Sunahama Shoji

Sunahama Shoji - 砂浜 正二 (born July 22, 1971) is a former American professional sumo wrestler from Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. He made his debut in September 1990 and wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the juryo division in November 1995. His highest rank was juryo 5 and he retired in May 1997.

## **Early Life**

William Tyler Hopkins was born the eldest son of a florist in Hawaii. He was a standout American football player at Kaiser High School which is also the alma mater of yokozuna Akebono and maegashira Yamato. He also participated in baseball and wrestling.

After high school, he went on to attend college and he met ozeki Konishiki's younger brother. They were talking about sumo, and he was encouraged to try out sumo, so he dropped out and joined Takasago stable alongside Kaleo Kekauoha (Nanfu) and Eric Gaspar (Koryu).

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his debut in September 1990 and was given the shikona "Sunahama" (砂浜), which translates to sandy beach as a dedication to the beaches in his home state of Hawaii. He rose up the ranks quickly, breezing through the jonokuchi, jonidan, and sandanme division. He was promoted to makushita in January 1992. In September 1992, he produced a strong 6-1 record, and took part in an eight-man playoff for the makushita yusho, but he lost in the first round to fellow Hawaiian Ozora. In September 1995, he posted a strong 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 4 and was promoted to juryo in November 1995.

### **Juryo Career**

In his sekitori debut, Sunahama posted a strong 10-5 record and followed with an 8-7 record which promoted him to his highest rank of juryo 5 in March 1996. He could only manage 5 wins in this tournament. He remained in juryo for around two years, but could not produce consistent results.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Due to back pains, Sunahama returned to Hawaii and his retirement was announced after the May 1997 tournament. His retirement coincided with stablemate Koryu's (Eric Gaspar) retirement.

Upon retirement, Hopkins and his former stablemate and close friend, Eric Gaspar, opened up a a surfboard and canoe rental business in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii. Hopkins still participates in amateur sumo events/demonstrations alongside Wayne Vierra (ex-Kamikiiwa) and the previous mentioned Koryu.

## **Fighting Style**

Sunahama was a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. However, his most common winning kimarite or technique was yorikiri, or force out, which requires a belt grip.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 193-152-15/345 (41 basho)
* **Juryo:** 65-70-15/135 (10 basho)
* **Makushita:** 85-62/147 (21 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 18-10/28 (4 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 20-8/28 (4 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

## **Gallery**

Sunahama during his early career (c. 1991)Sunahama during his time in makushita (c. 1995)Sunahama as a Juryo vistor in Makushita (c. 1995)Sunahama after promotion to Juryo (c. 1995)Sunahama during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 1995)Sunahama (c. 1996)Sunahama (c. 1996)Sunahama performs at a sumo exhibition in Missouri (c. 2011)Sunahama's tegata

## **Sources**

* Sunahama Shoji Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Sunahama Shoji Rikishi Information
* The Associated Press, *Back pain forces Sunahama to retire*