Masaru Maeta

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Masaru Maeta, known by his ring name Maeta, was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Tsuruoka, Yamagata. Born on June 24, 1982, he grew up playing football and swimming, but as he reached 100 kg in elementary school he switched to sumo. He excelled in school competitions and won national junior titles before attending Nihon University, where he wrestled in amateur sumo.

Maeta turned professional in March 2005 with the Hanaregoma stable, later moving to Shibatayama stable in 2013. He stood 180 cm tall and weighed as much as 213 kg, making him one of the heaviest sumo wrestlers. His highest rank was Makushita 3 in July 2010. He won two lower-division championships: Sandanme in March 2006 with a perfect 7–0 record, and Makushita in May 2010, also 7–0, which earned him promotion to Makushita 3. He did not reach the salaried top divisions (sekitori) and battled injuries, including an Achilles injury in 2016 that caused him to miss two tournaments and drop to the jonokuchi division. He attempted a comeback in January 2017 but withdrew after a knockout in his sixth match.

Maeta retired from sumo in September 2018. After leaving the sport, he lived in Hachimantai, Iwate, worked for the fertilizer company Sanken Soil, and helped run the company’s sumo club while teaching sumo to local students three times a week.

On August 26, 2020, he collapsed during a teaching session and later died in hospital from a heart attack at the age of 38. His preferred techniques were hidari-yotsu (left-hand inside grip) and yori-kiri (force out).