Tokushoryu Makoto

Tokushoryu Makoto - 德勝龍誠 (born August 22, 1986) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nara City, Nara. He made his debut in January 2009 and last wrestled for Kise stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2013 and has 2 special prizes, 1 kinboshi and 1 top division championship. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he retired in September 2023.

Early Life[]

Makoto Aoki was born on August 22, 1986, in the town of Takatori in Nara Prefecture. He lived in Takatori until his first year of elementary school and then moved to Kashihara City, where he lived until he finished junior high school.^[1] Aoki had always been a big kid. At birth, he weighed 3,860 grams (8.5 pounds), reached 10 kilograms (22 pounds) at six months old, and he needed a custom-made kindergarten uniform.^[2] He started judo at the age of three and began playing baseball in the second grade.^[3] In youth baseball, he excelled as a powerful hitter known for either hitting home runs or striking out opponents.^[4] In the fourth grade, Aoki started sumo at a local dojo in Kashihara City. He was an athletic child who also practiced judo and baseball and had a hearty appetite, often eating ramen and fried rice for snacks.^[5]

After junior high school, he moved to Kochi Prefecture to attend Meitoku Gijuku High School, which was well known for its sumo program.^[6] In his second year of high school, he experienced winning the team championship at the Inter-High School Sumo Championship. Individually, he reached the top 16 at the National Sports Festival in his second year and the top 8 at the Kanazawa Tournament in his third year.^[6]

After finishing high school, Aoki enrolled at Kinki University's Faculty of Business Administration and was a member of the university's sumo club. Although he did not become a student yokozuna, he won the West Japan Student Sumo Championship and the All Japan University Selection Sumo Tournament in Kochi.^[5]

Career[]

Early Career[]

In his fourth year in university he made the decision to join Kise stable and first stepped into the ring for the January 2009 tournament, along with other contemporaries such as Takarafuji, Kimikaze and Takanoiwa. Despite his successes in amateur sumo, Aoki never achieved student yokozuna status so was not allowed to enter professional sumo at an elevated rank (see makushita tsukedashi) and had to start at the bottom of the ranks.^[7]

8c0fac9948ce79f85a45e7cb97aa6866 — Tokushoryu during his time in makushita (c. 2010)

His skill and experience allowed him a string of winning tournaments from his entry into sumo, and he also took the bottom division jonokuchi championship in his first official tournament, with a 6-1 score without a playoff (which is very rare in sumo), followed by a perfect 7–0 sandanme championship in September 2009. Aoki was promoted to the makushita division in the November 2009 tournament following his championship.^[7]

Aoki spent all of 2010 in makushita and had only two losing tournaments until reaching makushita 2 in November of that year. Though on the cusp of being promoted to the salaried ranks of juryo, he only managed a 1–6 record. In January 2011, he was given the shikona "Tokushoryu" (德勝龍).^[7]

He spent most of 2011 working his way through makushita much as he had in 2010. On reaching makushita 1 in the September tournament he put in an impressive 5–2 record and achieve promotion to juryo for the November 2011 tournament on his second chance.^[7]

Juryo Career[]

In his first juryo tournament in November 2011 he garnered a lot of attention by winning his first seven bouts, however he lost four in a row after that, ending with a 10–5. This was followed by a disastrous 2–13 record for the January 2012 tournament, largely due to a knee injury, which dropped him back to makushita. He fought back with a 4–3 record in the following March tournament and earned re-promotion to juryo. From this point on he managed to work his way through juryo posting mostly winning records. This continued up until the May 2013 tournament, where he achieved a strong 12–3 record and almost took the juryo championship, only losing it to Kotoyuki on the last day of the tournament. This was still enough to earn him promotion to the top-tier makuuchi division for the July 2013 tournament.^[7]

Makuuchi Career[]

In his first top-tier tournament he managed a 9–6 record, making him the first makuuchi debut wrestler in 2013 to achieve a winning record. In the following two tournaments however, he would get two consecutive losing records, just barely managing to avoid demotion. He dropped to the second division in 2014 but was immediately promoted back to makuuchi after posting a 12–3 record. Fighting from the low rank of maegashira 16 in the January 2015 tournament he scored 11–4 and was runner-up to Hakuho, who won a record-breaking 33rd yusho. He remained in the top division for the next two years, reaching a career high rank of maegashira 4 in May 2015. He then dropped down the banzuke and was relegated again after the September 2016 tournament. He returned to makuuchi in March 2017, but a record of only 4–11 in consecutive tournaments in July and September saw him demoted to juryo once again. In September 2018 he won his first juryo division championship after a playoff win over Daiamami. He returned to the top division in May 2019 but only for one tournament as he recorded four wins against eleven losses, a failure he later attributed to a "lack of appetite for victory" because he was content simply to be in makuuchi again.^[8]

