Toyohibiki Ryuta

Toyohibiki Ryuta - 豊響隆太 (born November 16, 1984) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Toyoura, Yamaguchi. He made his debut in January 2005 and wrestled for Sakaigawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2007 and has 3 special prizes as well as 1 kinboshi. His highest rank was maegashira 2 and he retired in July 2021.

Early Life[]

Kadomoto became interested in sumo in his second year of primary school when he joined an area boys' sports club; also in the club was the future sumo star Homasho, three years his senior. Though he showed promise in sumo, preferring to stay local, he did not transfer to one of the more well-known high schools with a strong sumo program. While he was in the sumo club, the owner of Sakaigawa stable visited him with an eye to recruiting him, but did not like his attitude and dismissed him as a candidate. After high school he tried out various jobs such a shipyard work and truck driving. Eventually, however, a dialogue was opened again with Sakaigawa stable and he joined in January 2005. This was the same time that future ozeki Goeido also joined the stable.

Career[]

Early Career[]

Initially fighting under his own surname of Kadamoto, he won the jonidan championship in his second full tournament with a perfect 7–0 record. He was promoted to makushita after three tournaments in sandanme. Toyohibiki produced his first losing record in his makushita debut, but would bounce back and produce five straight winning records which earned him a promotion to the salaried juryo division.

Juryo Career[]

6467 — Toyohibiki with his kesho-mawashi during the dohyo-iri (c. 2010)

To mark the occasion he adopted his present ring name of Toyohibiki. The "toyo" part of his ring name came from the name of his home area of Toyoura (the same "toyo" also being the first character in his mother's name Toyomi) and the second part came from the name of his high school, Yamaguchi Hibiki. He won the juryo championship in his debut tournament with a 10–5 record, and reached the top makuuchi division for the first time in July 2007.

Makuuchi Career[]

Toyohibiki produced a strong 11–4 record on his debut in makuuchi and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. He was one of seven wrestlers who NHK commentator Shuhei Nagao (the former Mainoumi) in 2008 called the "Seven Samurai" and identified as "holding the key" to a Japanese resurgence in sumo, which was dominated by foreigners in the top ranks. (The others were his stablemate Goeido, Kisenosato, Kotoshogiku, Homasho, Toyonoshima and Tochiozan).

In the next four tournaments after his top division debut, he did not manage a majority of wins against losses. His 5–10 score in the March 2008 tournament, after losing to his first seven opponents, sent him to the bottom of makuuchi and placed him in danger of demotion from the top division altogether. In May 2008 he won six of his first seven bouts and though he stumbled rather through the rest of the tournament he did finally record a winning score of 8–7. In July 2008 he was on the tournament leaderboard into the second week and finished on 10–5, winning his second Fighting Spirit Prize. In November 2008 he reached his highest rank to date of maegashira 2, but he had to sit out the tournament due to a detached retina in his left eye.

201801140000469-nsogp 0 — Toyohibiki prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2018)

Toyohibiki returned to action in January 2009 but could win only five bouts, resulting in demotion back to the juryo division. He bounced back with a 12 – 3 victory in the juryo division in the Haru basho in Osaka on March 29, 2009, his second yusho in the division, which returned him immediately to makuuchi. He produced a strong 11–4 record at maegashira 11 in the May 2009 tournament, and was promoted back to maegashira 2 for the July tourney.

In the January 2010 tournament he broke a run of three consecutive make-koshi that had seen him slip to maegashira 16 by finishing joint runner-up (alongside Hakuho and Baruto) on 12–3, and he was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize for the third time. He was suspended along with over a dozen other wrestlers from the July 2010 tournament after admitting involvement in illegal betting on baseball. As a result, he fell to the juryo division in September. After two tournaments in the second division he returned to makuuchi in January 2011.

In the May 2012 tournament he recorded his first victory over a yokozuna, defeating Hakuho by kotenage or armlock throw. The referee initially awarded the match to Hakuho, but the judges overturned the decision.

He largely alternated winning and losing tournaments during the period in which he was a makuuchi regular, and had one of the longest tenures among active members of the top division without ever making san'yaku. He fell to juryo in September 2015 for the first time since his suspension in 2010 but made an immediate return to makuuchi. His "up and down" form continued in 2016 as he was relegated after the March tournament, returned to the top division in July and was relegated again after a 6–9 record in November.

Later Career[]

Toyohibiki22 — Toyohibiki prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2020)

He won promotion back to makuuchi after the March 2017 tournament where he took his third juryo championship after winning a three-way playoff when he, Osunaarashi and Asanoyama all finished on 10–5. However he was immediately demoted back to juryo after a 4–11 record in May. He did not enter the January 2018 tournament because of the detection of an irregular heartbeat. This resulted in him dropping to the makushita division, and he never managed to return to the sekitori ranks. He had knee surgery in December 2020, and did not return to active competition.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Toyohibiki retired in June 2021. He is staying in sumo as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the elder name of Yamashina. His retirement ceremony was held at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan on January 29, 2023.

Personal Life[]

Toyohibiki announced his marriage with an office worker, who was four year his junior, on October 26th, 2015. Their wedding reception was held on February 15th, 2016.
Toyohibiki's hobby is taking naps.

Controversy[]

Toyohibiki was suspended along with over a dozen other wrestlers from the July 2010 tournament after admitting involvement in illegal betting on baseball. As a result, he fell to the juryo division in September.

Fighting Style[]

One of the heaviest men in the division at 185 kg (408 lb), Toyohibiki is a wrestler with great power but he also has suspect footwork. He favours pushing techniques, using his weight to his best advantage. Of the 44 matches he won between July 2007 and May 2008, 24 were by oshidashi, or a simple push out. He is not fond of grips on the mawashi, winning only three bouts by yorikiri or force out during the same period.