Hachiya Toshiyuki

Hachiya Toshiyuki - 蜂矢 敏行 (born November 16, 1950 - January 27, 2001) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Neo, Gifu. He made his debut in September 1968 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 1981. His highest rank was maegashira 6 and he retired in September 1987.

## **Early Life**

After graduating from a junior high school in his hometown of Neo, Hachiya worked at a supermarket in Inuyama, Aichi. He decided to try out for sumo in July 1967, but was rejected after he failed to meet weight requirements as he was less than 75 kg (165 Ib). As a result he returned back to his hometown to work on gaining weight and was allowed to enter Kasugano stable a year later in September 1968.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He used his own surname of Hachiya rather than a traditional shikona for nearly all of his career, as it already had an unusual ring to it (literally meaning "bee's arrow"). As he rose up the ranks he served as a tsukebito or personal attendant to Kitanoumi of the affiliated Mihogaseki stable, and the two eventually became close friends. He was promoted to sandanme in July 1969 and makushita in January 1971. In March 1976, he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and was promoted directly to juryo in the following May 1976 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

In his second tournament as a sekitori, Hachiya won the juryo yusho with an 11-4 record, but struggled to break through the juryo wall to makuuchi and he eventually fell back down to makushita in May 1978. He returned to juryo for a three tournament stint in March 1979. He returned to juryo for a third time in May 1980 and after a 10-5 record in September 1981 he was promoted to makuuchi.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He did not reach the top makuuchi division until November 1981, his 80th career tournament. He was ranked in the top division for only four tournaments, compiling a win-loss record of 26-34. His highest rank was maegashira 6, which he reached in November 1984.

### **Later Career**

After his last makuuchi appearance in January 1985, Hachiya remained in juryo for another two years. He retired in September 1987 at the age of 36 after being demoted to the unsalaried makushita division. He had never missed a bout in his entire career, fighting 1263 consecutive matches.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Hachiya was able to stay in sumo as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association because of his old friend Kitanoumi, who lent him his elder name of Onogawa (which he did not need himself as he had been made an ichidai or one-generation elder and was allowed to keep his fighting name after retirement). Hachiya worked as a coach at Kitanoumi stable.

### **Death**

Hachiya died in a hospital in Tokyo on January 27, 2001, due to cancer of the upper jaw. He was 50 years old.

## **Fighting Style**

At 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) and 108 kg (238 lb) Hachiya was small for a sumo wrestler but he used power and skill to counteract his light weight, regularly carrying his opponents out of the dohyo by tsuridashi (lift out). He was particularly fond of ashi-waza, or techniques aimed at the opponent's legs, such as uchimuso or "inner thigh propping twist down."

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 638-625-7/1263 (115 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 26-34/60 (4 basho)
* **Juryo:** 399-426/825 (55 basho)
* **Makushita:** 159-128-7/287 (42 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 36-27/63 (9 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 12-9/21 (3 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (July 1976)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (March 1976)

## **Shikona History**

* Hachiya Toshiyuki (1968.09 - 1972.05)
* Tochinoya Toshiyuki (1972.07 - 1973.01)
* Hachiya Toshiyuki (1973.03 - 1987.09)

## **Gallery**

Hachiya's early career in the unsalaried ranksHachiya prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1979)Hachiya poses with his kesho-mawashiHachiya as Yokozuna Kitanoumi's dew sweeper (c. 1985)Hachiya's retirement ceremony pamphlet (c. 1987)Hachiya after retirement as Onogawa Oyakata (c. 1988)
## **Sources**

* Hachiya Toshiyuki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hachiya Toshiyuki Rikishi Information