Tokachiiwa Yutaka

Tokachiiwa Yutaka - 十勝岩 豊 (born January 10, 1919 - February 12, 1979) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Taiki, Hokkaido. He made his debut in January 1939 and last wrestled for Nishonoseki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1944. His highest rank was maegashira 1 and he retired in May 1951.

## **Early Life**

Yutaka Mitsuyoshi was born in the town of Rikubetsu, Hokkaido, but he used Taiki, Hokkaido, as his official birthplace when joining professional sumo. Mitsuyoshi played an active role as a representative from Hokkaido during national youth sumo tournaments. He subsequently joined Nishonoseki stable in July 1938 at the age of 19.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in January 1939 and was given the shikona "Tokachiiwa" (十勝岩) which is derived from the Tokachi Subprefecture in Hokkaido. In his first two tournaments, Tokachiiwa won both the jonokuchi and jonidan championships and was promoted to makushita in May 1941. After three tournaments in makushita, he was promoted to juryo in January 1943. Around the time of his juryo promotion, Tokachiiwa was compared to Yokozuna Haguroyama as he had risen to sekitori status at an exceptionally quick pace. He was promoted to makuuchi three tournaments later in May 1944 and many fans saw Tokachiiwa as a new hopeful.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Tokachiiwa posted two consecutive winning records from his top division debut and was promoted to the rank of maegashira 1 in June 1945. However, Tokachiiwa struggled with knee injuries and neuralgia and was unable to reach the san'yaku ranks. His best performance came in May 1948 where he finished with a 9-2 record and was runner-up to Azumafuji's 10-1 record. He retired from sumo in May 1951.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring, Tokachiiwa remained in the Japan Sumo Association as an elder under the name Minatogawa. In May 1953, he revived Minatogawa stable, however, the stable closed in October 1964 and he later worked as a coach for Nishonoseki stable. In 1975, after the death of Nishonoseki Oyakata (former ozeki Saganohana), he became the interim head coach for Nishonoseki stable before he was replaced by former sekiwake Kongo in September 1976.

### **Death**

Tokachiiwa died on February 12, 1979, at the Saiseikai Central Hospital in Minato, Tokyo, due to pleurisy. He was 60 years old.

## **Fighting Style**

Tokachiiwa was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was tsuridashi, or lift out. He was also fond of employing utchari (backward pivot throw) and yorikiri (force out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 156-131-17/286 (28 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 91-103-17/193 (17 basho)
* **Juryo:** 27-18/45 (3 basho)
* **Makushita:** 16-8/24 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 7-1/8 (1 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 8-0/8 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-1/8 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (May 1940)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (January 1940)

## **Sources**

* Tokachiiwa Yutaka Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tokachiiwa Yutaka Rikishi Information