Ichinojo Takashi

Ichinojo Takashi - 逸ノ城駿 (born April 7, 1993) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Battsengel, Arkhangai Province. He made his debut in November 2013 and wrestled for Minato stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 2014 and has 4 special prizes, 9 kinboshi and 1 top division championship. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in May 2023.

Early Life[]

Altankhuyag Ichinnorov was born on April 7, 1993, in Battsengel District in Arkhangai Province. Ichinnorov is the first of all Mongolian wrestlers who have gone on to join Japanese sumo to come from a nomadic clan, as most of the Mongolians who preceded him have been city dwellers.^[1]

Ichinojo as an amateur yokozuna — Ichinnorov as the Amateur Yokozuna (c. 2013)

He grew up on the Mongolian steppe, 400 km (249 miles) away from Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city in Mongolia. From a young age, he tended to livestock like sheep and goats, assisting in moving them with the changing seasons. At around this time, he also drank around two liters of horse milk every day. Ichinnorov lived in a yurt with his brother and sister and had to travel 20 km (12 miles) to attend the closest village school.^[2] From a young age he participated actively in Bökh, traditional Mongolian wrestling, and at the age of 14 he took the championship in the Bökh competition held in his province of Arkhangai.^[3] In 2010, he moved to Ulaanbaatar where he lived for three months before moving to Japan. After moving to Japan, he was on the judo team at his high school in Tottori prefecture, but when the sumo coach at the school saw his ability, he asked him to transfer to the sumo team. In his second and third years he collected a total of five amateur sumo titles.^[4]

After graduating he was originally slated to join Minato stable which had no foreign wrestlers at the time (as only one foreign-born wrestler is allowed per stable) but he instead stayed on at his high school as a coach, and won a national amateur sumo championship taking the title of amateur yokozuna or grand champion in 2013.^[5]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Ichinojo started professionally with Minato stable by taking the physical examination for new wrestlers prior to the November 2013 tournament, but as he had yet to procure his working visa, his entry to competition was postponed to the January 2014 tournament. With his previous amateur yokozuna title, he was allowed to debut at the high rank of makushita 15 in a system called makushita tsukedashi, the second foreign-born rikishi to ever achieve this status after Japanese-Brazilian Ryudo.^[6] As no one else in his stable was ranked in the makushita division or higher, he automatically became the highest ranked wrestler in his stable on entering, a rare occurrence. His shikona used his real name for the sound of the first kanji, which means "outstanding talent", and the third kanji, meaning "castle", was taken from his high school (Johoku).^[7]

Ichinojo makushita — Ichinojo in first professional tournament (c. 2014)

In his debut he turned in an impressive 6–1 record, which also included a win in his last bout against Amuru, a wrestler with professional experience at the juryo level. He was promoted to makushita 3 for the following tournament. The upper ranks of makushita are extremely competitive with up-and-coming wrestlers trying to break into professional sumo and recently demoted juryo wrestlers trying to gain re-promotion. In this environment, Ichinojo still managed a 6–1 record, with the majority of his wins being against wrestlers with juryo experience. His record allowed him to make his debut in the professional ranks of juryo in only his third tournament.^[8]

Juryo Career[]

He debuted at juryo 10 and managed an 11–4 record, which tied him with four other wrestlers. On the final day he won a four-man playoff to take the championship, with both his playoff wins being against wrestlers he had lost against during the regular tournament, Kotoyuki and Kagamio.^[8]

He lost the July 2014 juryo championship in a playoff with the former komusubi Tochinoshin who was returning from injury, but his 13–2 record from near the top of the second division was easily enough for promotion into the top makuuchi division. He had risen through the ranks so fast that he did not have time to grow his hair long enough to form the traditional chonmage that sekitori usually wear.^[8]

Makuuchi Career[]

In the subsequent September tournament he defeated top division stalwarts and former san'yaku Tochiozan, Shohozan, and Chiyootori before being handed his first loss on Day 7 by Ikioi. He continued winning the second week and was paired against increasingly higher-ranked opponents, beating two ozeki and the yokozuna Kakuryu before falling to yokozuna Hakuho in a match-up that required the governing body to forgo a normally planned match-up between san'yaku due to the threat of Ichinojo taking the championship from such a low rank. His final 13–2 record was good enough for runner-up, special prizes for Outstanding Performance and Fighting Spirit, and promotion to sekiwake for his second makuuchi and sixth overall professional tournament.^[1]

Ichinojo Sansho 2 — Ichinojo celebrates with his two special prizes after an impressive makuuchi debut (c. 2014)

He suffered somewhat from the stress of the attention that was heaped on him due to this impressive performance, entering the hospital with shingles a couple weeks before the next tournament and missing out on important training time.^[9] While not managing nearly as impressive a performance in the November tournament, he still returned a winning record to maintain his sekiwake rank for the start of 2015. A 6–9 record in January 2015 saw him relegated to the maegashira ranks but after nine wins in March, including a second career kinboshi or gold star for victory over the yokozuna Harumafuji, he was promoted to komusubi. He regained his best rank of sekiwake after a winning record in the May tournament, which included a first win over Hakuho on the opening day (he did not receive a gold star for this victory as only maegashira are eligible). He was unable to preserve his sekiwake rank in the next tournament however, scoring only 4–11 in July.^[8]

Ichinojo had a less successful year in 2016 when fighting the top ranked wrestlers, scoring only two wins at maegashira 3 in January and five wins at maegashira 2 in May (although he did earn his third kinboshi in the latter tournament with another defeat of Harumafuji.) He had to withdraw from a tournament from the first time in his career in September 2016, because of lower back pain.^[10] He scored eleven wins in January 2017, but from the low rank of maegashira 13. He scored 8–7 in September at maegashira 6, but did not defeat any san'yaku ranked wrestlers. He was promoted back to the sanyaku ranks in March 2018 at komusubi, and after a 9–6 performance he returned to the sekiwake rank in May for the first time since July 2015. He held the rank for four consecutive tournaments but his results were not particularly impressive and he dropped back to the maegashira ranks after a 6-9 in November.^[8]

Ichinojo defeats yokozuna hakuho — Ichinojo defeats yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2018)

He began the January 2019 tournament in excellent form, defeating two yokozuna (Kakuryu and Kisenosato) and two ozeki (Goeido and Takayasu) in the first five days but performances deteriorated and he managed to post only two further wins. In the March tournament Ichinojo employed a revised set of techniques, retreating and then using his height and strength to thrust or slap down his opponents. He won his first seven matches before losing to Tochinoshin on day 8, but in contrast to his January performance he maintained his form. He won his last seven bouts including victories over Goeido and Takayasu to end the tournament with 14 wins, making Ichinojo the runner-up behind Hakuho and earning him the prize for Outstanding Performance. He returned to sekiwake for the May 2019 tournament but missed Days 8 through 11 with right knee pain, finishing with a 5–7–3 record. Falling to the maegashira ranks for the July tournament, he defeated Hakuho for the third time on Day 9 to earn his eighth kinboshi. He withdrew on Day 5 of the September 2019 tournament after suffering a right shoulder injury the previous day.^[11] He missed all of the November 2019 tournament due to a related back injury,^[12] which saw him fall to juryo, where he stayed until September 2020.^[8]

In September 2021 Ichinojo returned to the san'yaku ranks at komusubi. This was the first time he had been ranked in san'yaku in 13 tournaments. Following the tournament, government records showed that he acquired Japanese citizenship, which is required in order to remain with the Sumo Association as a coach after his retirement.^[13] His legal name is Miura Takashi, formed by taking the given name from his own shikona and the surname from his stablemaster's real name of Miura Takayuki.^[14]

IchinojoYusho5 — Ichinojo after winning his first makuuchi yusho (c. 2022)

Ichinojo was withdrawn from the May 2022 tournament after testing positive for COVID-19.^[15] (He had also tested positive in August 2021.)^[16] Returning in July just one maegashira rank lower than in May, he became the outright tournament leader on Day 5 with a defeat of yokozuna Terunofuji. This was his ninth kinboshi and first against Terunofuji. He continued the basho constantly tied with Terunofuji in points for the cup, however, on day 15 of the tournament, Ichinojo won against Ura, and with a 12-3 record, he waited for the yokozuna's bout later during the day against Ozeki Takakeisho. Terunofuji went to lose his bout, giving Ichinojo his first top division championship after 8 years of tries. For winning the cup in the rank of maegashira, he won a special prize, the Outstanding Performance award.^[17]

He was suspended for violating COVID-19 regulations in January 2023 which resulted in him falling down to juryo in March 2023.^[18] Ichinojo underwent an endoscopy in February 2023 to remove a herniated disc. A few weeks later, he told reporters that he intended to compete at the upcoming March basho, where he was ranked near the top of the second-highest juryo division.^[19] In the March 2023 tournament he was able to win the juryo championship with a 14-1 record, gaining promotion back to the top division for the May 2023 tournament.^[8]

Retirement from Sumo[]

IchinojoRetirement — Ichinojo announces his abrupt retirement (c. 2023)

Ichinojo unexpectedly announced his retirement from active competition soon after his promotion.^[20] In a press conference on 4 May 2023 he told reporters that he made the decision to retire because of lengthy lower back issues. He added that he was glad he did sumo wrestling, saying that winning a yusho was his best moment.^[21] Despite having acquired Japanese citizenship he left the Sumo Association, choosing not remain in sumo as a coach.^[20]

Ichinojo began planning his retirement ceremony in November 2023 by telling Nikkan Sports that he would hold a ceremony on his own, rather than holding it in the more traditional way at the Ryogoku Kokugikan.^[22] The ceremony was held at the Tobu Hotel Levant Tokyo in Sumida on 11 February 2024,^[23] with around 400 people taking part in the event.^[24] Having left the professional world on bad terms with his master, Ichinojo announced early on in the organization of the event that he was not thinking there would be any participation from members of his former stable.^[22] However, several Mongolian personalities took part in the ceremony, including ozeki Kirishima and former yokozuna Kakuryu.^[24] Because of Ichinojo's bad relationship with his former master, the ceremony ended with Ishiura Tokiyoshi giving the final scissor strokes, because he is the principal of Ichinojo's former high school (Tottori Johoku High School) and his former mentor in the sumo club.^[24]

Ichinojo also revealed that in July 2023 he had returned to his home country of Mongolia for about two months.^[25] In June 2024, he appeared in the sumo event "ALL-STAR SUMO" held in Los Angeles and San Francisco.^[26] In addition to participating in overseas sumo events in countries like Australia, he has also appeared in commercials and films as an actor in countries such as the United States, Germany, Hungary, and Chile.^[27] Going forward, he plans to focus on talent activities centered around Hollywood entertainment. For his film appearances, he goes by the stage name "ICHI"^[28] and has appeared in From the World of John Wick: Ballerina and The Wide West.^[29]

Controversy[]

Assault Allegations and COVID-19 Suspension[]

Ichinojo finished the November 2022 basho with only four wins. During that tournament, the news magazine Shukan Bunshun published a report that Ichinojo had assaulted the wife of his stablemaster Minato (former maegashira Minatofuji).^[30] After the allegations were published, Japanese news outlets quoted sources that suggested Ichinojo had issues with alcoholism and had been disruptive at parties by drinking excessively, resulting in a rift with his stablemaster. As a result, Ichinojo moved out of the stable building to live on his own in December 2021. According to sources, Ichinojo missed a day of practice in February 2022 and told his stablemaster that he could not wake up that day because he was too drunk.^[31]

Img f4cb6c2eb2524bdc7d70e1db5f507e2528182 — Ichinojo on his way to a board meeting after his assault allegations come to light (c. 2022)

At the conclusion of the November tournament, Kyodo News reported that Ichinojo was interviewed for about 30 minutes by executives of the Sumo Association.^[32] On 22 December 2022, the Sumo Association's compliance committee announced that they had interviewed Ichinojo and his stablemaster.^[33] Four days later, the Sumo Association's Board of Directors held an extraordinary meeting at the Ryogoku Kokugikan to discuss the matter. Sumo Association spokesman Shibatayama (the 62nd yokozuna Onokuni) said that Ichinojo's assault on his stablemaster's wife had taken place more than five years ago, was not malicious, and that issues concerning both her and alcoholism had been ruled out.^[18] However, the board found that Ichinojo violated Sumo Association-imposed COVID rules by visiting restaurants on two separate occasions in November 2020 and August 2021 when wrestlers were not permitted to go out.^[18]

The Sumo board issued Ichinojo a one-tournament suspension, which will be served in January 2023, after considering mitigating circumstances that he expressed remorse for his actions when he was interviewed and that he only went out to the restaurants for a short period of time. This differs from the COVID-related circumstances surrounding other wrestlers such as Abi and Asanoyama, which resulted in longer suspensions.^[18] Ichinojo's stablemaster Minato was issued a 20% salary reduction for three months.^[18]

Personal Life[]

Ichinojo is the first of all Mongolian wrestlers who have gone on to join Japanese sumo to come from a nomadic clan, as most of the Mongolians who preceded him have been city dwellers. He is on good terms with Sokokurai, an ethnic Mongol from China, as they both come from nomadic backgrounds.^[34]
Ichinojo acquired Japanese citizenship in September 2021, taking the name Miura Takashi (三浦駿).^[13]
Ichinojo's favorite foods are fried chicken and sweets. He dislikes curry.^[35] Ichinojo's hobbies include archery, basketball, and watching movies.^[36]^[37] Ichinojo's favorite talents are Mariya Nishiuchi and Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi.^[38]^[37]

Fighting Style[]

Ichinojo uses yotsu-sumo, or grappling techniques, rather than slapping or pushing. His preferred grip on his opponent′s mawashi or belt is migi-yotsu, a right hand inside, left hand outside position.^[37] His most common winning kimarite in his career was yorikiri, or front force out, which accounted for 44% of his victories.^[39]

After reaching around 215 kg (474 lb) he became less mobile and more injury-prone. He had been troubled by back pain throughout his career starting 2016. After missing the entire September 2016 tournament with a herniated disc, he made an effort to lose weight and got down to 185 kg (408 lb) which was the same weight at which he entered professional sumo. His weight continued to fluctuate over his career, increasing to 227 kg (500 lb) by September 2018, then falling again to 198 kg (437 lb) by January 2021.^[12]^[40] In March 2023 he was 219 kg (483 lb), making him the heaviest active sekitori.^[41]

Record[]

Division Results[]

Total: 408-328-73/734 (56 basho)
Makuuchi: 334-298-73/630 (48 basho)
Juryo: 62-28/90 (6 basho)
Makushita: 12-2/14 (2 basho)

Championships[]

1 Makuuchi Championship (July 2022)
2 Juryo Championships
- 1st (May 2014)
- 2nd (March 2023)

Achievements[]

Special Prizes: Outstanding Performance Prize (3), Fighting Spirit Prize (1)
Kinboshi: 9: (3) Kisenosato, (2) Harumafuji, (2) Kakuryu, (1) Hakuho, (1) Terunofuji
Most Wins in Makuuchi Debut: 13 Wins