Ichinotani Soshi

Ichinotani Soshi - 一の谷 崇帥 (born June 10, 1976) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Owani, Aomori. He made his debut in March 1992 and wrestled for Nakamura stable. He reached the juryo division in March 2004. His highest rank was juryo 12 and he retired in March 2008.

## **Early Life**

Soshi Kida was born in the town of Owani in Aomori prefecture on June 10th, 1976. He played baseball in junior high school, but was recommended by his uncle, who was a former juryo rikishi, to join sumo since he lived an area where sumo was popular. As a result, he joined Nakamura stable in March 1992.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Due to his limited sumo experience, Kida struggled to rise up the banzuke at a fast rate. He was promoted to sandanme in January 1994 and makushita in May 1996. Upon his promotion to makushita he changed his shikona from his family name to "Wakatenma" (若天馬). He did not establish himself in makushita and would constantly fall back down to sandanme. By January 2000 he became a makushita regular and changed his shikona to "Shigezakura" (重櫻). In January 2004 he produced a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 5 and was promoted to juryo in March 2004.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon his promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona to "Ichinotani" (一の谷). He could only manage five wins in his juryo debut and was demoted back down to makushita. He immediately returned to juryo after a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 4. In his return, Ichinotani repeated his previous performance with a 5-10 record and was demoted back down to makushita. This proved to be his last appearance as a sekitori.

### **Later Career**

Ichinotani remained in the upper-levels of makushita for the another year before falling to the mid-levels in 2006. In July 2006 he pulled out due to injury and sat out for five consecutive tournaments which caused him to fall down to the rank of jonidan 28. He returned in March 2007 and returned to sandanme after one tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Ichinotani was struggling with a serious knee injury and found it hard to rise past sandanme. He submitted his retirement papers on February 8th after the January 2008 tournament and his retirement was announced after the March 2008 tournament. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held on April 27th, 2008, in Tokyo.

After retirement, Ichinotani was employed at a yakiniku restaurant in Tokyo.

## **Personal Life**

* Ichinotani's hobby is reading. His favorite foods are fried chicken and croquettes.
* In 2005, he enrolled in the Japan Airline High School's correspondence course to qualify for high school graduation. He graduated in March 2008 which coincided with his retirement.

## **Fighting Style**

Ichinotani preferred to fight on the opponent's mawashi, and his favored grip was (somewhat unusually) morozashi, or double hand inside. His most common winning kimarite was yorikiri, a straightforward force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 346-310-26/656 (97 basho)
* **Juryo:** 10-20/30 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 163-158-9/321 (47 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 116-94-14/210 (33 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 53-35-3/88 (13 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Kida Soshi (1992.03 - 1996.05)
* Wakatenma Soshi (1996.07 - 1999.11)
* Shigezakura Sakae (2000.01 - 2004.01)
* Ichinotani Soshi (2004.03 - 2008.03)

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Ichinotani Soshi - 2004 (Retrieved from the JSA)Ichinotani's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Ichinotani after promotion to juryo (c. 2004)Ichinotani during the juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2004)Ichinotani gets thrown by Katayama (c. 2004)Ichinotani trains after falling to the unsalaried ranksIchinotani attends a Nakamura stable event after retirement (c. 2010)
## **Sources**

* Ichinotani Soshi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Ichinotani Soshi Rikishi Information