Tsushimanada Masamitsu

Tsushimanada Masamitsu - 對馬洋 勝満 (born June 27, 1993) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Isahaya, Nagasaki. He made his debut in May 2016 and currently wrestles for Sakaigawa stable. He reached the juryo division in November 2022. His highest rank as of 2023 is juryo 9.

## **Early Life**

Umeno began sumo wrestling during his fourth year in elementary School as he enrolled at a local sumo dojo. He went on to attend Isahaya Municipal Takaki Junior High School where he belonged to the basketball club before leaving for the school's sumo club. While attending high school, he participated in many national tournaments but was unable to produce any strong results.

After graduating, Umeno enrolled at Nihon University's College of Humanities and Sciences where he studied physical education. He was also a member of the school's prestigious sumo club. Umeno posted strong results in his first three years, winning the East Japan Sumo Tournament each year. However, in his fourth year, he suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee at the All Japan University Sumo Tournament and was unable to compete in subsequent competitions. Nevertheless, after graduation Umeno opted to join professional sumo and joined Sakaigawa stable because the stablemaster (former komusubi Ryogoku) is an alumnus of Nihon University.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He officially joined professional sumo in May 2016, but did not start wrestling until the following July tournament because he had to recover from his left knee injury. At this time he had just turned 23, but luckily the Japan Sumo Association changed the age limit to under 25 for sumo wrestlers with an extensive amateur background (the age limit used to be under 23).

On the fifth day of the July 2016 tournament, Umeno suffered a concussion against Kinjo during a bout in maezumo (pre-sumo), but he still managed to win the bout. He breezed through the bottom three divisions and was given the shikona "Tsushimanada" (對馬洋) in March 2017.

Tsushimanada's progression stalled as he reached the makushita division, mostly due to sustaining injuries. He reached as high as makushita 6 in March 2019, but had to sit out of the following two tournaments which resulted in a demotion back to sandanme. He immediately returned back to makushita but continued to struggle due to injuries.

In November 2021, Tsushimanada rose to the rank of makushita 2 but failed to capitalize on a winning record. In the May 2022 tournament, Tsushimanada defeated juryo wrestler and former komusubi Shohozan on the final day and this proved to be Shohozan's final match. In September 2022, Tsushimanada finished with a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 4 and was promoted to the juryo division for the following November 2022 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Tsushimanada being the fourth sekitori in his stable. His promotion also makes him the first wrestler from his hometown to be promoted sekitori in 45 years, since the retirement of former maegashira Shishiho Yoshimasa. However, Tsushimanada suffered a narrow loss in his first tournament as a sekitori, achieving a 7-8 make-koshi record. After his first tournament at sekitori, he visited his hometown of Isahaya for the first time in seven years, because he decided that he would not return until he became a sekitori. Tsushimanada maintained his sekitori rank due to the balance of promotion and demotion within the ranking. After a good performance during the 2023 January tournament, in which he scored five wins in a row during his last five matches, he was promoted to juryo 9, his highest rank at the time. However, after a weak performance at the March tournament, Tsushimanada was relegated to juryo 14, threatening him with demotion back to the makushita division. Nevertheless, he managed to go from a 1–6 score at Day 7, to a kachi-koshi score of 8–7, notably winning his last four bouts and securing his juryo status.

## **Personal Life**

* Tsushimanada's shikona is derived from an ozeki of the same name who wrestled from 1910-1922. According to a local newspaper, *The Nagasaki Shimbun*, Tsushimanada himself is not related to the ozeki, but chose the shikona because his father comes from Tsushima island. On the other hand, other reports claimed that Tsushimanada stated that the ozeki was his maternal-great-grandfather.
* Tsushimanada served as his stablemate Myogiryu's tsukebito, or personal servant, while in the unsalaried ranks.

## **Fighting Style**

Tsushimanada prefers yotsu-zumo (grappling techniques) instead of oshi-zumo (pushing techniques) and the Japan Sumo Association lists his favorite mawashi grip as migi-yotsu (right hand inside and left hand outside). His most common kimarite are hatakikomi (slap down), yorikiri (force out) and uwatedashinage (pulling overarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 185-137-21/321 (44 basho)
* **Juryo:** 31-44/75 (5 basho)
* **Makushita:** 124-88-21/211 (33 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 18-3/21 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Umeno Masamitsu (2016.05 - 2017.01)
* Tsushimanada Masamitsu (2017.03 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Tsushimanada Masamitsu - 2023 (Retrived from the JSA)Tsushimanada Masamitsu - 2022 (Retrived from the JSA)Tsushimanada Masamitsu - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tsushimanada's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Tsushimanada gets measured upon joining sumo (c. 2016)Tsushimanada retires Shohozan (c. 2022)Tsushimanada ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2022)Tsushimanada after promotion to Juryo (c. 2022)Tsushimanada's Juryo promotion is celebrated (c. 2022)Tsushimanada defeats Roga (c. 2022)Tsushimanada prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2023)Tsushimanada defeats Shonannoumi (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Tsushimanada Masamitsu Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tsushimanada Masamitsu Rikishi Information