Tochinowaka Michihiro

Tochinowaka Michihiro (born Dae Won Lee on April 6, 1988) is a former sumo wrestler from Hyogo, Japan. His father is a Zainichi Korean and his mother is a Korean immigrant. He made his professional debut in 2007 and steadily rose through the ranks. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 1.

Early life and sumo background

Lee was active in judo and also began doing sumo in his second year of primary school. In his third year at Hōtoku Gakuen High School he achieved the status of national high school ''yokozuna''.

Career

He entered professional sumo as a wrestler for Kasugano stable in the 2007 January tournament. After posting a strong 5-2 record in his first official tournament, he achieved a perfect 7-0 record to face fellow up and coming wrestler Yamamotoyama to whom he lost the playoff bout for the ''jonidan'' championship or ''yūshō''. Promoted to ''sandanme'' in the following tournament, he posted a 6-1 record and a 5-1 record in the following tournament, garnering him promotion to ''makushita''.

He continued fulfilling the expectations of a former high school ''yokozuna'' with four consecutive ''kachi-koshi'' or winning records. However, upon reaching upper ''makushita'' his progress slowed and he finally posted a make-koshi or losing record of 2-5, his first such record in nine tournaments in sumo. In the next tournament he only achieved a 3-4, marking the only time so far in his sumo career that he has had consecutive losing records. It was during this period of struggle that he changed to his current ''shikona'' or ring name of Tochinowaka, which is the former ring name of his stable coach, Tochinowaka Kiyotaka. His ring name up to this time had been his simple one character Korean family name of 李 or Lee. This had apparently been somewhat of a challenge for the ''yobidashi'' who are required to announce every wrestler's name in a drawn out singsong style of voice and very rarely, if ever, had to call out a ring name consisting of just one syllable.

His fortunes after his name change did not change right away, and after several tournaments alternating between winning and losing records, with an early withdrawal in the March 2009 tournament, he finally achieved two consecutive winning records in upper ''makushita'' to grant him promotion to ''sekitori'' level, the second highest ''jūryō'' division. In contrast to his struggles previously, he soared through ''jūryō'' in just three tournaments, narrowly losing the championship in playoffs in two consecutive tournaments.

His promotion to the top ''makuuchi'' division in March 2011 was ill-timed as this tournament was cancelled, the first such cancellation in the history of sumo, due to the bout fixing scandal of that year. Though there was no tournament and no official ''banzuke'', he and fellow ''makuuchi'' promotee Kaisei did receive compensation as top division wrestlers for the period of that tournament. He only managed a 7-8 record in the following May "technical examination tournament" but in March 2012 he reached his highest rank to date, ''maegashira'' 1. In his first tournament facing all the top ranked men he managed to defeat '' ōzeki'' Kisenosato on the opening day, but his only other win over a ''san'yaku'' wrestler was ''sekiwake'' Aminishiki, and he finished on 5–10. Ranked at ''maegashira'' 4 in the May 2012 tournament he had a much easier schedule, facing only fellow ''maegashira'', but he performed well below expectations posting only a 2–13 record. He was demoted from the top division after winning only five bouts at ''maegashira'' 14 in July. He managed to fight back after two tournaments and was again promoted to ''makuuchi'' in January 2013. However, the following March tournament, he dropped out from injury after losing his first seven bouts. He again fell back to ''jūryō'' and was again repromoted after two tournaments. Since then he alternated winning and losing tournaments, moving him up and down the ''maegashira'' ranks with regularity.

Retirement from sumo

After the November 2014 tournament, with only a 3-12 record at a low ''maegashira'' rank, he faced demotion to ''jūryō''. Following the winter tour he told his stablemaster Kasugano Oyakata that he wished to retire. Kasugano was surprised and talked with him for four hours in an effort to change his mind, but in the end submitted the official retirement papers to the Sumo Association on December 15, 2014. Tochinowaka's name appeared on the January 2015 ''banzuke'' despite his retirement. In interviews Tochinowaka revealed that he had been contemplating retirement for two years and had consulted his parents. He did not give any physical injuries as a reason for his retirement but indicated that he suffered from a lack of mental toughness. His retirement ceremony was held on January 25, 2015 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Hotel.

Following his retirement, he joined the Hakuju Bioscience Research Institute, which handles healthcare equipment and food, and he currently provides healthcare guidance as the manager of Hakuju Plaza.

Family

Though his father is Zainichi Korean and his mother is a Korean immigrant, Tochinowaka chose to take Japanese citizenship. This also enabled Kasugano stable to accept him despite already having a foreigner, Georgian Tochinoshin.

Fighting style

Tochinowaka was a yotsu sumo wrestler who preferred techniques involving grabbing the opponent's ''mawashi''. His favourite grip was ''hidari-yotsu'', with his right hand outside and left hand inside his opponent's arms. Nearly half his career victories to date were achieved with just two ''kimarite'' or techniques, ''yori-kiri'' (force out) and ''oshi-dashi'' (push out), the two most common in sumo.

Career record

See also

* Glossary of sumo terms
*List of past sumo wrestlers

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tochinowaka, Michihiro
1988 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Hyōgo Prefecture
Sportspeople from Amagasaki