Itsutsushima Narao

Itsutsushima was born in Minamimatsuura district in 1912, a district located on the Gotō Islands. Because his hometown is located in an island, he became fisherman and wrestled as an amateur sumo wrestler, serving as a local ōzeki.[2] His back and legs were well-trained because he was a fisherman, the roll of his boat naturally reinforcing his wrestling skills. One day, the Tsunenohana's retirement show came to his hometown. He was scouted and encouraged to join Dewanoumi stable and stepped in the ring for the first time during the May 1930 tournament.

Itsutsushima did not rise by leaps and bounds, but steadily climbed the ranks thanks to his enthusiasm during training sessions. In this regard, he was nicknamed "keiko yokozuna" (けいこ横綱).[3] Shortly after his promotion to the jūryō division, he received the shikona, or ring name, Itsutsushima with the character 五, meaning five, borrowed from his native islands' name (五島列島). One of the highlights of his career was the January 1940 tournament, during which he inflicted an upset victory on the then-dominant yokozuna Futubayama by hatakikomi.[4] This victory promoted him directly to the rank of sekiwake for the 1940 summer tournament. During that tournament, he scored a seven matches winning streak for his san'yaku debut, a record that would only be equalled by Terunofuji at the March 2015 tournament, 75 years later.[5] Itsutsushima won a second match in a row against Futabayama in on Day 11 (by tottari), the yokozuna deciding to withdraw from the tournament (kyūjō) the following day.[6][7] Along with future-yokozuna Terukuni, Itsutsushima is the only wrestler to have won back-to-back matches against Futabayama since Futabayama's promotion to the rank of yokozuna in 1938. Itsutsushima also scored a notable victory over fellow-sekiwake and future-yokozuna Terukuni on Day 14.[8] He came close to win the championship but took second place just behind the tournament winner, stablemate Akinoumi. For their excellent performances during the tournament, he and Akinoumi were promoted to ōzeki at the same time for the January 1941 tournament. This promotion makes Itsutsushima the fourth wrestler from Nagasaki Prefecture to be promoted to this rank and the first since Tsushimanada in 1919, 22 years earlier.[9]

However, Itsutsushima had to withdraw from his first tournament as ōzeki due to a knee injury. In a kadoban demotion-threatning situation for the 1941 summer tournament, Itsutsushima came close to securing his position, but suffered 6 consecutive defeats and fell to eight defeats on the final day, making his demotion certain.[10] With only two tournaments ranked as ōzeki, Itsutsushima is the wrestler who have spent the fewest tournaments at this rank since the Shōwa era. Since he was relegated back to the rank of sekiwake, he lost his motivation to continue fighting and left the Japan Sumo Association. At this time, the Pacific War was also raging, and the Sumo Association had to take out numerous loans to survive in a context where the war effort was reaching its peak, leaving few resources for its elders or wrestlers who wished to develop an activity of their own. With no opportunity to establish himself as a master, Itsutsushima returned to his island and invested in various fish industries. He later returned to Tokyo and opened several businesses in Shinagawa to sell local Gotō Islands products, and later opened a sumo restaurant and a hotel.

Since Itsutsushima hails from the Gotō Islands, he became very popular in his native region. Future-yokozuna Sadanoyama said that he aspired to turn pro because of the success of Itsutsushima. In his autobiography, Ōzeki Masuiyama I mentions Itsutsushima as a caring mentor during the period when their respective careers overlapped.

Itsutsushima's name is engraved in the Chikara-zuka (力塚, 'power mound') monument, built in 1937 in the Ekō-in Temple's precincts by the Sumo Association as a memorial to past wrestlers.[11] In 2016, the Sumo Museum acquired Itsutsushima's keshō-mawashi. The keshō-mawashi depicts Zhong Kui and had been presented to him on the occasion of his promotion to ōzeki by supporters of the village of Narao.[12]

Komusubi Itsutsūmi, who comes from the same region, is a distant relative of Itsutsushima. He joined Dewanoumi stable in 1940 and received a shikona to evoke his parent who had just became an san'yaku.

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of ōzeki