Fudoiwa Mitsuo

Fudoiwa Mitsuo - 不動岩 三男 (born August 6, 1924 - April 15, 1964) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kumamoto. He made his debut in January 1940 and wrestled for Tokitsukaze stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 1944. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in January 1954.

## **Early Life**

Mitsuo Noda was born on August 6, 1924, in Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture. He spent part of his childhood in Hsinking, Manchuko (currently Changchun, Jilin, China) due to his father's work. He attended Shinkyo Commercial School where he participated in many sports such as judo, volleyball and baseball. One day, former ozeki Kagamiiwa, who just retired, was on a summer tour in Gyeongseong, Chosen (currently Seoul, South Korea) and he spotted the young Noda who stood 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) and weighed 100 kg (220 Ib). He was subsequently recruited into Kumegawa stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in January 1940 and was given the shikona "Fudoiwa" (不動岩). Upon his stable's closure in 1942, Fudoiwa transferred to Futabayama Dojo (later renamed Tokitsukaze stable). He was promoted to sandanme in January 1942 and makushita in May 1942. In January 1944 he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 8-0 record and was promoted to juryo for the following May 1944 tournament. After only one tournament in juryo, Fudoiwa was immediately promoted to makuuchi for the November 1944 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In only his third makuuchi tournament, Fudoiwa was ranked at komusubi. In this tournament, Fudoiwa defeated Yokozuna Akinoumi on the 6th day by uwatenage and this win was meaningful for him as Akinoumi ended his stablemaster Futabayama's 69 consecutive win streak. He was promoted to sekiwake for the following November 1946 tournament. It had only taken Fudoiwa four tournaments to reach sekiwake and many speculated that Fudoiwa would reach the rank of yokozuna. However, Fudoiwa finished with a 5-8 record in his sekiwake debut and was demoted back down to the maegashira ranks. He was unable to meet the high expectations placed on him due to injuries and visceral diseases. He was demoted back down to juryo in September 1952 due to sciatica. He retired from sumo in January 1954.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring from sumo, Fudoiwa remained in the sumo world as an elder. He initially borrowed the elder stock Kumegawa owned by ozeki Kagamiiwa before switching to the Shikihide stock, owned by maegashira Ariake, in 1960. He briefly worked as a ringside judge, but left this role after many complaints were filed as the fans behind him could not see the sumo matches. He left the Japan Sumo Association in November 1961 as he was only borrowing his elder stock.

After leaving the sumo world, Fudoiwa worked as an auditor for a development company in his hometown of Kumamoto. He died on April 15, 1964, at the age of 39.

## **Fighting Style**

Fudoiwa 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 abisetaoshi (backward force down), sotogake (outside leg trip), and uwatenage (overarm throw). Standing at 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in), he was the tallest makuuchi wrestler of the Showa Era.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 187-196-22/381 (35 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 105-126-15/230 (19 basho)
* **Juryo:** 42-51-7/92 (7 basho)
* **Makushita:** 22-10/32 (4 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 6-2/8 (1 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 7-1/8 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-4/8 (1 basho)
* **Shinjo:** 1-2/3 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 1944)

## **Shikona History**

* Noda Mitsuo (1940.01 - 1941.01)
* Fudoiwa Mitsuo (1941.05 - 1944.01)

## **Sources**

* Fudoiwa Mitsuo Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Fudoiwa Mitsuo Rikishi Information