Hakuoho Tetsuya

Hakuoho Tetsuya - 伯桜鵬 哲也 (born August 22, 2003) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kurayoshi, Tottori. He made his debut in January 2023 and currently wrestles for Miyagino stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 2023 and has 2 special prizes. His highest rank as of 2023 is maegashira 9.

## **Early Life**

Ochiai began to wrestle regularly when he was in his fourth year of primary school. He entered Tottori Johoku High School and won the title of high school yokozuna in his second and third year of high school competition; in his third year, he was in the top eight at the All-Japan Championships and thus was eligible for sandanme tsukedashi. After graduating from high school, he focused on healing his shoulder injury and worked at his father's metalwork machinery company Noda Gumi in Tottori. Due to winning the All Japan Corporate Sumo Championship in September 2022 (and thus being named Corporate Yokozuna) he was eligible to enter professional sumo as makushita tsukedashi.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

At the invitation of Miyagino oyakata (the 69th yokozuna Hakuho), Ochiai joined the Miyagino stable. He made his professional debut in January 2023 at the rank of makushita 15 to reflect his amateur success (makushita tsukedashi). He won the makushita title with an undefeated record of seven wins and was subsequently promoted to the juryo division for March, becoming the first wrestler to earn a juryo promotion after just one tournament in 90 years. Given Ochiai's quick rise to the second-highest division, Miyagino confessed he hadn't had the time to think of a shikona for his apprentice. Thanks to his record-breaking promotion, Ochiai began to be nicknamed Reiwa no kaibutsu (令和の怪物), meaning 'Reiwa monster', in reference to ozeki Musoyama who was nicknamed 'Heisei monster' after he too was promoted to juryo after being undefeated as a makushita.

### **Juryo Career**

Ochiai experienced his first defeat in professional sumo on day 2 of the Osaka tournament (in March 2023) against the other newly promoted juryo, Tamashoho. On the 6th day of the same tournament, he announced that he had made the unusual decision to become the personal servant of makuuchi wrestler Hokuseiho because he wanted to experience this role himself and considered it a learning experience. He finished the March 2023 tournament with 10-5 record.

Ochiai was promoted to juryo 8 in the May 2023 tournament. He finished the tournament with 14 wins along with Gonoyama, who defeated Ochiai on Day 11. The two wrestlers were thus competing for the juryo championship and Ochiai would have been the first wrestler under the age of 20 to win the title since his master Hakuho's victory at the 2004 tournament. Ochiai was however beaten again by Gonoyama in the juryo championship playoff. It marked the first time since 1949 that the juryo championship was decided in a playoff between two wrestlers with 14–1 records.

After the May 2023 tournament it was announced that Ochiai received the shikona, or ring name, Hakuoho (伯桜鵬) from his stablemaster. The ring name is a combination of "Haku" (伯), referring to the province of Hoki (伯耆国) which became Tottori Prefecture, "O" (桜) from "Sakura-zumo" (桜ずもう), a sumo tournament in Kurayoshi in which he participated when he was a schoolboy and finally "Ho" (鵬) to refer to Ochiai's master, Hakuho.

### **Makuuchi Career**

On 26 June 2023, Hakuoho's name appeared on the July 2023 sumo tournament rankings at the position of west maegashira 17, ushering his entry into sumo's top division in just his fourth professional tournament. Hakuoho is the sixth-youngest wrestler since 1990 to reach the top division, doing so at the age of 19 years and 10 months, as well as the second wrestler since the Showa era to reach makuuchi in three tournaments since their debut (the other being Endo). Upon his promotion, Hakuoho told reporters that his goal for his first top division tournament was 12 wins and the Shukun-sho (Outstanding Performance prize), which his stablemaster Miyagino achieved in his first makuuchi appearance in May 2004. Hakuoho said that he hadn't gotten used to his new name yet, but said that it felt fresh. He said he was satisfied with his performances in his first three tournaments, but that from now on it would not be so easy.

