Tochiazuma Tomoyori

Tochiazuma Tomoyori - 栃東知頼 (born September 3, 1944) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Soma, Fukushima. He made his debut in November 1960 and last wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1967 and has ten special prizes, five kinboshi and one top division championship. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in January 1977.

Early Life[]

He played baseball in junior high school and by the time he attended Matsue Gakuen High School, he was a member of the baseball club. However, he competed in a sumo tournament which he won and was later scouted by Kasugano stable. He subsequently dropped out of high school and joined Kasugano stable.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his professional debut in November 1960 and initially wrestled under his surname Shiga. He was promoted to sandanme in November 1961 and makushita in May 1962. He changed his shikona to "Tochiazuma" (栃東) in September 1963 and in March 1965, he produced a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 5 and was promoted to juryo for the following May 1965 tournament.

Juryo Career[]

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Tochiazuma finished with a solid 9-6 record. He followed with three additional winning records, but produced a disastrous 3-12 record in January 1966 which delayed his makuuchi promotion. Nevertheless, in January 1967, he produced a 10-5 record at the rank of juryo 3 and was promoted to makuuchi for the following tournament.

Makuuchi Career[]

He was relatively small, standing only 177 cm tall and weighing around 110 kg. In May 1968 he was runner-up to Tamanoshima with a 10–5 record, earning promotion to komusubi. He also won the first of his six Gino-sho or Technique Awards. He was runner-up once again in September of that year. He reached his highest rank of sekiwake in March 1970 but fell short with a 7–8 record.

20180127-OHT1I50136-T — Tochiazuma accepts the Emperor's Cup after winning the January 1972 tournament

He had the unusual experience in January 1971 of defeating a yokozuna on the opening day, and then losing 13 of his remaining 14 bouts, with his only other win being a walkover.

In January 1972, ranked at maegashira 5, he took his only top division yusho or tournament championship. He needed only an 11–4 record to do so (13 or 14 wins are normally needed). The sole yokozuna at the time, Kitanofuji, withdrew after winning only seven matches, and the only ozeki Tochiazuma faced was Kiyokuni on the final day. He won the match, avoiding the need for a playoff with Wajima, Kotozakura, Hasegawa, Fukunohana, Yoshioyama and Wakafutase who all finished runners up on 10–5. Had Kiyokuni won, he would have also been involved in an eight-way playoff. After his tournament victory he was promoted back to komusubi but pulled out of the next tournament through injury and spent the rest of his career in the maegashira ranks. He was runner-up for a third time in May 1973, but was not really in contention for the championship during the tournament, finishing four wins behind the undefeated Wajima.

Retirement from Sumo[]

His son, Daisuke, was born in November 1976. Tochiazuma retired two months later, during the January 1977 tournament. He remained in sumo as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association, working as a coach at his old stable. In 1990, following the death of his old stablemaster, he decided to branch out and open up his own Tamanoi stable. The purpose-built heya has some of the best facilities in sumo today. His son joined the stable in 1994 and adopted his old shikona of Tochiazuma. His son won his first tournament championship in January 2002, exactly 30 years after Tamanoi Oyakata's own triumph, and retired in May 2007. He took over the running of the stable when Tamanoi reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 in September 2009.

Fighting Style[]

Tochiazuma was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out. He was also fond of employing uwatenage, or overarm throw, and uwatedashinage, or pulling overarm throw.