Iwanami Shigehiro

Iwanami Shigehiro - 岩波 重廣 (born February 15, 1955 - January 21, 1999) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kisarazu, Chiba. He made his debut in November 1971 and last wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1977. His highest rank was maegashira 8 and he retired in March 1984.

## **Early Life**

Iwashita was born in Chiba prefecture, but due to his father's work (his father was employed at Nippon Steel), he was raised in Hikari, Yamaguchi. He returned to Chiba in July 1970 where he attended Amaha High School. However, during his second year of high school, he aspired to become a sumo wrestler and joined Tatsunami stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Iwashita made his professional debut in November 1971. He was promoted to makushita in March 1973, but he was unable to establish himself there and spent multiple tournaments in sandanme where he won the yusho on two different occasions with a perfect 7-0 record. In July 1976, he posted a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 1 and was promoted to juryo in the following September 1976 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Iwashita was able to establish himself as a sekitori as he produced an 8-7 record in his debut tournament. He followed with strong 10-5 record and was promoted to the upper ranks of juryo. There he continued to produce solid numbers and was promoted to makuuchi in July 1977.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Iwashita had rather unlucky first makuuchi debut as he suffered a left knee joint injury, cervical sprain, and a concussion during a match on the 13th day against the American Takamiyama. He withdrew from the tournament on the 14th day and sat out of the following tournament which resulted in a fall back down to juryo. He changed his shikona to "Terunoyama" (照の山) in March 1978 before switching to "Iwanami" (岩波) in July 1980. He was ranked in makuuchi for a total of 17 tournaments, but could only manage a winning record, consisting of 8-7 records, in three of the seventeen tournaments. His last makuuchi appearance was in November 1981.

### **Later Career**

Since 1982, in addition to neck and knee injuries, Iwanami began suffering from diabetes and internal organ diseases. He was demoted down to makushita in November 1982 and sandanme in May 1983. He announced his retirement after the March 1984 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring, Iwashita lived in a sanatorium for a long time, but since 1998, he began managing an izakaya in his hometown of Kisarazu. However, he suddenly became ill the following year and died on Janaury 21, 1999, at the young age of 43.

## **Personal Life**

From January 1972, while an active sumo wrestler, Iwashita attended Ryogoku Senior High School and graduated in March 1974 where he was already in makushita.

During his time in makushita, he appeared in TV commercials with Kinya Aikawa.

## **Fighting Style**

Iwanami was a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite was oshidashi, or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 394-390-23/783 (75 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 103-136-16/238 (17 basho)
* **Juryo:** 160-140/300 (20 basho)
* **Makushita:** 68-79/147 (21 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 48-29-7/77 (12 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 9-5/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (May 1979)
* 2 **Sandanme** Championships
	+ 1st (November 1973)
	+ 2nd (July 1974)

## **Shikona History**

* Iwashita Eiichi (1971.11 - 1978.01)
* Terunoyama Eiichi (1978.03 - 1980.05)
* Iwanami Shigehiro (1980.07 - 1983.05)
* Iwashita Eiichi (1983.07 - 1984.03)

## **Gallery**

A young Iwashita joins professional sumo (c. 1971)Iwanami poses with his kesho-mawashi during his time as IwashitaIwanami with his kesho-mawashiIwanami warms up for his upcoming bout (c. 1981)Iwashita's tegataTerunoyama's tegata
## **Sources**

* Iwanami Shigehiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Iwanami Shigehiro Rikishi Information