Tochiazuma Tomoyori

Tochiazuma Tomoyori (born 3 September 1944 as Hayao Shiga) is a former sumo wrestler from Sōma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was ''sekiwake,'' which he held for one tournament in 1970. He won the top division championship in January 1972. After retirement he worked as a coach at his stable, Kasugano, until 1990 when he set up his own Tamanoi stable. He is the father of the former '' ōzeki'' Tochiazuma Daisuke, and upon his retirement as a coach in 2009 his son took over from him.

Career

He made his debut in November 1960, joining the then recently retired '' yokozuna'' Tochinishiki's Kasugano stable. He reached ''jūryō'' in May 1965 and the top '' makuuchi'' division in March 1967. He was relatively small, standing only 177 cm tall and weighing around 110 kg. In May 1968 he was runner-up to Tamanoshima with a 10–5 record, earning promotion to '' komusubi.'' He also won the first of his six '' Ginō-shō'' or Technique Awards. He was runner-up once again in September of that year. He reached his highest rank of ''sekiwake'' in March 1970 but fell short with a 7–8 record.

He had the unusual experience in January 1971 of defeating a ''yokozuna'' on the opening day, and then losing 13 of his remaining 14 bouts, with his only other win being a walkover.

In January 1972, ranked at '' maegashira'' 5, he took his only top division '' yūshō'' or tournament championship. He needed only an 11–4 record to do so (13 or 14 wins are normally needed). The sole ''yokozuna'' at the time, Kitanofuji, withdrew after winning only seven matches, and the only ''ōzeki'' Tochiazuma faced was Kiyokuni on the final day. He won the match, avoiding the need for a playoff with Wajima, Kotozakura, Hasegawa, Fukunohana, Yoshioyama and Wakafutase who all finished runners up on 10–5. Had Kiyokuni won, he would have also been involved in an eight-way playoff.

After his tournament victory he was promoted back to ''komusubi'' but pulled out of the next tournament through injury and spent the rest of his career in the ''maegashira'' ranks. He was runner-up for a third time in May 1973, but was not really in contention for the championship during the tournament, finishing four wins behind the undefeated Wajima.

Retirement from sumo

His son, Daisuke, was born in November 1976. Tochiazuma retired two months later, during the January 1977 tournament. He remained in sumo as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association, working as a coach at his old stable. In 1990, following the death of his old stablemaster, he decided to branch out and open up his own Tamanoi stable. The purpose-built ''heya'' has some of the best facilities in sumo today. His son joined the stable in 1994 and adopted his old '' shikona'' of Tochiazuma. His son won his first tournament championship in January 2002, exactly 30 years after Tamanoi Oyakata's own triumph, and retired in May 2007. He took over the running of the stable when Tamanoi reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 in September 2009.

Career record

See also

* Glossary of sumo terms
*List of past sumo wrestlers
* List of sumo tournament top division champions
* List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
* List of sumo tournament second division champions
* List of sekiwake

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tochiazuma Tomoyori
1944 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Fukushima Prefecture
Sekiwake