Chiyoarashi Yoshinobu

Chiyoarashi Yoshinobu - 千代嵐慶喜 (born July 12, 1991) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kisarazu, Chiba. He made his debut in March 2007 and wrestled for Kokonoe stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2011. His highest rank was juryo 10 and he retired on January 2024.

Early Life[]

Watanabe has been practicing sumo with his father since kindergarten. In 6th grade he won the Kaito Sumo Tournament. He also finished top 8 in the National Junior High School Sumo Championship. Ever since a young age, Watanabe wanted to join the Kokonoe stable and would train his body to impress them. During his amateur career he faced off against future maegashira Tsurugisho multiple times. After graduating junior high school, he entered Kokonoe stable and made his debut in March 2007.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Watanabe made his debut under his family name in March 2007. He rose steadily through the ranks. He was promoted to the sandanme division in May 2008 and only suffered one make-koshi before. He was seen as promising by many as he was only 16 in his promotion to sandanme. He changed his shikona to Chiyoarashi after his promotion to sandanme. He found sandanme a little harder, however he was still promoted to makushita a little over a year later.

Chiyoarashi (2009) — Chiyoarashi (c. 2009)

Chiyoarashi went winless in the January 2010 tournament. He was demoted to sandanme but returned to makushita two tournaments later. Chiyoarashi remained in the mid-makushita level for around a year. In the January 2011 tournament, Chiyoarashi produced a 6-1 record and was promoted to a career high of makushita 17. He produced a 5-2 record the following tournament and, due to the 2011 match-fixing scandal which left many new slots due to many high-profiled wrestlers being forced to retire, was promoted to makushita 3. The following tournament he produced another 5-2 record and even defeated juryo ranked wrestler Hitenryu by sukuinage (scoop-throw) on the final day. This earned him a promotion to the juryo division for the September 2011 tournament.

Juryo Career[]

Chiyoarashi made his juryo debut in the September 2011 and produced a winning record 8-7. The following tournament he pulled out on the tenth day after fracturing his right ankle. He finished with a 4-6-5 and would need at least one month to recover. He also sat out the following tournament and was demoted to the rank of makushita 43.

1305jdwc — Chiyoarashi during the juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2011)

Chiyoarashi would return with a very strong run. He achieved 7 consecutive kachi-koshi and was re-promoted to the juryo division. In his first tournament back he produced a 7-8 record and was demoted to the juryo 13 rank. The following tournament, Chiyoarashi pulled out on the 14th day due to a left knee ligament injury.

Due to his left knee ligament injury he sat out the next three tournaments and was demoted to the sandanme 87 rank. He defeated Takakasuga in playoff for the sandanme division yusho, the first of his career. He gradually made his way back to the upper levels of makushita. After a 6-1 record at makushita 9 he was promoted to makushita 2. He pulled out on the 5th day, after losing a match to juryo wrestler Nishikigi. He sat out for another 3 consecutive tournaments due to injury and was demoted to jonidan 32. He produced a 7-0 record, but missed out on the jonidan yusho after losing to Kaito in a playoff.

He gradually made his way back to the makushita division and wrestled in the mainly the mid-makushita level for around 4 years. Chiyoarashi was forced to sit out of the January 2021 after a wrestler in his stable tested positive for COVID-19. He was promoted back to the top of makushita in September 2021, but missed out on a juryo re-promotion after losing to Tohakuryu to finish with a 3-4 record. Nevertheless, he bounced back with a 5-2 record in November 2021 and his re-promotion to juryo was confirmed after the tournament. The 49 tournament break as a sekitori is the longest, surpassing Hamanishiki's 38 tournaments. Upon his return to juryo, Chiyoarashi finished with a 6-9 record and was demoted back down to makushita. He return to juryo two tournaments later in May 2022, but finished with a 4-11 record and was regulated back down to makushita in July 2022.

Retirement from Sumo[]

After demotion back to the unsalaried level, Chiyoarashi remained in makushita for a year and a half, and was even in contention for the makushita yusho in the September 2023 tournament, but lost in the playoffs to Kayo. Despite still being ranked in upper makushita, Chiyoarashi announced his retirement on day 7 of the January 2024 tournament after losing his first four matches. The January 2024 tournament was Chiyoarashi's 100th tournament in professional sumo.

Personal Life[]

Chiyoarashi enjoys singing karaoke during his spare time.

Fighting Style[]

Chiyoarashi is an oshi-zumo specialist, which means he prefers thrusting and pushing techniques rather than fighting on the mawashi. The most common kimarite that he employs is oshidashi (push-out), yorikiri (force-out) and tsukiotoshi (thrust-down).