Hakuoho began his tournament with a win over Aoiyama, and went on to win the majority of his matches although he also lost to former san'yaku Takarafuji (on Day 3) and Ryuden (Day 5). On Day 6, he overcame Gonoyama, who had beaten him twice for the juryo division title in the previous tournament; defeating him by hatakikomi and bringing his 5-match winning streak to a halt. Hakuoho reached a positive kachi-koshi record on Day 11, with a victory over the former ozeki Takayasu. He then went on to defeat Komusubi Abi the following day. This victory marked the first time a newly-promoted makuuchi had won a match against a wrestler currently in san'yaku since Ichinojo defeated then-ozeki Kisenosato at the September 2014 tournament. Hakuoho then went on to achieve back-to-back victories on Day 13 and 14 over tournament leaders maegashira Nishikigi and Hokutofuji, strengthening his own chances of claiming the makuuchi championship.

At the end of the tournament, Hakuoho faced Hoshoryu, both recording 11 wins to 3 losses. The winner of this match would have to challenge Hokutofuji, who, with 12 wins and 3 losses had secured a place in a playoff for the makuuchi championship. Hoshoryu nevertheless defeated Hakuoho by uwatenage, effectively eliminating Hakuoho from the title race. On the fifteenth day of the tournament Hakuoho was however announced as the recipient of the sansho awards for Technique and Fighting Spirit. These prizes, awarded in just four tournaments, make Hakuoho the fastest prize winner in sumo history, breaking the records set by former sekiwake Ichinojo and former ozeki Miyabiyama, who had won the awards in five tournaments since their professional debuts.

### **Injury and Demotion**

A few days after end of the July tournament, it was announced that Hakuoho would withdraw from the summer regional tours because of left shoulder pain. On 29 August, one day after the September banzuke was released, he told reporters that he was not in very good condition. At the time he did not ruled out the possibility of withdrawing from the September tournament, saying that even if he did and subsequently dropped in the rankings, his goal was not to be in makuuchi but to pursue his dream and do his best. On September 4, it was confirmed that Hakuoho would indeed be absent for the September tournament. His master Miyagino had already raised the possibility of an absence on August 27 due to a possible operation to treat pain caused by a subluxation of the left shoulder, an old injury of Hakuoho's. The operation in question finally took place on August 31, forcing Hakuoho into a period of remission that could last until the end of the year to achieve complete recovery.

Hakuoho was demoted on the November 2023 banzuke to the juryo division. Shortly after the rankings were released, it was announced that Hakuoho would withdraw from that tournament to continue rehabilitation. Stablemaster Miyagino said that the objective is for Hakuoho to compete in the January 2024 tournament. It is likely that he will compete in third-highest makushita division upon his return.

## **Personal Life**

* Hakuoho played soccer in elementary school and played the forward and the goalkeeper positions.
* Hakuoho's favorite music genre is enka and his favorite singer is Yoshi Ikuzo.
* Hakuoho's personal record for the 50 meter sprint is 6.7 seconds.

## **Fighting Style**

Hakuoho favored techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as hidari-yotsu (a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi), yori (forcing), tsuki (thrusting) and oshi (pushing). His most common winning kimarite are straightforward: yorikiri (force out) and oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 42-10-30/52 (6 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 11-4-15/15 (2 basho)
* **Juryo:** 24-6-15/30 (3 basho)
* **Makushita:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 2023)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (1), Technique Prize (1)

## **Shikona History**

* Ochiai Tetsuya (2023.01 - 2023.05)
* Hakuoho Tetsuya (2023.07 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Ochiai Tetsuya - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Ochiai Tetsuya - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Ochiai's tegataHakuoho's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Ochiai gets recruited into Miyagino stable (c. 2022)Ochiai gets measured upon joining sumo (c. 2022)Ochiai defeats Kazekeno to win the Makushita Yusho (c. 2023)Ochiai wins the Makushita Yusho in his sumo debut (c. 2023)Ochiai after promotion to Juryo (c. 2023)Ochiai presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2023)Ochiai defeats Tokushoryu (c. 2023)Ochiai prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2023)Ochiai becomes Hakuoho upon Makuuchi promotion (c. 2023)Hakuoho defeats former Ozeki Takayasu (c. 2023)Hakuoho with his first sansho prize (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Ochiai Tetsuya Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Ochiai Tetsuya Rikishi Information