Tochinohana Hitoshi

Tochinohana Hitoshi - 栃乃花仁 (born February 28, 1973) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yamagata, Iwate. He made his debut in March 1995 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1999 and has four special prizes. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in January 2008.

Early Life[]

Yachi was a member of the judo club in junior high school and he did not switch to sumo until Iwate Prefectural Joboji High School. After this he enrolled at Meiji University and was a member of the school's sumo club. He was co-captain of the sumo club and played an active role in national competitions, however, a knee ligament injury sidelined him in his final year which made him lose out on makushita tsukedashi status. Nonetheless, he joined Kasugano stable in March 1995 upon graduation from high school.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Yachi won the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 7-0 record in his first tournament and followed with a strong 6-1 performance in his jonidan debut which sent him to sandanme by his third tournament. Yachi continued to dominate and posted two consecutive 6-1 records which promoted him to makushita in January 1996. He found makushita to be much harder and remained in the division for three years. He was finally promoted to juryo in January 1999.

Juryo Career[]

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona from his family name to "Tochinohana" (栃乃花). He produced a solid 8-7 in his first tournament, but followed with two losing records which sent him back down to makushita. He immediately returned back to juryo after one tournament. In March 2000, he captured the makushita yusho with a 13-2 record which promoted him to makuuchi in May 2000.

Makuuchi Career[]

In his makuuchi debut, he defeated ozeki Chiyotaikai and Takanonami, finished in equal third place with 12 wins against three losses and received two special prizes for Fighting Spirit and Technique. In the September 2000 tournament he defeated another ozeki and was awarded his second Technique prize. He was promoted to komusubi in the next tournament in November, but could only manage a 3-12 record. This was to be his only tournament in the titled sanyaku ranks.

Over the next couple of years Tochinohana struggled to maintain his makuuchi position, and a serious back injury forced him all the way down to the unsalaried makushita division in 2004. However, he fought his way back to makuuchi in November 2005, where he finished runner-up to yokozuna Asashoryu, scoring eleven wins and receiving the Fighting Spirit Award. In an interview, Tochinohana's father said he regarded this as the most memorable achievement of his son's career. He remained in the top division until May 2007, when he could only win only four bouts at maegashira 13 and was demoted back to juryo.

Retirement from Sumo[]

After a disastrous 2-13 record in November 2007 Tochinohana fell to juryo 14 West, making him the lowest ranking sekitori. In January 2008, after losing nine of his first twelve bouts, he announced his retirement. He has stayed with the Sumo Association as an toshiyori, or elder, under the name Hatachiyama, and is working as a coach at Kasugano stable. His danpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, was held jointly with his stablemate Tochisakae at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in January 2009.

Personal Life[]

On April 27th, 2008, he announced his engagement with a female flight attendant. They already knew each for eight years and were dating for seven and a half years. Their wedding ceremony was held on September 1st, 2007.

Fighting Style[]

Tochinohana's most common winning kimarite was a straightforward yorikiri, or force out, and he preferred a migi-yotsu, or left hand outside, right hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi. He also regularly won with oshidashi, or push out.