Katayama Shinji

Katayama Shinji - 片山 伸次 (born September 6, 1979) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yaizu, Shizuoka. He made his debut in March 2002 and last wrestled for Onomatsu stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 2005. His highest rank was maegashira 13 and he retired in January 2009.

## **Early Life**

Katayama joined a sumo club during his fourth year of elementary school and participated in the national competition during this sixth year. He continued to sumo wrestle at junior high school, Yaizu Fisheries High School, and at Senshu University. During his time in college, he finished third at the All Japan Sumo Championships. He made his professional debut in March 2002 at the age of 22, joining Onomatsu stable. He did not have enough amateur titles to enter at the makushita level, instead beginning his career at the lowest level of sumo entry, maezumo.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Katayama won the jonokuchi yusho in his first tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. He breezed through both the jonidan and sandanme divisions and was promoted to makushita in March 2003. In his first makushita tournament he produced a strong 6-1 record and was promoted to makushita 29 in May 2003. However, in this tournament he produced a disastrous winless 0-7 record and was demoted back to sandanme. He bounced back from this embarrassing feat by producing six consecutive winning records which promoted him to juryo in July 2004.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo, Katayama unusually decided to keep wrestling under his family name instead of adopting a traditional shikona. Katayama produced an 8-7 record in his first juryo tournament, but followed the record with two losing records. He bounced back by producing two strong 10-5 records which earned him a spot in the top makuuchi division.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Katayama produced a solid 8-7 record in his first makuuchi tournament, however, this would be his only top division kachi-koshi. In the following tournament he was 4-4 by the eight day, but went on to lose his last seven matches to finish with a poor 4-11 record which resulted in a fall back to juryo. He returned to makuuchi after one tournament in juryo, but could only last in the division for two more tournaments. His last appearance in makuuchi was in November 2006 where he produced a poor 6-9 record after losing his last four matches.

### **Later Career**

He remained in juryo for the majority of his later career. He could manage only a 7-8 score at the rank of juryo 13 in March 2008, leaving him dangerously close to demotion to the unsalaried ranks. He maintained his sekitori status with a 9-6 mark in May 2008, but a disastrous 2-13 in July meant he was demoted to makushita for the September tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Katayama produced a 2-5 record in the November 2008 tournament and fell down to the rank of makushita 16 in January 2009. He sat out of this tournament and announced his retirement on the twelfth day of the tournament. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held on February 1st, 2009.

Katayama appeared on the June 18, 2010, issue of the magazine "FRIDAY" where he told reporters about experience with the yakuza and sumo. At the time the sumo world was hit with many yakuza-related gambling scandals and many wrestlers from Katayama's Onomatsu stable were involved/participated.

## **Personal Life**

* He was admired for the quality of his stamps during the pre-bout rituals, known as shiko, as he was able to raise his leg straight up in the air.
* Katayama's hobby is watching movies. His favorite foods are noodles and fried chicken. He is a fan of baseball and his favorite team is the Chiba Lotte Marines.

## **Fighting Style**

He was an oshi-sumo specialist who referred pushing and thrusting techniques. His most common winning kimarite was a straightforward oshidashi, or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 241-239-6/480 (42 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 36-54/90 (6 basho)
* **Juryo:** 137-148/285 (19 basho)
* **Makushita:** 37-26-6/63 (10 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 18-10/28 (4 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Katayama Shinji - 2005 (Retrieved from the JSA)Katayama Shinji - 2004 (Retrieved from the JSA)Katayama's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Katayama after promotion to Juryo (c. 2004)Katayama presented with his kesho mawashi (c. 2004)Katayama after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2005)Katayama's impressive Shiko (leg lifts)Katayama after his retirement ceremony (c. 2009)Katayama's exposing interview about sumo's relationship with the yakuza
## **Sources**

* Katayama Shinji Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Katayama Shinji Rikishi Information