Yamamotoyama Ryuta

Yamamotoyama Ryuta - 山本山 龍太 (born May 8, 1984) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Saitama City, Saitama. He made his debut in January 2007 and wrestled for Onoe stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 2009. His highest rank was maegashira 9 and he retired in May 2011.

## **Early Life**

His parents divorced when he was young and he went to live with his father. He attended Saitama Shiritsu Mamiya Junior High School and was a member of the school's sumo team. He won the national team competition with his school and achieved third place in the individual competition.

He entered Saitama Sakae High School which was known for its strong sumo program. In his second year he won the National High School Sumo Rookie Championship and in his third year he achieved third place in the National High School Sumo Championship. He also won the World Junior Sumo Championships in that same year. After graduating in 2003, he enrolled at Nihon University and was a member of the school's sumo club. He won the East Japan Student Sumo Championship in his second year and the All Japan University Sumo Towada Tournament in his third year. He won many more championships and served as the co-captain of the sumo club. Upon graduation from college he had five personal titles/championships to his name, however, none of them qualified him for the makushita tsukedashi status. Nonetheless he joined Onoe stable in January 2007.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He broke the record for the largest new recruit, weighing in at 233 kg in 2007. The previous record holder, Hokutomori, weighed in at 205 kg when he joined professional sumo in 1994. His shikona or fighting name was created simply by adding the suffix yama (meaning "mountain") to his own surname. This is common for lower ranked wrestlers but it was rather unusual him to keep it even after reaching sekitori status. Yamamotoyama however, shares his name with a well-known producer of Japanese seaweed and tea, with whom he was reportedly keen to secure a sponsorship deal.

Yamamotoyama breezed through the first three divisions and scored no less than six wins in each tournament. He produced a perfect 7-0 in May 2007 to win the jonidan yusho. He was promoted to makushita in November 2007 and posted his first losing record, but he ultimately bounced back by claiming the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record. Three tournaments later he was promoted to juryo for the September 2008 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon his promotion he posed for photographers with two bags of rice and told reporters that he was aiming for 241 kg in weight, to break the record for a Japanese rikishi then held by Susanoumi. Only two wrestlers have weighed more than him: Hawaiian born Konishiki at 285 kg (628 lb), and Russian sandanme rikishi Orora at 288 kg (635 lb). Yamamotoyama once reportedly ate 146 pieces of sushi in a single meal.

After posting nine wins in consecutive juryo tournaments, he was promoted to the top makuuchi division for the 2009 January tournament. The twelve tournaments it took him to enter the top division ties him with Tochiazuma, among others, in a group of the second fastest wrestlers to reach this level.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He came through with a kachi-koshi winning record of 8-7 in his debut makuuchi tournament, and followed up with another 8-7 in March 2009. He failed to get his kachi-koshi on the final day of the May 2009 tournament, for only the second time in his career. He suffered a muscle pull in his ribcage during the July 2009 tournament after falling to the floor of the dohyo twice in two bouts against Wakakoyu on Day 9 and had to withdraw for the first time in his career. He fell to the juryo division for the September tournament as a result. He scored 9-6 there, enough for an immediate makuuchi return. However he entered the Kyushu basho in November 2009 in poor condition, having injured his right elbow whilst on tour in October, and he eventually withdrew from the tournament with only two wins, after being diagnosed with influenza.

### **Later Career**

Remaining in the juryo division, he suffered knee ligament damage on the 11th day of the July 2010 tournament and was forced to withdraw. Still troubled by the injury, he pulled out on the first day of the September tournament, and as a result was demoted to the makushita division. Following his loss of sekitori status, he resumed menial duties at Onoe stable, becoming the head chanko chef. Due to his injury he was unable to do any keiko (training) except walking. After fighting only one bout from the rank of Makushita 13, he withdrew from the November tournament as well. His continuing absence saw him drop to the fourth sandanme division for the (cancelled) March 2011 basho.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

In April 2011, along with 18 other wrestlers, he was ordered to retire by the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) after an investigation into allegations of bout-rigging prompted by the discovery of text messages on the mobile phone of fellow juryo wrestler Kasuganishiki, which mentioned Yamamotoyama's involvement in throwing matches. He responded angrily to the decision, saying "The JSA made up its mind from the start that I cheated without listening to me." However, on April 5th he visited the Ryogoku Kokugikan to hand in his retirement papers, alongside stablemates Sakaizawa and Shirononami who were also found guilty. He had a retirement ceremony at the Tokyo Prince Hotel in September 2011, alongside Sakaizawa.

### **Post Retirement Activities**

In 2012 he appeared in Season 5 of India's biggest reality show Bigg Boss. Before entering he told reporters that he had already seen the 4th season and he that he loved both the show and Indian culture, despite not knowing Hindi or English. He was given special placards with pictoral representations that helped him to communicate his needs to the housemates. To ensure that Yamamotoyama remains entertained, special activities had been planned during his stay in the house that helped audiences to get some special insights into the life of a professional Japanese sumo wrestler. He entered the house on day 91, as a guest, and bid a farewell after a day of stay there. In their last week Yamamotoyama would teach origami to Bigg Boss 5 inmates.

In 2013 Yamamotoyama participated in a multi-city "Sumo + Sushi" show tour in the United States, co-sponsored by Living Social and USA Sumo.Attendees were shown sumo training exercises and then actual (albeit somewhat restrained) bouts between Yamamotoyama and other sumo stars such Ulambayaryn Byambajav and Kelly Gneiting. In February 2015, Yamamotoyama was the celebrity guest for Koyasan Buddhist Temple’s annual Hoshimatsuri service, where he is a volunteer and regular attendee. In May 2015, he appeared on the American television program The Bachelorette along with Ulambayaryn, and in 2017 starred in the music video for the song "Shape of You" by English artist Ed Sheeran. Also in 2017 he was featured in the Hollywood motion picture John Wick 2 with Keanu Reeves.

## **Fighting Style**

Yamamotoyama's most common winning kimarite or technique was yori-kiri, the force out, and he preferred a migi-yotsu, or left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi. He also regularly won by oshi-dashi, the push out, and uwatenage, the overarm throw.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 131-107-34/233 (25 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 29-41-5/68 (5 basho)
* **Juryo:** 54-49-17/101 (8 basho)
* **Makushita:** 23-14-12/36 (7 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 2008)
* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (May 2007)

### **Achievements**

* **Record:** Tied for **8th**: Fastest progress to top division (12)
* Heaviest Japanese Sumo Wrestler (**3rd** overall)

## **Gallery**

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

Yamamotoyama Ryuta - 2008 (Retrieved from the JSA)Yamamotoyama's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Yamamotoyama gets measured upon joining professional sumo (c. 2006)Yamamotoyama battles Tochinowaka in maezumo (c. 2007)Yamamotoyama in the unsalaried ranksYamamotoyama ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2008)Yamamotoyama celebrates promotion to Juryo (c. 2008)Yamamotoyama defeats college classmate Ichihara (c. 2008)Yamamotoyama after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2009)Yamamotoyama defeats TamanoshimaYamamotoyama throws Toyonoshima (c. 2009)Yamamotoyama was known for his gargantuan sizeYamamotoyama defeats Toyohibiki (c. 2009)Yamamotoyama (right) celebrates Baruto's ozeki promotion (c. 2010)Yamamotoyama gets wheeled out after an injury (c. 2010)Yamamotoyama after being found guilty of match-fixing (c. 2011)Yamamotoyama after his retirement ceremonyYamamotoyama battles Byamba in amateur sumo

## **Sources**

* Yamamotoyama Ryuta Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Yamamotoyama Ryuta Rikishi Information