Hokutōriki Hideki (born October 31, 1977, as Hideki Kimura) is a former sumo wrestler, from Tochigi Prefecture, Tochigi, Japan. He reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in 2002 and was runner-up in three tournaments. He had four sanshō (sumo), special prizes in his career and a kinboshi, gold star for defeating ''yokozuna.'' The highest rank he reached was ''sekiwake.'' He retired in May 2011 and is an toshiyori, elder of the Japan Sumo Association and a coach at Kokonoe stable.

Career

He was born in Kurobane, Tochigi, Kurobane, a town in the Nasu District, Tochigi, Nasu District of Tochigi Prefecture. Hokutōriki made his professional debut in March 1993, joining Kokonoe stable. In October of that year he transferred to the newly created Hakkaku stable run by former ''yokozuna (sumo), yokozuna'' Hokutoumi Nobuyoshi, Hokutoumi. It took nearly nine years for him to achieve ''sekitori'' status by gaining promotion to the second ''jūryō'' division in January 2002. However, it took him only two further tournaments to reach the top ''makuuchi'' division. On his debut outing in ''makuuchi'' in May 2002 he made an immediate impression, finishing as runner-up with a strong 11–4 record and the sanshō (Sumo), fighting spirit prize. He was also a runner-up in the March 2003 tournament. The highlight of Hokutōriki's career came in May 2004, the only occasion when he recorded a kachi-koshi, winning score from the upper ''maegashira'' ranks. Ranked at ''maegashira'' 1, he sensationally defeated Asashōryū Akinori, Asashōryū on the sixth day - his first ever victory over a ''yokozuna''. Asashōryū had won the previous two tournaments with unbeaten 15-0 records and was on a 35 bout winning streak. With Asashōryū suffering another defeat to Kyokutenhō Masaru, Kyokutenhō on Day 11, Hokutōriki came into the final day the sole leader on 13–1, his only defeat in the tournament thus far being to Wakanosato on Day 8. However, he lost his ''senshuraku'' bout to Hakuhō Shō, Hakuhō, then in his debut top division tournament, being henka, sidestepped by the 19-year-old after two false starts. With Asashōryū defeating Chiyotaikai, both Asashōryū and Hokutōriki were tied on 13-2 and had to meet again in a yusho#Playoffs, playoff for the championship, which Hokutōriki lost. Nevertheless, he was rewarded with special prizes for Fighting spirit and Outstanding Performance, and after the tournament he was promoted to sumo's third highest rank of ''sekiwake''. Sumo May09 Hokutoriki

Hokutōriki managed only a 3–12 record in his ''sekiwake'' debut and never managed a return to the ''san'yaku'' ranks, instead bouncing up and down the ''maegashira'' ranks. He is one of the few wrestlers (along with Kotetsuyama and Hayateumi) whose only tournament in ''san'yaku'' was at ''sekiwake'' rather than ''komusubi.'' He won another Fighting Spirit Award for his twelve wins from ''maegashira'' 11 in January 2006, but in November of that year he pulled out of the tournament on the ninth day with no wins at all and was relegated to the ''jūryō'' division. However, a 9–6 record at ''jūryō'' 4 in March 2007 was good enough to earn promotion back to the top division for the May 2007 tournament. Although he remained in ''makuuchi'' he did not manage to defeat a ''yokozuna'' again and had several disastrous openings to tournaments, going 0–10 in July 2008 from ''maegashira'' 2 and 0–12 in March 2009 from ''maegashira'' 1. In May 2009 another poor record of 4-11 saw him demoted to ''jūryō'' for the second time. However, an 11–4 score there returned him immediately to the top division. He withdrew from the September 2010 tournament on the 13th day after suffering a neck injury, which also kept him out of the following tournament in November. Falling to the bottom of the ''jūryō'' division, he was unable to enter the January 2011 ''basho'' as well.

Retirement from sumo

Hokutōriki did not enter the May 2011 technical examination tournament, at which he had fallen to the rank of ''makushita'' 13, and announced his retirement on Day 7. He remained in sumo as a coach at Hakkaku stable under the ''toshiyori'' or elder name of Tanigawa-''oyakata''. His ''danpatsu-shiki'' or retirement ceremony was held in May 2012. In June 2018 he transferred to Kokonoe stable.

Fighting style

Hokutōriki relied almost exclusively on pushing and slapping kimarite, techniques, with over a third of his wins coming by ''oshidashi'', or push-out. He was usually defeated if his opponents managed to grab hold of his ''mawashi'' or belt. He often used ''henka'', or sidestepping, to wrong-foot his opponents, and was adept at pull-downs and slap-downs. However, in the January 2008 tournament he was himself a victim of the ''henka'' tactic on three consecutive days, slipping from a score of 6–5 to 6–8.

Personal life

Hokutōriki is married, and his first child, a daughter, was born in December 2007.

Career record

References

External links

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Hokutoriki's basho results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hokutoriki Hideki 1977 births Living people Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Tochigi Prefecture Sekiwake Kokonoe stable sumo wrestlers