was a Japanese professional

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a '' rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring ('' dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by ...

wrestler. He was the sport's 27th ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'' from 1918 until 1925. Generally he is considered one of the pioneers of modern sumo. He remains the lightest ''yokozuna'' in the history of the sport with a weight of 104 kg.

Early career

He was born , but later changed his surname to . He entered sumo in February 1911, using the ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Edo period, where they were used as a means to attract customers and hide the identities of the '' rikishi''. Like standard Japanese names, a ''shikona'' ...

'' until changing the given name to Moriya in January 1914. His coach

Hitachiyama Taniemon was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. He was the sport's 19th ''yokozuna'' from 1903 till 1914. His great rivalry with Umegatani Tōtarō II created the "Ume-Hitachi Era" and did much to popularise sumo. He ...

did not expect him to be strong owing to his light weight. However, Tochigiyama lost only 3 bouts on his way to the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'' division, achieving promotion in January 1915. Tochigiyama defeated Tachiyama Mineemon, ending his series of 56 victories, on the 8th day of the May 1916 tournament. Tochigiyama was promoted to '' ōzeki'' in May 1917. After he won his first two championships at ''ōzeki'' without suffering a single defeat, he was promoted to ''yokozuna'' in February 1918.

Yokozuna

Tochigiyama won a third championship during his first tournament as ''yokozuna''. He also won the following two tournaments, meaning he achieved five consecutive championships between May 1917 and May 1919. Tochigiyama defeated other wrestlers with his strong ''oshi'', or pushing techniques. He compensated for his lack of weight by training extremely hard. He was nicknamed the "little giant ''yokozuna''". Like Hitachiyama before him, he trained many wrestlers, such as later ''yokozuna'' Tamanishiki San'emon, even though they were not members of the

Dewanoumi stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ''ichimon'' or group of stables. It has a long, prestigious history. Its current head coach is former ''maegashira'' Oginohana. As of January 2022 it had 15 wrestlers. History The stable's ...

. In May 1925, he suddenly retired after winning three consecutive championships between January 1924 and January 1925. Asked about his retirement, he stated that he wanted to retire while still a strong opponent. The painter Foujita made his portrait in sumotori in 1926 in Paris; the painting is kept in the musée de Grenoble (France). Tochigiyama only lost 23 times while an active sumo wrestler in the top ''makuuchi'' division, and only eight times during his seven years as ''yokozuna''. His top division winning percentage was 87.8. In addition, his winning percentage as ''yokozuna'' reached 93.5, the fourth best in history after

Jinmaku is a curtain used in setting up a military encampment commonly seen from the pre-modern era in Japan. The jinmaku were also historically known as a , or "military curtain". Origin Jinmaku literally means "camp curtain". In the Japanese the wo ...

, Tachiyama and Tanikaze.

Retirement from sumo

After his retirement, he was permitted to leave Dewanoumi stable and become the eighth head coach of Kasugano stable. He was the adopted son of its previous head coach,

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

Kimura Soshiro. In his tenure, Tochigiyama produced ''yokozuna'' Tochinishiki Kiyotaka. In June 1931, Tochigiyama took part in the first , special sumo tournament. To the surprise of many, he defeated Tamanishiki and Tenryū, and won the championship. In the modern age, retired wrestlers can no longer take part in any special sumo tournaments. In 1952 he performed his '' kanreki dohyō-iri'' or '60th year ring entrance ceremony' to commemorate his years as ''yokozuna''. His strength hardly declined long into his retirement. It is reported that Tochigiyama in his sixties easily carried a large ''

hibachi The is a traditional Japanese heating device. It is a brazier which is either round, cylindrical, or box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal. It is believed da ...

'' which none of his other junior stable members could move. He died suddenly in 1959 whilst still in charge of Kasugano stable. Tochinishiki, who Tochigiyama had in turn adopted as his son, took over as head coach of the stable.

Career record

References

External links