Miyabiyama Tetsushi
雅山哲士
Tetsushi in 2008
Personal information
Born	Masato Takeuchi (1977-07-28)July 28, 1977 (age 47) Mito, Ibaraki, Japan
Height	1.87 m (6 ft1+1⁄2 in)
Weight	182 kg (401 lb; 28.7 st)
Web presence	website
Career
Stable	Fujishima
University	Meiji University
Record	654–582–68
Debut	July 1998
Highest rank	Ōzeki (July 2000)
Retired	March 2013
Elder name	Futagoyama
Championships	2 (Jūryō) 2 (Makushita)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (2) Fighting Spirit (5) Technique (1)
Gold Stars	2 (Asashōryū)
* Up to date as of March 2013.

Miyabiyama Tetsushi (born July 28, 1977 asMasato Takeuchi) is a formersumo wrestler fromMito,Ibaraki,Japan. A former amateur champion, he turned professional in 1998. With the exception of two tournaments, he was ranked in the top division of professional sumo from 1999 until the end of his career in 2013, holding the second highest rank ofōzeki from 2000 to 2001. He won eightspecial prizes and was runner-up in four top division tournaments. He wrestled forFujishima stable (formerly Musashigawa stable), where he worked as a coach until opening his ownFutagoyama stable.

Miyabiyama competed in amateur sumo tournaments while atMeiji University, but left before graduation to join the professional ranks. He was accepted byMusashigawa stable in July 1998 and givenmakushita tsukedashi status, meaning he could begin at the bottom of the third highestmakushita division. He quickly worked his way through the ranks, logging in four consecutive championships, two inmakushita and two injūryō to reach the topmakuuchi division in March 1999 just eight months after entering professional sumo. His rise to the middle ranks ofmakuuchi was so quick that he did not yet have atopknot, a true rarity and one that did not go unnoticed by announcers. He won afighting spirit prize in his first top division tournament, and was promoted tokomusubi in January 2000. In that tournament he delivered an impressive 12–3 record, finishing as runner up to stablemateMusōyama. He followed that up with two 11–4 marks atsekiwake rank in March and May 2000. After that tournament he was promoted to sumo's second highest rank ofōzeki. He had made the rank only 12 tournaments after his professional debut, tying for the record withYutakayama (another amateur champion) andHaguroyama.

Miyabiyama's promotion was controversial. TheSumo Association's decision was not unanimous, with three of the ten directors present at the meeting voting against the promotion. Sakaigawa-oyakata (formeryokozunaSadanoyama), in particular, was reported to have felt it was too soon as Miyabiyama had only been inmakuuchi for just over a year, and had not yet won a top division title.^[1] In the end the doubters were proved correct as Miyabiyama lasted just eight tournaments in the rank, never scoring more than 9 wins, before being demoted in the wake of two consecutivelosing records. He was one of the shortest-livedōzeki on record (not counting wrestlers who have quickly been promoted toyokozuna).

Miyabiyama sat out the two tournaments following his demotion with an injury, and so had to start all over again from themaegashira ranks. In January 2003 he looked to have earned his first everkinboshi or gold star and to have defeatedyokozunaTakanohana for the first time in eleven attempts with a rare counter-attackingnichonage throw but although thereferee declared him the winner thejudges ordered a rematch, which he lost. (The Sumo Association was inundated with calls of protest from the public as a result.) He produced the occasional strong tournament, finishing as runner-up in July 2004, and he held asan'yaku rank several times, but he was unable to go further and continued to move up and down thebanzuke.

It was not until mid-2006 that Miyabiyama was able to make his first sustained challenge for promotion toōzeki since his demotion five years previously. In May atsekiwake rank he produced a superb 14–1 record, only losing the championship on the last day in a playoff to then-ōzekiHakuhō. There was speculation that another strong performance in July 2006 would see him return toōzeki, but he got off to a poor start, winning only three bouts in the first seven days, and though he recovered somewhat to post a 10–5 score, it was not considered good enough. He was only the second wrestler afterKotogahama in 1957 to post more than 33 wins in three tournaments insan'yaku and not get promoted toōzeki. He could score only 9–6 and 8–7 in the next twobasho and in January 2007 his run of five tournaments atsekiwake came to an end when he could only manage a 5–10 record.

