Shionoumi Unemon

Shionoumi Unemon - 汐ノ海 運右エ門 (born March 1, 1918 - July 18, 1983) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Himeji, Hyogo. He made his debut in January 1938 and wrestled for Dewanoumi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1943 and has two kinboshi. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in May 1951.

## **Early Life**

He was born in Innan, Hyogo (present day Himeji). He was known for his strong physique since elementary school, and worked alongside adults in salt making. He was spotted by the top division wrestler Kasagiyama Katsuichi who persuaded him to join the prestigious Dewanoumi stable. At the time, Dewanoumi stable was seeking a way to stop the dominance of Futabayama from the rival Tatsunami stable, and Kasagiyama, a talented Waseda University graduate, was tasked with this research. The young Kishimoto was seen as extremely promising.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his debut in January 1938 at the age of 20, initially fighting under his own surname. He was promoted to makushita in January 1940 after only spending one tournament in each of the previous divisions. After four tournaments in makushita, he was promoted to juryo in January 1942.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to the salaried levels, he was given the new shikona "Shionoumi" (汐ノ海). In his first tournament as a sekitori, h finished with a solid 9-6 record, but followed with a superb 13-2 record to earn a promotion to makuuchi for the January 1943 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He made his top makuuchi division debut in January 1943, and in January 1944 earned his first kinboshi, or gold star for a yokozuna upset, when he defeated Futabayama. He progressed into the sanyaku ranks, making komusubi and then sekiwake, and in the only tournament held in 1946 he was runner-up to Haguroyama with an 11–2 record.

### **Ozeki Career**

After this tournament he was promoted to ozeki. He scored only five wins against five losses in his debut ozeki tournament held in June 1947, and was demoted from the rank after two consecutive losing scores in May and October 1948. However he returned to ozeki after two strong performances in 1949, defeating yokozuna Azumafuji in May and following up with another 10–5 record at sekiwake in October. He held onto his ozeki rank in 1950, but had a poor tournament in January 1951, being forced to default after four days, missing the next three through injury and then returning to lose another eight straight to finish with a 0-12-3 record. He retired after the following tournament, facing demotion from ozeki once again. His career record was 184 wins against 140 losses, with 16 injury absences. His top division record was 125-115. He had shouldered the burden of being the future of Dewanoumi stable, but had been unable to win a championship or defeat Haguroyama in 13 attempts. (The only other ozeki to face a yokozuna 10 or more times in his career and have no wins was Miyabiyama, who went 0-11 against Takanohana.)

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Shionoumi remained in sumo as a coach at Dewanoumi stable, as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Dekiyama. He was also a judge of tournament bouts. He reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 and left the Sumo Association on 28 February 1983. He worked in a ryokan in Monzennakacho, Koto, but died of a myocardial infarction on 18 July of the same year.

## **Fighting Style**

Shionoumi 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. He was also fond of employing hazu-oshi which is the act of pushing the opponent with hands beneath his armpits. His most often used winning kimarite was oshidashi (push out), followed by yorikiri (force out), and sukuinage (beltless arm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 184-140-16/322 (30 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 125-115-16/238 (20 basho)
* **Juryo:** 22-8/30 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 20-12/32 (4 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 6-2/8 (1 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

### **Achievements**

* **Kinboshi:** 2: (1) Futabayama, (1) Azumafuji

## **Shikona History**

* Kishimoto Tadao (1938.01 - 1941.05)
* Shionoumi Tadao (1942.01 - 1949.10)
* Shionoumi Unemon (1950.01 - 1951.05)

## **Gallery**

Shionoumi Unemon - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)
## **Sources**

* Shionoumi Unemon Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Shionoumi Unemon Rikishi Information