Jūmonji Masayasu
| Jūmonji Tomokazu | |
|---|---|
| 十文字 友和 | |
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| Personal information | |
| Born | Tomokazu Jūmonji June 9, 1976 Aomori, Japan |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Weight | 158 kg (348 lb; 24.9 st) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Michinoku, formerly Tatsutagawa |
| Record | 596-606-17 |
| Debut | November 1992 |
| Highest rank | Maegashira 6 (July 2003) |
| Retired | April 2011 |
| Championships | 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Makushita) 1 (Sandanme) |
| * Up to date as of April 2011. | |
Jūmonji Tomokazu (born 9 June 1976) is a former sumo wrestler from Aomori, Japan. Joining the professional ranks in 1992, he reached the top division in 2000 and was ranked there for 34 tournaments until 2007. His highest rank was maegashira 6. He was forced to retire in April 2011 after an investigation by the Japan Sumo Association found him guilty of match-fixing.
Jūmonji was born in Hashikami, Sannohe District, the eldest son of a fisherman. He was named Tomokazu after the actor Tomokazu Miura. He played baseball in elementary school, switching to sumo at the beginning of junior high. Despite the opposition of his parents, he was persuaded by the former sekiwake Aonosato, then the head coach of Tatsutagawa stable, to give professional sumo a try and he made his debut in November 1992. He spent six years in the lower divisions, picking up a tournament championship, or yusho, in the sandanme division in 1995. He reached the second jūryō division in January 1998, fighting under the shikona, or ring name, of Kaigatake, but he lasted only one tournament there. Upon winning promotion back to jūryō in November 1999, he reverted to his own surname, which he used for the rest of his career. He used various names as the second part of his shikona, including Akinori and Masayasu, but returned to his given name of Tomokazu in 2008.
Jūmonji made his debut in the top makuuchi division in May 2000. In September of that year, Tatsutagawa stable was absorbed into Michinoku stable because of the impending retirement of his stablemaster. He made his first winning score in the division in March 2001, but after suffering from a hernia he was demoted back to jūryō and had to miss the September 2001 tournament. Upon his return to competition, he earned immediate promotion back to makuuchi but he mostly remained in the middle and lower maegashira ranks, without making much of a challenge for promotion to the titled sanyaku ranks. Despite competing in 34 top division tournaments and over 500 top division bouts, he never once rose high enough to face a yokozuna or an ozeki. In November 2006, he fell to the jūryō division for the first time since 2002, but he won the jūryō tournament title and was promoted straight back. He was demoted once again in May 2007 after suffering a shoulder injury in the previous tournament. He could only manage a 5-10 score in July 2007, pushing him towards the bottom of the jūryō division.
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