In March 2007 Miyabiyama finally earned his first gold star by defeatingyokozunaAsashōryū on the second day. He had defeatedyokozuna on four previous occasions –Akebono in January 2000, Akebono andWakanohana in March 2000 and Asashoryu himself in September 2004, but each time had been ranked insanyaku and was not eligible for akinboshi. The victory was all the more surprising as prior to this bout Miyabiyama had lost thirteen in a row to Asashōryū. However, on the 7th day he picked up ahamstring injury and had to withdraw from the tournament. He returned with a comfortable 9–6 mark in May, and remained in the uppermaegashira ranks, defeating Asashōryū again in September 2008. In May 2009 he slipped tomaegashira 11, his lowest ever top division ranking, but he responded with two consecutive winning records, the first time he had achieved this since 2006. In November 2009 he was runner-up alongsideTochinoshin on 12–3 and shared the Fighting Spirit award.

He was suspended along with over a dozen other wrestlers from the July 2010 tournament after admitting involvement in illegal betting on baseball. As a result, he became the first formerōzeki sinceDaiju in 1977 to be demoted to thejūryō division. This broke a run of 69 consecutive tournaments ranked inmakuuchi. However, he had no problem in securing a return to the top division (the first ex-ōzeki ever to do so), scoring 12–3 at the rank ofjūryō 2. In January 2012 he was ranked atkomusubi, the first time in 29 tournaments that he had made thesan'yaku ranks. However, he won only 33 out of a possible 90 bouts in that year (15 of those with thehatakikomi technique), and by January 2013 had fallen to the bottommakuuchi rank ofmaegashira 16. He won only three bouts in that tournament and was demoted tojūryō in March 2013, where he again only managed three wins and quickly announced his retirement on the last day of the tournament.

Miyabiyama fought in the top division for 82 tournaments in total, which is second best amongmakushita tsukedashi entrants and the eleventh best overall in sumo history. The 68 tournaments he fought after dropping from theōzeki rank is also a record. Upon retirement he recalled his most memorable bout as being the first day of his comeback tournament in March 2002, having fallen fromōzeki and missed the previous two tournaments through injury.

Miyabiyama stayed in sumo as a coach at his stable under theelder name of Futagoyama Oyakata. Hisdanpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, was held at theRyōgoku Kokugikan on February 1, 2014 with around 8,000 in attendance and 270 guests taking part in the hair-cutting before his topknot was removed by his former stablemate Musōyama, now Fujishima Oyakata.^[2] After the ceremony he said he wanted to help develop strong Japanese wrestlers.^[2] In addition to coaching duties Futagoyama is also a quasi-independent councilor (Hyojjin) in the Sumo Association's hierarchy. In 2015 he launched his ownyakiniku restaurant,Miyabiyama, inEdogawa, Tokyo.

In March 2018 he was given permission to branch out from Fujishima stable, and he opened up his ownFutagoyama stable inTokorozawa, Saitama on April 1.

Miyabiyama specialised in pushing and thrustingtechniques, with about a third of his wins being a simple push-out, oroshi-dashi. In later years he relied more heavily on pull downs or slap downs,hiki otoshi andhatakikomi. Like mostoshi specialists, he was at a disadvantage if his opponents managed to grab hold of hismawashi or belt. At 182 kg (401 lb), he was the heaviest man in the top division from the retirement of his stablemateMusashimaru in November 2003, until the arrival of the (now retired) 250 kg (550 lb)Yamamotoyama in 2009.

Miyabiyama was married in 2008 to a 24-year-old former office worker fromKurume, Fukuoka, and their wedding reception was held in June 2009 with 450 guests including his stablemasterMusashigawa Oyakata attending. In June 2013 his second eldest son died.^[2] In February 2014 his eldest son, then aged four, was Miyabiyama's final opponent in a bout at his retirement ceremony.^[2]

A few days after the conclusion of the March 2023 tournament, Miyabiyama was hospitalized forsepsis. He continued to give guidance to his wrestlers during their training by way of video conference until he was discharged.^[3]

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo elders
• List of ōzeki

• Miyabiyama Tetsushi's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage

• 1977 births
• Living people
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Ōzeki
• Sportspeople from Mito, Ibaraki
• Sumo people from Ibaraki Prefecture

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata