Kimikaze Toshiji

Kimikaze Toshiji - 皇風俊司 (born September 23, 1986) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Chofu, Tokyo. He made his debut in January 2009 and wrestled for Oguruma stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 2012. His highest rank was maegashira 13 and he retired in May 2014.

Early Life[]

Toshiji Naoe was born on September 23, 1986, and his parents operated a woodworking shop in Chofu, Tokyo. He began sumo wrestling at a local dojo in his fourth year of elementary school. During his third year at Meiji Univ. Nakano High School, Naoe won both the team and individual competition at the National Athletic Meet. He then enrolled at Waseda University and was a member of the school's sumo club. In his second year, he ranked 3rd at the East Japan Student Sumo Championships. However, he injured his left shoulder during his third year and left the sumo club. Upon graduation, he did not lose his eagerness to return to sumo and joined Oguruma stable.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Like most collegiate-experienced rikishi, Naoe breezed through the bottom three division and was promoted to makushita by his sixth professional tournament. In November 2010, he produced a strong 6-1 record which qualified him for a six-man playoff, however, he lost in the second round to Myogiryu. Nonetheless, he was promoted significantly to the top fifteen ranks of makushita. He was promoted to the juryo division in July 2011 after winning the makushita division championship or yusho with a perfect 7-0 record.

Juryo Career[]

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona from his family name to "Kimikaze" (皇風). He was also the first sekitori from Waseda University in over 78 years since Kasagiyama in 1933. In his juryo debut, Kimikaze barely escaped with a winning record (kachi-koshi) after winning his last match to finish with a passable 8-7 record. In his fourth juryo tournament, Kimikaze won twelve out of his fifteen matches to win the juryo yusho. As a result, he was promoted to the top makuuchi division for May 2012.

Makuuchi Career[]

Kimikaze struggled in his debut tournament and he lost his first three matches. He started to wrestle more consistently through the later half of the tournament ad by the end of the eleventh day, his record was 5 wins to 6 losses. However, he had had to withdraw from his debut tournament in the top division on the 13th day due to injury. Subsequently, he was demoted back down to juryo and he never returned back to makuuchi.

Later Career[]

In his return to juryo, Kimikaze continued to struggle and had to withdraw from the July 2012 tournament on the twelfth day. As a result, his rank dropped significantly and he was placed at juryo 12 for the following tournament. He produced a disastrous 3-12 record in this tournament and was regulated back to the unsalaried makushita division.

Kimikaze wrestled in upper makushita ranks for majority of 2013, but after a disastrous 1-6 record in March 2014, he was demoted all the way down to makushita 51.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Due to persistent injuries, including a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, he announced his retirement on the eleventh day of the May 2014 tournament. His danpatsu-shiki or official retirement ceremony took place on June 22, 2014 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Hotel with around 230 guests taking part in the hair-cutting. His marriage was announced at the event.

He opened a sumo-themed restaurant called "Kimikaze no Mise" (皇風ノ店) on February 12, 2015, in his hometown of Chofu.

Fighting Style[]

Kimikaze was an oshi-sumo specialist, preferring pushing techniques to fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite was oshi-dashi (push out) but he was also very reliant on slap downs (hatakikomi).