Taishin Mitsumasa

Taishin Mitsumasa - 太晨 光真 (born April 25, 1967) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Higashiosaka, Osaka. He made his debut in March 1984 and last wrestled for Kitanoumi stable. He reached the juryo division in November 1991. His highest rank was juryo 9 and he retired in September 1994.

## **Early Life**

In junior high school, Murai devoted himself to sumo wrestling and in his third year at Nagase Junior High School, he won the Osaka Prefectural Tournament. He went on to attend Osaka Sangyo University Senior High School where he began to learn judo and also participated in some prefectural tournaments. During his first year in high school, he was introduced to yokozuna Kitanoumi by a local chankonabe restaurant owner and he decided to try out professional sumo.

## **Career**

Murai joined Mihogaseki stable and made his debut in March 1984 before later transferring to the newly established Kitanoumi stable in 1985. He was promoted to sandanme in July 1985 and makushita in may 1986. In July 1986, he wrestled under the shikona "Yakanoumi" (弥刀の湖) for one tournament before reverting back to Murai. In January 1987 he switched his shikona to "Taishin" (太晨) before reverting back to his surname in July 1989. He posted seven consecutive winning records and was promoted to juryo in November 1991.

He was the first sumo wrestler produced by Kitanoumi stable. Upon promotion to juryo he changed his shikona back to Taishin. In his sekitori debut, he could only manage five wins and was demoted back down to makushita. He returned back to juryo after one tournament in the unsalaried ranks, but he finished with a 6-9 record and was demoted back to makushita in May 1992.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Taishin stayed in makushita for another two years after demotion. He changed his shikona back to his surname in January 1994 and announced his retirement after the September 1994 tournament at the age of 27. After retiring he opened up a chankonabe restaurant in Higashiosaka, Osaka, called the "The Chanko Room Taishin" (ザ・ちゃんこ部屋 太晨).

## **Personal Life**

Taishin's favorite food is ramen. His hobby is shopping.

## **Fighting Style**

Taishin was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite was oshidashi (push out), followed by hatakikomi (slap down).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 239-218/457 (64 basho)
* **Juryo:** 11-19/30 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 91-98/189 (27 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 102-80/182 (26 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 29-20/49 (7 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Murai Shuji (1984.03 - 1986.05)
* Yakonoumi (1986.07 - 1986.07)
* Murai (1986.09 - 1986.11)
* Taishin (1987.01 - 1989.05)
* Murai (1989.07 - 1991.09)
* Taishin Mitsumasa (1991.11 - 1993.11)
* Murai (1994.01 - 1994.09)

## **Gallery**

Taishin joins the newly founded Kitanoumi stable (c. 1985)Taishin poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1991)
## **Sources**

* Taishin Mitsumasa Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Taishin Mitsumasa Rikishi Information