Tokushinho Motohisa

Tokushinho Motohisa - 德真鵬元久 (born May 13, 1984) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Matsusaka, Mie. He made his debut in March 2007 and wrestled for Kise stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2009. His highest rank was juryo 6 and he retired in July 2020.

Early Life[]

Shiratsuka participated in karate in elementary school and was already 100 kg by the time he started junior high school. He attended Matsusaka Shiritsu Kubo Junior High School and Mie High School where he participated in sumo competitions. He was an amateur wrestler at Asahi University and reached the top 16 in the Inter Collegiate and second place in the Western Japan College Tournament. He was a contemporary of Tosayutaka. He joined Kise stable in March 2007 at the age of 23. He was only the third former member of Asahi University's small sumo club to turn professional.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He initially wrestled under his family name of Shiratsuka and at the time of his debut, he already weighed 182 kg. Like most former collegiate wrestlers, the bottom three divisions of jonokuchi, jonidan, and sandanme was relatively easy for him. He spent only one tournament in jonokuchi and only two in both jonidan and sandanme.

He made his makushita debut in March 2008. In his first makushita tournament, Shiratsuka produced a strong 6-1 record and was promoted to the rank of makushita 19. He continued to impress by producing a 5-2, however, he suffered his first make-koshi, or losing record, in July 2008 after producing a 3-4 record. In March 2009, he changed his shikona to "Tokushinho". After his shikona change, he produced a strong 6-1 record and was placed in an eight-man playoff. In this playoff, he defeated ex-juryo wrestler Daishoyama in the first round by tsuridashi (lift-out) and Yamatofuji in the second round. He defeated Sadanofuji in the last round to clinch the makushita yusho. Two tournaments later, Tokushinho was promoted to juryo in September 2009.

Juryo Career[]

Screen Shot 2020-12-23 at 1.12.23 PM — Tokushinho prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2014)

Tokushinho struggled in his juryo debut and produced a 6-9 record. As a result he was demoted back down to the makushita division. Tokushinho produced two consecutive 5-2 records which earned him a slot back in the highly competitive juryo division.

In his return, produced an 8-7 record, but produced three losing records in the following tournaments which caused him to fall back down to makushita. Tokushinho would remain in makushita for a year before earning promotion back to juryo in January 2012.

In his return back, Tokushinho was a very consistent wrestler when it came to his records. For nine tournaments straight, Tokushinho produced only 8-7 and 7-8 records. As a result he made limited progress and was always lurking around the bottom ranks. In July 2013, he produced a career-best 10-5 record which sent him to a career-high juryo 6 rank. However, in this rank he produced a losing record and could not accelerate past the top half of juryo. In March 2015, Tokushinho was regulated back to the juryo division after producing four straight losing records. He would return two tournaments later, but would only stay in juryo for a three tournament stint. His last tournament in juryo would be in November 2015.

Later Career[]

Tokushinho would remain in the highly competitive upper-half of makushita for around three years. After producing a 3-4 in March 2020, he fell back down to sandanme for the first time in thirteen years.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Tokushinho fell to the sandanme division in the banzuke issued for the May 2020 tournament, and he submitted retirement papers to the Japan Sumo Association, acknowledged on June 1, 2020. After retirement, he plans to return to Asahi University as a member of staff.

Personal Life[]

His peak weight of 224 kilograms (494 lbs) means he ranks twelfth in the list of heaviest sumo wrestlers, and is the sixth-heaviest Japanese sumo wrestler ever after Yamamotoyama, Kenho, Susanoumi, Kainowaka and Hidenoumi. In his later career, Tokushinho lost nearly 40 kg and weighed around 186 kg.
Tokushinho was only the third former member of Asahi University's small sumo club to turn professional.

Fighting Style[]

When fighting on the mawashi or belt Tokushinho favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) grip. He also regularly used tsuki/oshi (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His most common winning kimarite were yorikiri (force out) and oshidashi (push out), which together account for over 60 per cent of his career wins.