Tosanoumi Toshio (born February 16, 1972 as Toshio Yamamoto in
Aki City,
Kōchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
), is a former
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 thr ...
wrestler. He first reached the top division of professional sumo in 1995, winning 13 special prizes and earning 11 ''
kinboshi
is a notation used in professional sumo wrestling to record a lower-ranked (''maegashira'') wrestler's victory over a ''yokozuna''.
It is believed that the term stems from the usage of the terms ''shiroboshi'' (lit: white star) to designate a b ...
'' or gold stars for defeating ''
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 ...
'' over his long career. The highest rank he reached was ''
sekiwake
, 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 ...
''. He retired in 2010 to become a coach at his stable,
Isenoumi stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ''ichimon'' or group of stables. Its current head coach is former ''maegashira'' Kitakachidoki. As of January 2022 it had 12 wrestlers.
History
The name of Isenoumi stable relates to one of ...
under the name of Tatekawa.
Career
After success in amateur sumo competitions while at
Doshisha University
, mottoeng = Truth shall make you free
, tagline =
, established = Founded 1875,Chartered 1920
, vision =
, type = Private
, affiliation =
, calendar =
, endowment = €1 ...
, where he was a two-time winner of the All Western Japan Sumo Championships in 1992 and 1993, Yamamoto was recruited by former ''sekiwake''
Fujinokawa
Fujinokawa Takeo (born 26 September 1946 as Takeo Morita) is a former sumo wrestler from Otofuke, Hokkaido, Japan. He made his professional debut in May 1961 and reached a highest rank of ''sekiwake'' in May 1967. He was a runner-up in two top div ...
and joined
Isenoumi stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ''ichimon'' or group of stables. Its current head coach is former ''maegashira'' Kitakachidoki. As of January 2022 it had 12 wrestlers.
History
The name of Isenoumi stable relates to one of ...
. He was given 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'' co ...
'' of Tosanoumi, meaning "sea of
Tosa", from his native Kōchi Prefecture. Because of his amateur achievements he had ''
makushita tsukedashi
The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
...
'' status and entered professional sumo in the third, ''
makushita'' division in March 1994. He entered ''
jūryō
Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...
'' four tournaments later. Another four tournaments later he was promoted to the highest, ''
makuuchi'' division. Because he had won the ''
yūshō'' or tournament championship with a 14–1 record from the rank of ''jūryō'' 1, he entered at ''
maegashira'' 7, the second highest top division debut rank after
Daiju in 1970. For his first ''makuuchi'' bouts he was drawn against some tough opponents; first ''ōzeki''
Wakanohana, followed by ''
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 ...
''
Takanohana the second day. He lost both bouts, and would finish the tournament 7–8.
Recovering from this, his first ever ''
make-koshi'', Tosanoumi continued to rise through the ranks, reaching ''
komusubi'' in January 1996 and ''
sekiwake
, 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 ...
'' in May 1997. His best result in a tournament came in November 1998, when he finished as runner-up to
Kotonishiki with 12 wins. Although he never rose higher than ''sekiwake'', he held the rank for seven tournaments in total, the last being in May 2005. He was also ranked at ''komusubi'' on thirteen occasions, for a total of twenty tournaments in the ''
san'yaku'' ranks. He remained in ''makuuchi'' continuously from July 1995 until January 2006, when a 5–10 result at ''maegashira'' 14 resulted in demotion to ''jūryō''. He reappeared in ''makuuchi'' just two tournaments later in May 2006, but remained at the bottom of the division. He fell to ''jūryō'' on three further occasions, in May 2007, March 2008 and September 2008, but each time made an immediate return to the top division.
Tosanoumi won a total of thirteen
prizes
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements. (equal to the seventh highest ever) and eleven
gold stars (the fourth highest ever) in his long ''makuuchi'' career. He defeated two ''yokozuna'' in the same tournament on four separate occasions. He earned four gold stars from
Takanohana, and three each from
Wakanohana and
Akebono. He is the only wrestler to win ''kinboshi'' in four consecutive tournaments, which he achieved from November 1998 to May 1999. His last gold star came in 2003 when he beat
Musashimaru, in what was the latter's last bout before retirement. In July 2007 he recorded his 600th career win, which came by default when his opponent withdrew.
Tosanoumi is tenth on the all-time list of
most top division appearances with 1183, and he had 80 tournaments ranked in the top division.
He became the oldest active ''
sekitori'' after the March 2009 tournament following the retirement of
Ōtsukasa. However, he was unable to maintain his ''makuuchi'' position, dropping to ''jūryō'' 6 after winning only four matches at ''Maegashira'' 15. An 8–7 record in May was not enough to return him to the top division this time. He could manage only a 5–10 score in July, his first ever ''jūryō'' ''make-koshi''. He recorded his 700th career win in the January 2010 tournament, the first ''makushita tsukedashi'' entrant to achieve this feat.
Following the large number of demotions to the ''jūryō'' division in September 2010 after six wrestlers were suspended from competition he made a surprise return to the top division, becoming at 38 years and six months the oldest man ever to do so (this record has since been broken by
Aminishiki). He was however out of his depth and scored only 2–13, resulting in demotion straight back to ''jūryō''.
Retirement from sumo
In November 2010 Tosanoumi could score only 4–11 at ''jūryō'' 8, which would have resulted in demotion to the ''makushita'' division. This broke a run of 97 consecutive tournaments at a ''
sekitori'' rank. Instead Tosanoumi chose to retire, announcing his decision on December 15 shortly before the release of the new rankings. He has stayed in sumo as a coach at Isenoumi stable under the ''
toshiyori'' name Tatekawa, and his ''
danpatsu-shiki'' or official retirement ceremony took place at the
Ryōgoku Kokugikan
, also known as Ryōgoku Sumo Hall or Kokugikan Arena, is the name bestowed to two different indoor sporting arenas located in Tokyo. The fist ''Ryōgoku Kokugikan'' opened its doors in 1909 and was located on the lands of the Ekōin temple in Ry ...
on May 28, 2011.
Fighting style
Tosanoumi's fighting style was solidly ''oshi-sumo'', using pushing and thrusting
techniques
Technique or techniques may refer to:
Music
* The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s
*Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s
* ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989
* ''Techniques'' (album), by M ...
as opposed to ''yotsu-sumo'' or grappling techniques.
He has attributed his relative lack of injuries during his career in part to this preference.
Over 30 percent of his wins in sumo were ''oshi-dashi'', a simple push out.
Family
Tosanoumi announced in September 2008 that he would be getting married. The wedding reception and ceremony were held in January 2009.
Career record
See also
*
Glossary of sumo terms
*
List of sumo record holders
*
List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
*
List of sumo tournament second division champions
*
List of past sumo wrestlers
This is a list of prominent past wrestlers (either retired or deceased) in the sport of professional sumo. They are listed in order of the year and tournament month that they made their professional debuts. The information listed below was gleaned ...
*
List of sumo elders
*
List of sekiwake
References
External links
*
Tosanoumi's basho results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tosanoumi Toshio
1972 births
Living people
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Kōchi Prefecture
Sekiwake
Doshisha University alumni