20200126s00005000300000p view — Tokushoryu cries heavily after winning the January 2020 tournament

After recording eight wins in November 2019 he earned his sixth promotion to the top division and started the January tournament at west maegashira 17, making him the lowest-ranked of the 42 entrants. He defeated Chiyoshoma in his first bout before losing to Kaisei on the second day but then recorded eleven straight wins to enter the penultimate day in a tie for the lead with Shodai. He was then matched against Shodai and won by tsukiotoshi to take the sole lead. The final match on the last day of the tournament saw Tokushoryu pitted against the ozeki Takakeisho needing to win to take the title: if he lost he would have had to face Shodai again in a play-off. Tokushoryu secured a right hand outside grip on Takakeisho's belt and forced his opponent out of the ring to win by yorikiri. He became the first wrestler from Nara Prefecture to win a top division championship in 98 years and the first to do so from the bottom rank in the division since Takatoriki in March 2000.^[9] In addition to the yusho, Tokushoryu also received his first ever sansho or special prizes, for Outstanding Performance and Fighting Spirit.^[8] When asked if his good results in the early part of the basho had led him to focus on the championship he said "I didn’t think about it... OK, That’s a lie. I was actually absorbed by the idea... Since the start, I’d been thinking if I give it all I have, that will be plenty. If I do my best on the opening charge, I can live with the results that follow. I’d done it my way all along, and the final day was the same. Rather than say I’m already 33, I prefer to think of myself as being only 33."^[10] Referring to his visible display of emotion upon clinching victory, rarely seen on the dohyo, he said, "I might have cried too much, but at that moment I felt relieved from all the pressure."^[11]^[12] Araiso Oyakata (former yokozuna Kisenosato) commented, "People are always telling him to lose weight. But the weight that had been a shortcoming is now an asset."^[10] Tokushoryu also paid tribute to his mentor at Kinki University's sumo club, Katsuhito Ito, who had died suddenly at the age of 55 on the seventh day of the tournament. Tokushoryu's shikona was based on Ito's name, as the two share the kanji character for "win."^[6]

For the March 2020 tournament Tokushoryu was promoted to maegashira 2, his highest ranking. He managed to earn a kinboshi by defeating Kakuryu on Day 6, his first win over a yokozuna, but ended the tournament with a 4–11 record. After maintaining a position in the mid-maegashira ranks for the rest of 2020, a 3–12 record at the rank of maegashira 8 in January 2021, five tournaments after his championship, saw demoted to juryo for the March 2021 tournament. This was the quickest demotion to juryo ever after winning a makuuchi championship, surpassing Wakanami who was demoted after seven tournaments.^[13] Following the November 2022 tournament he was demoted once again, to makushita. During this tournament he had lost to Asanoyama in the first ever match in the juryo division between two former makuuchi division tournament champions.^[14] Tokushoryu earned immediate promotion back to juryo after the January 2023 tournament, but garnered a poor 4–11 record in the next one.^[7]

Retirement from Sumo[]

After two consecutive tournaments spent below sekitori status, it was reported on 11 September 2023 that Tokushoryu had decided to retire as a wrestler after deciding not to take part in that month's tournament.^[15] The Sumo Association made the official announcement about Tokushoryu's retirement the following day. He will remain with his stable by becoming a coach under the name Sendagawa, succeeding the recently retired Toki.^[16]

Tokushoryu's official retirement ceremony was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on 1 February 2025.^[17] Two months later, the Sumo Association announced that he had moved from Kise stable to coach at Nishikido stable.^[18]

Personal Life[]

Tokushoryu was married in June 2016, with the wedding reception in February 2017.^[19]
Tokushoryu's father was a former police officer and he participated in collegiate-level judo at Tenri University in Nara Prefecture.^[20]
Tokushoryu's favorite singer is CHEHON, his hobbies are golf and darts, and his favorite manga series is BATTLE STUDIES.^[21]
Tokushoryu is close friends with Kisenosato, and they would often hang out with each other during the jungyo tours.^[22]

Fighting Style[]

Tokushoryu is a oshi-sumo wrestler, preferring thrusting and pushing (tsuki/oshi) techniques to fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite are yorikiri (force out) and oshidashi (push out).^[23] He also employs on tsukiotoshi (thrust down) and won by the technique five straight times during his yusho-run. While he was a member of Kitanoumi stable, head coach Kitanoumi encouraged him to go for a left hand inside grip on the belt, hidari-yotsu, recognizing his power, and this is the technique he used in his championship winning match against Takakeisho in January 2020.^[6]^[12]