikigi on Day Eight using what is likely the rarest winning technique in sumo. The '' mitokorozeme'' (三所攻め) or 'three places attack' is a ''kimarite'' that had not been seen in the top division since Mainoumi used it in 1993.

Personal life

Ishiura announced in May 2017 that he had married a nursery school teacher in April after a four-year relationship. The wedding ceremony was held in October 2017 with his stablemate Hakuhō among the 500 guests. Their first child was born in May 2018.

Career record

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of active sumo wrestlers
* Active special prize winners

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishiura Masakatsu
1990 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Tottori Prefecture
Sumo wrestlers who use their birth name
Nihon University alumni