Tochinoumi

was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Aomori. He was the sport's 49th ''yokozuna'', earning promotion in 1964. He was somewhat overshadowed by his ''yokozuna'' contemporaries Taihō and Kashiwado, but he was a noted technician and earlier in his career won six special prizes for Technique. He was one of the lightest ''yokozuna'' ever at just 110 kg. After his retirement from active competition in 1966 he was a coach at Kasugano stable, and was head coach from 1990 until his retirement in 2003.

Career

Born in Inakadate, Minamitsugaru District, he made his professional debut in September 1955. He joined Kasugano stable, a prestigious stable that had previously produced ''yokozuna'' Tochigiyama and Tochinishiki. He initially fought under his birth name Hanada Shigehiro, changing the spelling of Shigehiro numerous times. After about three years in the lower ranks he reached the second ''jūryō'' division in January 1959 and was promoted to the top ''makuuchi'' division in March 1960. After two ''make-koshi'' or losing scores he was demoted to ''jūryō'' but immediately won the second division championship with a 14–1 record and was promoted back. He then adopted the ''shikona'' Tochinoumi Teruyoshi in September 1960.

He captured his first top division tournament championship in May 1962 at ''sekiwake'' rank and was promoted to '' ōzeki'', alongside his stablemate Tochihikari. He won his second championship in November 1963 and followed up with a 13–2 record in January 1964. Although he only took third place in this tournament, behind Taihō on 15–0 and ''maegashira'' Kiyokuni on 14–1, he was promoted to sumo's highest rank of ''yokozuna'', despite some doubts about his lack of weight. He was only able to win one further championship, in May 1964, and being severely restricted by a herniated disc in his lower back, posted a succession of bare majority 8–7 records in 1965. He recovered somewhat to post a 10–5 in September 1965, but then suffered a serious injury to a muscle in his right arm. He had expressed hope that he could fight until the age of 30, but after an injury-plagued 1966 he retired at the end of the year at the age of 28 years eight months, making him the youngest retired ''yokozuna'' ever. He often seemed to feel under pressure as a ''yokozuna'', suffering from weight loss and lack of sleep. His winning percentage at the rank was just .596 (the worst ever after Maedayama and Mienoumi) with 102 wins and 69 losses (plus 84 absences). He gave away 33 ''kinboshi,'' 36 percent of all his ''yokozuna'' matches against ''maegashira''. His overall ''makuuchi'' record was .635, with 310 wins, 184 losses and 104 absences.

Fighting style

Tochinoumi was noted for his technical skill, and six of his seven special prizes were for Technique. His most common winning ''kimarite'' were ''yorikiri'' (force out) and ''yoritaoshi'' (force out and down), but he also had more unusual techniques in his repertoire, such as ''kirikaeshi'' (twisting backward knee trip) and ''sotogake'' (outer leg trip).

Retirement from sumo

Tochinoumi stayed in the sumo world as an elder of the Sumo Association, under the name Nakadachi. Somewhat unusually for a former ''yokozuna'', he did not immediately take charge of a stable, instead working as an assistant coach. However, in January 1990 he did become head coach of Kasugano stable after the death of the previous stablemaster, the former Tochinishiki. Among the ''sekitori'' he produced were Tochinonada, Tochinohana, Tochisakae, and Kasuganishiki. He later expressed satisfaction that he had managed to maintain the tradition of an unbroken string of ''sekitori'' at Kasugano stable dating back to before the second World War. He stood down in 2003 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65, handing control of the stable over to former ''sekiwake'' Tochinowaka. He was one month younger than Sadanoyama, who was promoted to ''yokozuna'' a year after him. Following the death of Sadanoyama in April 2017, he was the oldest living ''yokozuna'', but he remained active by playing golf. In 2018 he visited Kasugano stable and participated in the ceremony to mark Tochinoshin's promotion to ''ōzeki''. In 2019 he organized the Tochinoumi Cup, a sumo tournament for children, in his home village of Inakadate, Aomori. He died in January 2021 of aspiration pneumonia at the age of 82.第49代横綱栃ノ海の花田茂広さん死去　82歳
/ref> He was the second longest living ''yokozuna'' of all-time, after Umegatani I.

Personal life

His first marriage ended in divorce. His second wife was, like his first, from the world of show business as she was a former member of the Takarazuka Revue troupe. His son Yasuyuki, born in 1970, also became a sumo wrestler at Kasugano stable, joining in March 1986 but retiring in 1991 having failed to progress further than the ''jonidan'' division.

Career record

*''The Kyushu tournament was first held in 1957, and the Nagoya tournament in 1958.''

See also

*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of sumo tournament top division champions
*List of sumo tournament second division champions
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of yokozuna

References

External links

Japan Sumo Association profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tochinoumi Teruyoshi
1938 births
2021 deaths
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Aomori Prefecture
Yokozuna
Deaths from pneumonia in Japan