Tamanoumi Masahiro

玉 の 海 正 洋
Tamanoumi Masahiro

Personal data
real name	Takeuchi Masao
Born	February 5, 1944
place of birth	Gamagōri
Died	October 11, 1971
size	1.77 m
Weight	135 kg
Career
Heya	Kataonami
Career record	469–221 (makuuchi)
debut	March 1959
Highest rank	Yokozuna
Tournament victories	6th
resignation	October 11, 1971

Tamanoumi Masahiro , (also Tamanoshima Masao ; Japanese玉 の 海 正 洋, February 5, 1944 in Gamagōri , Aichi Prefecture ; † October 11, 1971 ) was a Japanese sumo wrestler and the 51st yokozuna .

Tamanoumi began doing sumo under the name Tamanoshima. In March 1964 he fought for the first time in the Makuuchi division. He was promoted to komusubi in five tournaments , but then had difficulty holding a place among the sanyaku for almost two years . Only in 1966 did he convince with a series of good results and was promoted to Ōzeki . In May 1968 he won his first yusho , but only after the resignation of the yokozuna Sadanoyama and Kashiwado was able to develop his talent and win the September 1969 tournament. Victory in the next basho was wrested from him in the elimination match from his longtime friend and rival Kitanofuji , but the performance was enough to elevate both to the rank of yokozuna.

Only now did Tamanoumi take on his final battle name. Previous carriers of this Shikona were Tamanoumi Umekichi (1912–1988) and the notorious Sekiwake Tamanoumi Daitaro (1923–1987), who was notorious for his lust for drinking and brawling .

The two years 1970 and 1971 were largely dominated by the two new grandmasters. Tamanoumi himself won four other championship titles. The old yokozuna Taihō , who was about to end his career, could hardly win a tournament. The end of this era came quickly, however: In October 1971, at the age of 27, Tamanoumi died of a heart attack after an appendix operation .

Tamanoshima was neither a particularly tall nor a particularly heavy wrestler (1.77 m, 135 kg), but possessed excellent physical strength and mobility, which was particularly useful for throwing and lifting techniques.

Web links

• Info page at the Japanese Sumo Association

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Tamanoumi is the family name, Masahiro the first name.