Tokitsuyama Jinichi

Tokitsuyama Jinichi - 時津山 仁一 (born March 10, 1925 - November 21, 1968) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Iwaki, Fukushima. He made his debut in May 1940 and wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1949 and has seven special prizes, eight kinboshi and one top division championship. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in March 1961.

## **Early Life**

Jin'inchi Waragai was born in Tokyo, Japan, however, a a young age his parents divorced and he was raised by his grandparents. in Iwaki, Fukushima (he would use Iwaki, Fukushima as his official birthplace when joining sumo). He later went to Okinawa to live with his uncle, who was a sumo wrestler at Takasago stable. His uncle had no intention of taking care of the young Waragai, so he entered Osaka Sumo's Tokitsukaze stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

His first professional tournament was in May 1940 as a wrestler for the former incarnation of Tokitsukaze stable, which was a leftover from the days of Osaka sumo. The stable soon closed however, and he transferred to Tatsunami stable. He tried out a number of ring names before settling on Tokitsuyama to honor the defunct stable he originally debuted for.

He was a weak wrestler at first, and he was not able to actually be listed on the sumo ranking sheet known as the banzuke until the January tournament of 1943. He did not really bloom as a strong competitor until after returning as a soldier from World War II. In the 1946 tournament (the only one held that year) he achieved a 7–0 perfect record and also took the championship in the makushita division. Expectations surrounding him began to rise after this. He was promoted to the salaried ranks of juryo in the following summer tournament of 1947.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He was promoted to the top division makuuchi in May 1949, but received a losing record and fell back to juryo. He was soon back in makuuchi though, and in September 1950 at maegashira 21 he achieved a 12–3 record and the Fighting Spirit Prize. He was a top division regular from then on. Almost three years later, in May 1953 he achieved his one and only top division championship with a perfect 15–0 record. However, as he was only ranked at maegashira 6, the highest ranked opponent he faced that tournament was a komusubi and the two ozeki at the time Yoshibayama and Tochinishiki, who also had winning streaks in that tournament, never had a chance to face him to even the odds. In the January 1955 tournament he was in a similar situation at maegashira 9. He was in position to win the championship on the final day of the tournament, but this time had to face yokozuna Chiyonoyama in a playoff, which he lost. He was a consistent makuuchi wrestler for many years after this, but began to decline after 1960.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Tokitsuyama retired before the 1961 March tournament rather than face demotion to juryo. He remained in the sumo world after his retirement as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name of Oshiogawa.

### **Death**

He died suddenly on November 21, 1968, at the age of 43 due to liver cancer.

## **Fighting Style**

During his career, Tokitsuyama was known for using a variety of techniques such as lifting and inner-thigh throws, and would often twist and turn even the strongest opponents all over the dohyo. This reliance on such techniques also led to inconsistency, and though he was a formidable opponent, he never had more than 12 wins in any tournament besides his championship tournament and was never promoted above sekiwake. Regardless, he was part of a group of well-known top division wrestlers from his same Tatsunami stable at this time, namely Wakahaguro, Annenyama and Kitanonada who were popularly known then as the Four Heavenly Kings, a Buddhist reference.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 432-390-40/818 (69 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 359-336-40/691 (49 basho)
* **Juryo:** 41-34/75 (7 basho)
* **Makushita:** 11-2/13 (2 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 3-2/5 (1 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 14-12/26 (4 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-4/8 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makuuchi** Championship (May 1953)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (November 1946)

### **Achievements**

* **Sansho:** Fighting Spirit Prize (4), Outstanding Performance Prize (3)
* **Kinboshi:** 8: (4) Tochinishiki, (2) Chiyonoyama, (1) Terukuni, (1) Yoshibayama

## **Shikona History**

* Taira Jinichi (1940.05 - 1945.06)
* Tokitsunami Jinichi (1945.11 - 1946.11)
* Shokumonryu Jinichi (1947.06 - 1947.06)
* Tokitsunami Shinnosuke (1947.11 - 1949.10)
* Tokitsuyama Jinichi (1950.01 - 1954.05)
* Tokitsuyama Junichi (1954.09 - 1955.09)
* Tokitsuyama Jinichi (1956.01 - 1956.01)
* Tokitsuyama Junichi (1956.03 - 1956.05)
* Tokitsuyama Jinichi (1956.09 - 1961.03)

## **Sources**

* Tokitsuyama Jinichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tokitsuyama Jinichi Rikishi Information