Daishoho Masami

Daishoho Masami - 大翔鳳 昌巳 (born May 7, 1967 - December 4, 1999) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Sapporo, Hokkaido. He made his debut in January 1990 and wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1991 and has 2 special prizes. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in July 1999.

## **Early Life**

Born in Sapporo, he took up skiing as a young boy, as he came from an area famous for its ski slopes. He also played basketball at school. However his father was an amateur sumo enthusiast and encouraged his son to try the sport. In his third year of junior high he took part in the National Junior High School Sumo Championships, held in Tokyo, and was put up in Tatsunami stable during the championships. Murata was an amateur sumo champion at Nihon University, and after graduation he returned to Tatsunami stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Murata made his professional debut in January 1990 and started in the bottom of the makushita division due to his amateur accomplishments (makushita tsukedashi). He produced six consecutive winning records from his debut and was promoted to juryo in January 1991.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to Juryo, he changed his shikona from his surname to "Daishoho" (大翔鳳). In his first tournament as a sekitori, he posted a strong 11-4 record and followed with a 10-5 performance. In his third tournament, Daishoho won the juryo yusho with an 11-4 record and was promoted to makuuchi in July 1991.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Daisho was able to establish himself in makuuchi with an 8-7 record in his first tournament. His best performance in a tournament was in September 1992 when he was runner-up to Takahanada with 11 wins and he also earned his first fighting spirit prize. He reached his highest rank of komusubi in January 1993, but after that he was plagued by a number of injuries to his knees, back and triceps. In January 1995 he won his second fighting spirit prize with a strong 11-4 record and was promoted back to komusubi. he made his third and last appearance as a komusubi in July 1996. He fell back to the juryo division after pulling out of the January 1997 tournament on the 4th day.

## **Retirement and Death**

In 1999 Daishoho was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He wanted to receive treatment whilst still remaining active on the dohyo, but in June he was persuaded by his doctors to enter hospital full-time and so retired from sumo. Since it was clear that he would be unlikely to live long enough to have a formal retirement ceremony (danpatsu-shiki) at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, which normally takes place up to a year after retiring, in October 1999 his fellow wrestler and graduate of Nihon University Mainoumi organised a private function for him which was attended by around 400 people including wrestlers such as Konishiki and Musashimaru and his former stablemaster Haguroyama, although senior members of the Sumo Association and his former coach at Nihon University Hidetoshi Tanaka did not attend as it was an unsanctioned event. Daishoho's weight had dropped from 150 kg to below 90 kg.

He briefly remained in the Japan Sumo Association as Daishoho Oyakata (jun-toshiyori). He died on December 4, 1999 at a Tokyo hospital due to pancreatic cancer. He was 32 years old.

## **Fighting Style**

Daishoho liked pushing techniques, particularly tsuppari, a series of rapid thrusts to the chest. However, he was also good at fighting on the mawashi or belt, where he preferred a migi-yotsu grip, a left hand outside and right hand inside position. His most commonly used kimarite were yorikiri (force out), oshidashi (push out) and uwatenage (overarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 369-380-65/746 (58 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 222-261-27/481 (34 basho)
* **Juryo:** 116-108-31/223 (17 basho)
* **Makushita:** 31-11-7/42 (7 basho)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (2)

## **Shikona History**

* Murata Masami (1990.01 - 1990.11)
* Daishoho Masami (1991.01 - 1999.07)

## **Gallery**

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

Daishoho Masami - 1997 (Retrieved from the JSA)Daishoho's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Daishoho in Makushita (c. 1990)Daishoho (c. 1993)Daishoho during the Makuuchi dohyo-iriDaishoho in his bright gold mawashi (c. 1997)Daishoho's retirement ceremony two months before death (c. 1999)
## **Sources**

* Daishoho Masami Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Daishoho Masami Rikishi Information