Gonoyama Toki

Gonoyama Toki - 豪ノ山登輝 (born April 7, 1998) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Neyagawa, Osaka. He made his debut in March 2021 and currently wrestles for Takekuma stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2023 and has 1 special prize. His highest rank as of 2025 is maegashira 2.

Early Life[]

Nishikawa started sumo by chance in kindergarten because his parents wanted him to play a sport. While at Keimei Elementary School, he took part for three consecutive years in the Wanpaku Sumo Tournament and the All Japan Elementary School Sumo Championship.^[1] During that time he particularly enjoyed a visit to Sakaigawa stable.^[2] At that time, the wrestlers he admired the most were Toyohibiki and Goeido. Takakeisho, two years his senior, also played a big role in his ambition to one day turn professional by helping him, when they were both children, to train. When in elementary school, Nishikawa was also trained by Ura, who was a 6th grade senior in the same prefectural sumo federation.^[3]

Nishikawa attended Neyagawa Shiritsu Daikyu Junior High School, then followed Takakeisho to Saitama Sakae High School where he also trained with future professional wrestlers Oho, his one-year junior, and Kotonowaka, his senior.^[4] Nishikawa then graduated Chuo University's Faculty of Law. By his fourth year, he was captain of his university's sumo club and he also finished runner-up at the National Student Championships. After graduating from college, Nishikawa opted to turn pro and joined Sakaigawa stable.^[5]

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his professional debut in March 2021 as a deshi of fellow Neyagawa native and former ozeki Goeido. Due to his amateur achievements, Nishikawa was allowed to enter professional sumo at the rank of sandanme tsukedashi, alongside fellow collegiate standout and Chu-Dai teammate Tochimusashi. In his first tournament, Nishikawa remained undefeated until his final match, including with a win over Tochimusashi however, he failed to claim the championship after losing to Fukushima by disqualification as he had pulled his topknot.^[6] He then followed with another strong 6-1 record and was promoted to makushita in July 2021.^[7]

Gonoyama2 — Nishikawa defeats former komusubi Ryuden to claim the makushita yusho (c. 2022)

In November 2021, Nishikawa withdrew from the tournament due to a neck injury and was demoted to makushita 35 in January 2022.^[8] In his return, Nishikawa defeated former komusubi Ryuden on the final day to win the makushita championship with a perfect 7-0 record. In February 2022, he transferred to the recently opened Takekuma stable, founded by former ozeki Goeido. He followed this with two 4-3 records and was promoted to juryo in July 2022.^[7]

Juryo Career[]

Upon his promotion to juryo, he was given the new shikona, or ring name, Gonoyama (豪ノ山) inspired by the first kanji from his master's own ring name. During his first tournament, he finished with an 8-7 record. During the March 2023 tournament, Gonoyama achieved 11 wins and inflicted his only defeat on Ichinojo, the juryo champion. In the following tournament, Gonoyama won the juryo tournament championship with a score of 14–1. The championship was notably decided on the fifteenth day, when Gonoyama and Ochiai faced each other in a playoff. Gonoyama inflicted for the second time in the tournament a defeat on Ochiai, whom he had already beaten on Day 11, and subsequently claimed the second division title. This championship win was also the first time since 1949 that the second-division title was decided in a playoff between two wrestlers with 14 wins.^[9] In post-championship interviews, Gonoyama confided that throughout the tournament he had been preparing to come second. He also praised maegashira Oho for helping him train and prepare for the makuuchi division level.^[10]

Makuuchi Career[]

Gonoyama was promoted to the top makuuchi division for the July 2023 tournament, listed at the rank of east maegashira 13. Upon his promotion, he said in a press conference that he wanted to win at least ten matches and win a special prize at the upcoming tournament.^[11] Gonoyama made a good start to the tournament and recorded five straight wins before being defeated by Ochiai (now renamed Hakuoho) on Day 6. Following this defeat he suffered three consecutive defeats but bounced back at the end of his tournament to achieve a positive record (kachi-koshi). Having also scored a ninth win against Takanosho, Gonoyama was listed as a potential recipient of the Fighting Spirit special prize, which was conditional on a tenth win. On the final day of the tournament, Gonoyama defeated Tamawashi and won the award.^[7]

GonoyamaKagayaki — Gonoyama pushes out Kagayaki (c. 2023)

Gonoyama finished the September 2023 tournament with nine wins. At the November 2023 tournament Gonoyama scored back-to-back upset wins by defeating two of the then-three ozeki competitors. On Day 6 he defeated Kirishima, and the next day he beat childhood friend and yokozuna promotion-seeker Takakeisho for the first time.^[12] On the subject of his recent victories, former yokozuna Wakanohana III commented in his daily column that Gonoyama had put on the perfect match and that he expected the young wrestler to reach the san'yaku ranks in 2024.^[13]

During the January 2024 tournament, Gonoyama notably scored a dominant victory over Ozeki Hoshoryu, inspiring a comment from Tatsutagawa-oyakata, who saw this victory as a revival of the style of former ozeki Dejima, who was also known for his dominance during the tachi-ai.^[14] During the March tournament of the same year, he recorded two wins by default following the withdrawal of his Oitekaze stable opponents Tsurugisho (Day 5) and Tobizaru (Day 10). At the May 2024 tournament, Gonoyama stood out by inflicting defeat on ozeki Kirishima.^[7]

Personal Life[]

Gonoyama after the May 2024 basho, announced that he had gotten married to a Saitama Sakae high school classmate in the end of April.^[15]
Gonoyama's hobby is watching movies and his favorite food is meat.^[16]

Fighting Style[]

Gonoyama is a tsuki and oshi specialist, which means he relies on thrusting and pushing techniques to defeat his opponents rather than belt-wrestling. By far the most common of his winning techniques is oshidashi (push out) which accounts for 42% of his wins.^[17] His style was compared by his master Goeido to that of former ozeki Dejima Takeharu.^[2]