Tsunenoyama Katsumasa I

## Tsunenoyama Katsumasa

Tsunenoyama Katsumasa - 常ノ山 勝正 (born February 9, 1925 - April 29, 1987) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kurashiki, Okayama. He made his debut in January 1940 and last wrestled for Dewanoumi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1949 and has two special prizes. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he retired in March 1957.

## **Early Life**

Tadakatsu Ishikawa was born in Kurashiki, Okayama, to farmers. At the age of 14, the young Ishikawa admired Fujishima Oyakata (the 31st Yokozuna Tsunenohana Kanichi) and wanted to join Dewanoumi stable where Fujishima worked as a coach. He initially failed the initial physical exam due to being too light, so he drank a lot of water prior to his second exam and passed.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in January 1940 and initially wrestled under his surname "Ishikawa" (石川). He was promoted to sandanme in January 1943 and makushita in January 1944. Upon promotion to makushita he was given the shikona " Washibayama " (鷲羽山). He was promoted to juryo in October 1948 and was given the new shikona "Tsunenoyama" (常ノ山). After two tournaments in juryo, Tsunenoyama was promoted to makuuchi in May 1949.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In his first top division tournament, Tsunenoyama finished with a strong 11-4 record. Although he was small, only weighing 98 kg (216 Ib), he made up for his wide variety of techniques. In January 1952, he defeated 2.02 m (6 ft 7.5 in) Ouchiyama by tsutaezori (underarm forward body drop). In addition, he also won two Technique prizes, one in May 1950 and the second one in January 1953. Tsunenoyama was ranked in makuuchi for a total of 27 tournaments, reaching as high as maegashira 2 in May 1952. After falling down to juryo in Janaury 1957, he retired from sumo after the following March 1957 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring from sumo, Tsunenoyama left the Sumo Association and opened up a chankonabe restaurant called "Tsunenoyama" (常ノ山) in the Nipponbashi district of Osaka.

### **Death**

On April 29, 1987, Tsunenoyama died at a hospital in Tennoji Ward, Osaka, due to gastrointestinal bleeding. He was 62 years old.

## **Personal Life**

Tsunenoyama's son-in-law was also a makuuchi wrestler who wrestled under the same ring name. He is also the uncle-in-law of sekiwake Washuyama.

## **Fighting Style**

Tsunenoyama was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri (force out). He was also fond of employing uchigake (inside leg trip) and shitatenage (underarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 266-269-15/532 (47 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 184-206-15/387 (27 basho)
* **Juryo:** 28-26/54 (4 basho)
* **Makushita:** 27-21/48 (8 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 11-5/16 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 9-7/16 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-3/8 (1 basho)
* **Shinjo:** 2-1/3 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Ishikawa (1940.01 - 1944.01)
* Washibayama Akira (1944.05 - 1948.05)
* Tsunenoyama Katsumasa (1948.10 - 1957.03)

## **Sources**

* Tsunenoyama Katsumasa Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tsunenoyama Katsumasa Rikishi Information