Hamanoshima Keishi

Hamanoshima Keishi - 濱ノ嶋 啓志 (born March 21, 1970) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Uto, Kumamoto. He made his debut in January 1992 and wrestled for Mihogaseki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1994 and has 1 special prize. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in May 2004.

## **Early Life**

Hamasu attended Buntoku Gakuen Gymnasium where he participated in many national competitions for sumo. He was an amateur champion at Nihon University, where he was a contemporary of the future maegashira Higonoumi. He joined Mihogaseki stable in January 1992.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He had makushita tsukedashi status because of his amateur achievements and so began at the bottom of the makushita division. He produced consistent results and never managed to finish with a losing record. After six tournaments in makushita he was promoted to juryo in January 1993.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona from his surname to "Hamanoshima" (濱ノ嶋). He posted two consecutive 10-5 records In September 1993 he won the juryo yusho with a strong 11-4 record and followed with a 9-6 record in November which earned him a promotion to makuuchi for the January 1994 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He posted four consecutive winning records from his makuuchi debut. In July 1994 he won the Outstanding Performance Award for defeating tournament winner Takanohana, which proved to be his only special prize. He reached his highest rank of komusubi the following tournament in September 1994, but scored only six wins against nine losses and never made the rank again. He remained mainly in the lower maegashira ranks and he struggled to produce meaningful results in the upper maegashira ranks.

### **Later Career**

Suffering from diabetes he was demoted from the top division in March 2001 after 39 consecutive tournaments as a maegashira, and after being demoted from the juryo division in January 2002 he fought in the unsalaried makushita division for the last two years of his career.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He retired in May 2004, becoming an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Onoe Oyakata. His danpatsu-shiki or official retirement ceremony was held in the Ryogoku Kokugikan in January 2005. In August 2006 he branched out from Mihogaseki and set up his own Onoe stable, against the wishes of his old stablemaster Mihogaseki Oyakata (who had wanted him to stay and eventually inherit Mihogaseki stable). Onoe took with him six wrestlers he had recruited, including the top division wrestler Baruto and juryo Satoyama. This marked the first time since Aobajo left Nishonoseki stable for Oshiogawa stable in 1975 that a makuuchi wrestler had left an established stable for a newly founded one. The Sumo Association subsequently tightened the rules for branching out, requiring elders wishing to set up their own stables to have at least 60 tournaments in the top division or 25 in san'yaku (which would have prevented Onoe from branching out had new rules been in place then).

In April 2011 three of his wrestlers (Yamamotoyama, Shirononami and Sakaizawa) were forced to retire by the Japan Sumo Association because of match-fixing. Onoe was demoted two ranks in the Association' elder hierarchy as punishment. In the same month he was found by police to be allegedly driving while intoxicated. Onoe apologised for his actions at a press conference.

## **Personal Life**

* His nephew, Ryuko Kawakami, joined his stable in January 2017 and reached the elite sekitori status in July 2019. Onoe's son, Motohiro Hamasu (born March 6th, 2001), wrestled for the Saitama Sakae High School sumo club and joined Onoe stable in November 2018.

## **Fighting Style**

Hamanoshima was a yotsu-sumo wrestler, who preferred grabbing the mawashi to pushing or thrusting. He favored a hidari-yotsu grip, with his right hand outside and left hand inside his opponent's position. His most common winning kimarite was a straightforward yorikiri or force out. He was also fond of tsukiotoshi, or thrust over. He was known for stalling at the tachi-ai to unsettle his opponents.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 447-495-23/941 (75 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 293-367/660 (44 basho)
* **Juryo:** 78-71-16/148 (11 basho)
* **Makushita:** 76-57-7/133 (20 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (September 1993)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Outstanding Performance Prize (1)

## **Shikona History**

* Hamasu Keishi (1992.01 - 1992.11)
* Hamanoshima Keishi (1993.01 - 2004.05)

## **Gallery**

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

Hamanoshima Keishi - 1997 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hamanoshima's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Hamanoshima in Juryo (c. 1993)Hamanoshima after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 1994)Hamanoshima receives a sansho prize (c. 1994)Hamanoshima after promotion to Komusubi (c. 1994)Hamanoshima battles his opponent (c. 1998)Hamanoshima falls to the unsalaried ranks (c. 2002)Hamanoshima announces his retirement (c. 2004)Hamanoshima's retirement ceremony (c. 2005)Hamanoshima after retirement as One Oyakata (c. 2008)Hamanoshima apologizes for his drunk driving (c. 2011)
## **Sources**

* Hamanoshima Keishi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hamanoshima Keishi Rikishi Information