Tenkaiho Takayuki

Tenkaiho Takayuki - 天鎧鵬 貴由輝 (born October 14, 1984) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tamana, Kumamoto. He made his debut in January 2007 and wrestled for Onoe stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 2012. His highest rank was maegashira 8 and he retired in March 2018.

## **Early Life**

Minami began sumo in only his first year of primary school. In middle school he was regular participant in tournaments and came in third place in a Kyushu wide tournament. In his second year of high school he was in the best eight in a national sumo tournament, and in his third year made the best sixteen in the same national tournament.

He continued practicing sumo at Nihon University and was a teammate of later sumo stars Yamamotoyama and Kiyoseumi. Upon graduation he chose to join Onoe stable which was led by former Hamanoshima who went to the same high school and university as Minami had. He also became stablemates with future ozeki Baruto.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Minami had a strong start in his professional career and produced two consecutive 6-1 records. The following tournament, he won all seven matches and a playoff against veteran Kihonoumi for the sandanme yusho. As a result he was immediately promoted to the makushita division.

Minami continued his winning-record streak and with eight total consecutive winning records since his debut, he was promoted all the way to makushita 5 in July 2008. In this tournament he produced his first losing record of 2-5 and would stay in the mid-level makushita ranks for around three years. In November 2010 tournament he had a breakout performance, losing only to future maegashira Yoshiazuma. In a playoff for the makushita division championship, he lost to future sekiwake Myogiryu. He was promoted to makushita 1 as a result, however, he just missed out on a juryo promotion as he finished with a 3-4 record. To redeem himself, Minami produced a 4-3 record as a makushita 6 in the following tournament and as a result was promoted to the salaried juryo division for the July 2011 tournament. He was helped by there being a large number of retirements due to a match-fixing scandal.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to the second division he took the ring name of Tenkaiho. In his juryo debut, he produced a strong 10-5 record and was promoted all the way to juryo 3 for the September 2011 tournament. He produced another winning record of 8-7 and was placed on the top of juryo for the November 2011 tournament. In this tournament, he produced another 8-7 record and secured promotion to the top makuuchi division for the January 2012 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In Tenkaiho's makuuchi debut, he produced an 8-7 record and was promoted to the rank of maegashira 11. However, he produced two losing records and as a result was demoted back to the juryo division. He immediately returned to the makuuchi division after producing a 9-6 record in juryo. However, his return to makuuchi would be short-lived as he produced a 6-9 record and was demoted back to juryo.

Tenkaiho would spend five tournaments in juryo before earning promotion back to the makuuchi division in September 2013. In his return back, Tenkaiho produced an 8-7 record and was promoted to his highest rank of maegashira 8 for the following tournament. Tenkaiho struggled at his highest rank and produced a disastrous 2-13 record. He was demoted back to juryo, but immediately returned to makuuchi after an 8-7 record. In his return, Tenkaiho sprained his right ankle in a match against Kyokutenho on the tenth day. Tenkaiho pulled out of the tournament on the very next day and finished with a 3-8-4 record. This would be his last tournament in the makuuchi division as he was demoted back down to juryo as a result.

### **Later Career**

Tenkaiho, who was still struggling with his injured ankle, produced two consecutive records and was demoted down to makushita for the September 2014 tournament. He immediately returned back to juryo after scoring a 4-3 record. Tenkaiho would remain in juryo for another 10 tournaments where he produced a variety of scores. In May 2016, Tenkaiho was ranked at the bottom of juryo and he produced a 4-11 record which sent back down to makushita. This would be his last appearance as a sekitori.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Tenkaiho would remain in makushita for three years and each year he would gradually fall lower down the ranks. Tenkaiho announced his retirement after the March 2019 tournament. Tenkaiho's danpatsu-shiki, or hair-cutting ceremony, was held on June 8th, 2019, and around 150 guest appeared. He stayed in sumo as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association with the elder name Hidenoyama (borrowed from the the now retired wrestler Kotoshogiku). In February 2020 he switched to the Otowayama elder name, and in January 2023 he changed to Sanoyama. Following the retirement of former maegashira Chiyonokuni, Tenkaiho changed his elder name from Sanoyama (inherited by Chiyonokuni) to Kitaijin, previously held by former sekiwake Kotoyuki.

## **Personal Life**

* He registered his marriage in September 2015, to a care worker from Anjo, Aichi. Their wedding reception was held in June 2016.
* After retirement, Tenkaiho has regularly appeared on the Japan Sumo Association's YouTube channel and would usually do some vlogging and commentary.
* Tenkaiho's hobby is drinking liquor.

## **Fighting Style**

Tenkaiho was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who preferred grappling techniques to pushing and thrusting. His favoured grip on his opponent's mawashi or belt was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most common winning kimarite was a straightforward yorikiri or force out, which accounted for about half of his career victories.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 367-365-4/731 (73 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 38-63-4/100 (7 basho)
* **Juryo:** 160-170/330 (22 basho)
* **Makushita:** 150-130/280 (40 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (July 2007)

## **Shikona History**

* Minami Takayuki (2007.01 - 2011.05)
* Tenkaiho Takayuki (2011.07 - 2019.03)

## **Gallery**

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

Tenkaiho Takayuki - 2016 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tenkaiho Takayuki - 2015 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tenkaiho Takayuki - 2014 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tenkaiho Takayuki - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tenkaiho Takayuki - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tenkaiho Takayuki - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tenkaiho Takayuki - 2011 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tenkaiho Takayuki - 2011 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tenkaiho's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Tenkaiho (left) gets recruited into Onoe stable (c. 2006)Tenkaiho with fellow stablemate Satoyama (c. 2007)Tenkaiho defeats Kihonoumi to win the Sandanme Yusho (c. 2007)Tenkaiho promoted to Juryo after the match-fixing scandal (c. 2011)Tenkaiho after promotion to Juryo (c. 2011)Tenkaiho's Juryo promotion party (c. 2011)Tenkaiho after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2011)Tenkaiho serves as Ozeki Baruto's flag bearer (c. 2012)Tenkaiho battles Aoiyama (c. 2013)Tenkaiho defeats Kagayaki (c. 2014)Tenkaiho defeats and retires Wakanosato (c. 2015)Tenkaiho throws and defeats Ura (c. 2016)Tenkaiho defeats the future Kotonowaka (c. 2017)Tenkaiho throws and defeats Keitenkai (c. 2018)Tenkaiho battles the future Oho (c. 2019)Tenkaiho announces his retirement (c. 2019)Tenkaiho's retirement ceremony (c. 2019)Tenkaiho after retirement as Otowayama Oyakata (c. 2020)
## **Sources**

* Tenkaiho Takayuki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tenkaiho Takayuki Rikishi Information