Tochihiryu Yukiya

Tochihiryu Yukiya - 栃飛龍幸也 (born April 23, 1987) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mishima, Shizuoka. He made his debut in March 2006 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the juryo division in March 2013. His highest rank was juryo 7 and he retired in May 2019.

Early Life[]

Yukiya Honma was born on April 23, 1987, in Mishima, Shizuoka. he began sumo wrestling in the second grade of elementary school. He attended Hiryu High School where he was a member of the school's sumo club. After graduation from high school, Honma joined Kasugano stable and made his professional debut in March 2006.^[1]

Career[]

Early Career[]

He made his professional debut alongside Shohozan, Sakaizawa, Ryuden, and stablemate Tochinoshin. He took the shikona "Tochihiryu" (栃飛龍) and had a relatively strong start to his professional sumo career. He produced four straight winning records (kachi-koshi) and was promoted to the sandanme division in January 2007.^[2]

6600 — Tochihiryu during his time in makushita (c. 2010)

He produced a disastrous 1-6 record in January 2007 and was relegated back to the jonidan division. In his return to jonidan in March 2007, he won all seven matches and a playoff against Katsunofuji to claim the jonidan yusho. He was promoted all the way up to sandanme 17, but struggled immensely and posted an embarrassing 0-7 record in May 2007. Nevertheless, he rebounded and was promoted to the makushita division a year later in May 2008.^[2]

While training in March 2009, Tochihiryu aggravated an old injury during practice and had to sit out of the following two tournaments.^[1] He returned in July 2009 at the rank of jonidan 29 and won all seven matches to claim his second jonidan yusho. He continued his strong by posting five more winning records and was promoted all the way up to makushita 9 for the July 2010 tournament. Five tournaments later, he reached the highly competitive rank of makushita 2 and defeated juryo-ranked Hishofuji, however, he finished with a 3-4 record. He would remain in the highly competitive top tier of makushita for around a year and a half, and Tochihiryu finally earned promotion to the juryo division in March 2013.^[2]

Juryo Career[]

In Tochihiryu's juryo debut, he produced an 8-7 record and was promoted a career-best juryo 7 for the following May 2013 tournament. However, Tochihiryu struggled at this rank, finishing with a 5-10 record, and followed with a 3-12 record in July 2013. As a result, he was relegated back down to makushita for the following September 2013 tournament.^[2]

After two tournaments in makushita, Tochihiryu was promoted back to juryo for the January 2014 tournament. In his first tournament back, it seemed like Tochihiryu was on his way to achieving a winning record as he was 7-5 by the end of the twelfth day. However, he lost his last three matches and finished with a 7-8 record. He followed with a 5-10 record in March 2014 which sent him back down to makushita for the May 2014 tournament. Nevertheless, he would immediately earn promotion back to juryo in July 2014, however, a losing record sent him back down to makushita for the September 2014 tournament.^[2]

TochihiryuKeitenkai2015 — Tochihiryu pushes down and defeats Keitenkai (c. 2015)

Tochihiryu returned to juryo in November 2014 after spending only one tournament in makushita. In his first tournament back, Tochihiryu finished with a 7-8 record, but luckily his rank was unaffected for the following January 2015 tournament. However, Tochihiryu finished with a 4-11 record in January 2015 and was demoted back down to makushita for the March 2015 tournament.^[2]

Later Career[]

In January 2016, Tochihiryu was ranked at makushita 6 and was on the verge of winning the makushita yusho. He was 6-0 going into the twelfth day and was placed against juryo-ranked Dewahayate for his final match. However, he lost to Dewahayate which resulted in him missing out on both the yusho as well as a promotion back to juryo. Nevertheless, Tochihiryu was placed in an eight-man playoff for the makushita yusho. He defeated Takagenji in the first round, but ended up losing to stablemate Tochimaru in the second round.^[2]

In November 2017, Tochihiryu won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record at the rank of makushita 10 and earned promotion back to juryo for the January 2018 tournament after a three year absence. In his return back, he struggled and posted a 4-11 record. This would be his last tournament as a sekitori as he was immediately demoted back down to makushita in March 2018.^[2]

Retirement from Sumo[]

The Japan Sumo Association announced Tochihiryu's retirement on May 25, 2019.^[3] He cited that his old neck injury that he suffered during his third year of high school was starting to act up. When he had his neck examined, the doctors told him that he could be paralyzed if he continued his sumo career. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held on June 3, 2019, at Kasugano stable.^[1]

After retirement, he plans to work in the transportation industry as a company employee. However, he has expressed a dream of opening a restaurant, as he took a course on food culture in high school and has been interested ever since.^[1]

Fighting Style[]

Tochihiryu is a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or technique is oshidashi or a straightforward push out. He struggles heavily on the mawashi and has only won by yorikiri four times, which only accounts for 1% of his victories (on average it is around 25%). Moreover, he only won three matches by throws.^[4]