Tochigiyama Moriya - 栃木山 守也 (born February 5, 1892 - October 3, 1959) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Akama, Tochigi. He made his debut in February 1911 and wrestled for Dewanoumi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1915 and has two kinboshi and nine top division championships. He was the 27th yokozuna and he retired in May 1925.
Early Life[]
Moriya Yokota was born the eldest son of a farmer in the Village of Akama (modern day Tochigi city). From a young age he worked hard labor jobs, such as transporting stones from Mount Iwafune. At the age of 18, he moved to Tokyo and joined Dewanoumi stable.
Career[]
Early Career[]
He made his professional debut in February 1911 and was given the shikona "Tochigiyama" (栃木山) which was derived from his home prefecture. His coach Hitachiyama Taniemon did not expect him to be strong owing to his light weight. However, he rose up the ranks at a dominant pace, recording 21 consecutive victories from his debut. He was promoted to juryo in January 1914.
Juryo Career[]
At the time of his juryo debut, Tochigiyama had only lost one bout. He continued to impress and produced a 4-1 record in his first tournament as a sekitori. He followed with another 4-1 record and was promoted to makuuchi in January 1915.
Makuuchi Career[]
Tochigiyama during his time as ozeki (c. 1917)
In his top division debut, Tochigiyama finished with a strong 8-2 record. In the following tournaments, he defeated Otori twice to earn his first and second career kinboshi. Tochigiyama defeated Tachiyama Mineemon, ending his series of 56 victories, on the 8th day of the May 1916 tournament. He was promoted to komusubi in May 1916 and he rose up to sekiwake in January 1917. After only one tournament ranked as sekiwake, he was promoted to ozeki in May 1917.
Ozeki Career[]
Tochigiyama won his first top division championship (yusho) in his ozeki debut with a near-perfect 9-0-1hold record. He followed with a perfect 10-0 record in January 1918, thus claiming his second championship and securing promotion to yokozuna after only three years in makuuchi.
Yokozuna Career[]
Tochigiyama won a third championship during his first tournament as yokozuna. He also won the following two tournaments, meaning he achieved five consecutive championships between May 1917 and May 1919.
Tochigiyama performs the yokozuna dohyo-iri (c. 1925)
Tochigiyama defeated other wrestlers with his strong oshi, or pushing techniques. He compensated for his lack of weight by training extremely hard. He was nicknamed the "little giant yokozuna". Like Hitachiyama before him, he trained many wrestlers, such as later yokozuna Tamanishiki San'emon, even though they were not members of the Dewanoumi stable.
In May 1925, he suddenly retired after winning three consecutive championships between January 1924 and January 1925. Asked about his retirement, he stated that he wanted to retire while still a strong opponent.
Tochigiyama only lost 23 times while an active sumo wrestler in the top makuuchi division, and only eight times during his seven years as yokozuna. His top division winning percentage was 87.8. In addition, his winning percentage as yokozuna reached 93.5, the fourth best in history after Jinmaku, Tachiyama and Tanikaze.
Retirement from Sumo[]
Kasugano Oyakata as a ringside judge (c. 1954)
After his retirement, he was permitted to leave Dewanoumi stable and become the eighth head coach of Kasugano stable. He was the adopted son of its previous head coach, referee Kimura Soshiro. In his tenure, Tochigiyama produced yokozuna Tochinishiki Kiyotaka.
In June 1931, Tochigiyama took part in the first Dai-Nippon Rikishi Senshuken (大日本角力選手権), special sumo tournament. To the surprise of many, he defeated Tamanishiki and Tenryu, and won the championship. In the modern age, retired wrestlers can no longer take part in any special sumo tournaments.
In 1952 he performed his kanreki dohyo-iri or '60th year ring entrance ceremony' to commemorate his years as yokozuna. His strength hardly declined long into his retirement. It is reported that Tochigiyama in his sixties easily carried a large hibachi which none of his other junior stable members could move.
Death[]
He died suddenly in 1959 due to a blood clot whilst still in charge of Kasugano stable. Tochinishiki, who Tochigiyama had in turn adopted as his son, took over as head coach of the stable.
Fighting Style[]
Tochigiyama was a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. He was also fond of employing hazuoshi, or pushing up with hands under opponent's armpits. He remains the lightest yokozuna in the history of the sport with a weight of 104 kg.
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 197-26-24-7draws-5holds/235 (30 basho)
- Makuuchi: 166-23-24-7draws-4holds/200 (22 basho)
- Juryo: 9-2/11 (2 basho)
- Makushita: 9-1/10 (2 basho)
- Sandanme: 3-0-1hold/4 (1 basho)
- Jonidan: 5-0/5 (1 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 5-0/5 (1 basho)
Championships[]
- 9 Makuuchi Championships
- 1st (May 1917)
- 2nd (January 1918)
- 3rd (May 1918)
- 4th (January 1919)
- 5th (May 1919)
- 6th (January 1923)
- 7th (January 1924)
- 8th (May 1924)
- 9th (January 1925)
- 1 Makushita Championship (January 1913)
Achievements[]
- Kinboshi: (2) Otori
Shikona History[]
- Tochigiyama Senjo (1911.02 - 1913.05)
- Tochigiyama Moriya (1914.01 - 1925.05)
Gallery[]
