Tochitsurugi Nobuhide

Tochitsurugi Nobuhide - 栃剣展秀 (born April 26, 1955) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi. He made his debut in November 1973 and last wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1982 and has one special prize. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he retired in March 1989.

Early Life[]

Hirano began sumo wrestling after he won a local tournament during his sixth year at elementary school. In junior high school he was a member of the school's sumo club. He continued sumo wrestling at Chukyo University Chukyo High School and won a tournament during the National Sports Festival of Japan. After graduating high school he received many offers from colleges for sumo, but instead he opted to go professional and joined Kasugano stable in November 1973.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Hirano won the jonokuchi yusho with a perfect 7-0 record in his first professional tournament. He followed with a 6-1 record in jonidan which earned him a promotion to sandanme in May 1974. In September 1974, he won all seven matches, but missed out on the sandanme yusho after losing to stablemate Tochigo in the playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makushita in the following November 1974 tournament. In September 1976, he produced a 6-1 record and qualified for an eight-man playoff for the yusho, but he missed out after losing to Chikarakoma in the first round. After four years in makushita, he finally won promotion to juryo in May 1978 after producing a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 2.

Juryo Career[]

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona from his surname to "Tochitsurugi" (栃剣). He could only maintain his rank for two tournaments and was demoted back down to makushita in November 1978. He returned to juryo immediately in January 1979 but only stayed for three tournaments before falling back down to makushita in September 1979. He returned for the third time in May 1981 and was promoted to makuuchi in March 1982 after producing three consecutive winning records.

Makuuchi Career[]

Tochitsurugi was ranked in the top division for a total of 28 tournaments. He was the shortest wrestler at 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in). In September 1983 he finished with a strong 10-5 record and was awarded the technique prize. He was promoted to a career-best maegashira 2 in the following tournament. Tochitsurugi never managed to reach san'yaku or defeat a yokozuna. His most memorable win came on Day 9 during the November 1985 tournament. He was wrestling against future ozeki Konishiki who was double his size and Tochitsurugi defeated him with the skillful kekaeshi, or minor inner foot sweep. Tochitsurugi eventually fell down to juryo in July 1987 and makushita in September 1988. He ultimately announced his retirement after the March 1989 tournament.

Retirement from Sumo[]

After retiring, Tochitsurugi intended to stay in the Sumo Association as an elder, but he was not able to obtain any elder stock. Instead, he opened up a chanko restaurant in Chiba, but it later closed. He was arrested for gambling in November 1997 when he was working at a gaming cafe. He currently works in Kasugai, Aichi, where he delivers mechanical parts to a factory and also works as sumo coach for elementary school kids.

Fighting Style[]

Tochitsurugi was 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 was oshidashi or a straightforward push out. He was also fond of employing kekaeshi, or minor inner foot sweep.