Bishuyama Daihachiro

Bishuyama Daihachiro - 備州山 大八郎 (born November 4, 1919 - March 19, 1962) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Fukuyama, Hiroshima. He made his debut in January 1936 and last wrestled for Isegahama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1941 and has five kinboshi and one top division championship. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in March 1955.

## **Early Life**

Jun'ichi Mitsuya was born on November 4, 1919, in modern day Fukuyama, Hiroshima. His parents were involved in the geta manufacturing industry. During elementary school, Mitsuya participated in judo, swimming, and sumo wrestling.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He joined Isegahama stable and at 16 first entered the ring in the 1936 Spring tournament. He was given the shikona "Bishuzan" (備州山) and steadily rosed up the banzuke. He was promoted to juryo in January 1940 and after two 10-5 records, he was promoted to makuuchi in January 1941.

### **Makuuchi Career**

At the time of his makuuchi debut, Bishuzan had not posted a single losing record. Though he actually had losing tournaments in his first three tournaments in makuuchi, he still rose in the rankings. This happened fairly often during these times and was due to the fact that East ranked and West ranked wrestlers were treated as two separate groups and if enough wrestlers from one side received bad losing records, other wrestlers from the same side had to be promoted to replace their slot in the rankings for the next tournament even if their records were not much better. In the Summer 1942 tournament at maegashira 8, he finally got his first top division kachikoshi and also beat yokozuna Haguroyama for his first gold star or kinboshi. He would continue to plague Haguroyama after this, beating him a total of four times as a maegashira. He changed the pronunciation of his shikona to "Bishuyama" in 1945.

In the summer 1945 tournament in the midst of regular allied bombings, Bishuyama had the best tournament of his career. It had been scheduled to be held on the Meiji Shrine grounds in May but had been postponed due to the bombings. The tournament was moved to the Ryogoku Kokugikan which itself was regularly closed due to the air raids. Under these conditions and with a truncated tournament of only seven days that was closed to the public, Bishuyama, at maegashira 1, took the championship with a perfect 7-0 record. This championship included beating his rival Haguroyama on the first day. This achievement would be his only championship of his career. His accomplishment was not forgotten however. Over ten years later, in a special edition magazine published in 1956, his picture clutching the Emperor's Cup was put on the front page. He was commemorated for his persistent fighting spirit on the dohyo during the turmoil of the allied bombings.

He was promoted to sekiwake the next tournament, but only managed a 5-5 record, and dropped to komusubi for the following Autumn 1946 tournament, the only one held that year. He lost six bouts in a row, and dropped out mid-tournament. He was largely a maegashira wrestler after this. In the Spring 1955 tournament he dropped to the second division juryo for the first time since entering the top division. At this time, it was the first case of a former top division champion continuing to compete after dropping to juryo instead of retiring. He lasted one more tournament, the Summer 1955 tournament, but he lost nine bouts in a row and retired mid-tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring from sumo, he remained in the Sumo Association as an elder under the name Kiriyama. He worked as a coach for Isegahama stable, but died young at the young age of 42 in March 1962.

## **Fighting Style**

Bishuyama was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite were yorikiri (force out), yoritaoshi (crush out), and oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 272-304-22/571 (48 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 219-265-12/481 (36 basho)
* **Juryo:** 23-27-10/48 (4 basho)
* **Makushita:** 15-7/22 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-1/6 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makuuchi** Championship (June 1945)

### **Achievements**

* **Kinboshi:** 5 (4) Haguroyama, (1) Maedayama

## **Shikona History**

* Bishuzan Junichi (1936.01 - 1942.01)
* Bishuzan Daihachiro (1942.05 - 1944.11)
* Bishuyama Daihachiro (1945.06 - 1945.11)
* Bishuyama Junichi (1946.11 - 1951.01)
* Bishuyama Daihachiro (1951.05 - 1952.05)
* Bishuyama Ryusho (1952.09 - 1953.09)
* Bishuyama Junichi (1954.01 - 1955.03)

## **Sources**

* Bishuyama Daihachiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Bishuyama Daihachiro Rikishi Information