Hokutokuni Hideaki

Hokutokuni Hideaki - 北勝国 英明 (born June 7, 1985) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tsuruoka, Yamagata. He made his debut in March 2001 and wrestled for Hakkaku stable. He reached the juryo division in March 2008. His highest rank was juryo 6 and he retired in January 2013.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Hayashi joined Hakkaku stable in March 2001 at the age of fifteen. In May 2002 he changed his shikona to "Hokutokuni" (北勝国) and was promoted to sandanme in the following tournament. In May 2003 he was promoted to makushita at the age of seventeen, but he was demoted immediately after a 3-4 record and did not return for another two years.

In January 2005, Hokutokuni dislocated his shoulder and subsequently had to sit out of the tournament. He returned and wrestled for two tournaments before sitting out of two straight tournaments due to a broken wrist. After returning, he posted six straight winning records and was promoted to makushita 5 in November 2006. In January 2008, he produced a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 3 and secured promotion to juryo for the March 2008 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Hokutokuni could only manage 6 wins in his first tournaments and was demoted back down to makushita in May 2008. He wrestled mainly in the upper-makushita ranks for around a year. In May 2009, Hokutokuni's old wrist injury on his right hand worsened and he had to pull out of six straight tournaments.

Hokutokuni fell down to jonokuchi in May 2010 and returned for one match in hopes of not falling off the banzuke. In July 2010 it was revealed that Hokutokuni took part in 2010 gambling scandal, however, it is unknown whether he was suspended or not, because he was already sitting out due to injury. He eventually fell off the banzuke and had to redo maezumo (pre-sumo) in September 2010. This made him the first former sekitori to redo maezumo after falling from the salaried ranks. In his return he won 21 straight matches and claimed both the jonokuchi and sandanme yusho in the process. Due to the March 2011 match-fixing scandal which resulted in many open spots in juryo, Hokutokuni returned to juryo after posting a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 9 in July 2011.

Hokutokuni produced an impressive 10-5 record in his juryo return. After three losing records he was demoted down to the bottom of juryo in May 2012, but he produced a strong 10-5 record which resulted in a promotion to a career-best juryo 6 in July 2012. However, in this tournament Hokutokuni had to withdraw on the ninth day due to an injury on his right knee ligament and a fracture to his right tibia bone. As a result he finished with a 3-6-6 record which resulted in a demotion back to makushita.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Due to his right knee ligament injury and tibia bone fracture, Hokutokuni sat out of the three consecutive tournaments which resulted in a fall back down to sandanme. He submitted his retirement papers on January 20th, 2013. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on February 2nd, 2012, and 200 guests, including yokozuna Hakuho (they debuted in the same tournament), took turns cutting his hair.

After retirement, Hokutokuni plans on working in fisheries processing in Hakodate, Hokkaido. He intends on obtaining a cooking-related occupation sometime in the future.

## **Personal Life**

* Hokutokuni is a graduate of Daiyon Junior High School in Tsuruoka, Yamagata. Makushita rikishi Maeta of Hanaregoma stable attended the same school and was three grades above Hokutokuni.
* The "Hokuto" (北勝) in his shikona is derived from his stablemaster's shikona Hokutoumi, and the "Kuni" (国) is derived from the 62nd yokozuna Onokuni.
* Hokutokuni is a fan of the professional baseball team Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

## **Fighting Style**

Daiyubu is a yotsu-sumo wrestler who favours grappling techniques as opposed to pushing and slapping his opponent. His preferred grip on his opponent's mawashi is migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most common kimarite was yorikiri (force out) and oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 251-183-105/431 (71 basho)
* **Juryo:** 47-51-7/96 (7 basho)
* **Makushita:** 79-61-35/140 (25 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 80-53-35/133 (24 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 29-13-14/42 (8 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 16-5-14/20 (5 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (May 2011)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (November 2010)

## **Shikona History**

* Hayashi Hideaki (2001.03 - 2002.01)
* Hokutokuni Hideaki (2002.03 - 2013.01)

## **Gallery**

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

Hokutokuni Hideaki - 2012 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hokutokuni Hideaki - 2011 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hokutokuni Hideaki - 2008 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hokutokuni's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Hokutokuni prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2007)Hokutokuni battles Tosayutaka in Makushita (c. 2008)Hokutokuni after promotion to Juryo (c. 2008)Hokutokuni's Juryo promotion party (c. 2008)Hokutokuni during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2008)Hokutokuni falls all the way down to Maezumo (c. 2010)Hokutokuni defeats Tamanoshima in Juryo return (c. 2011)Hokutokuni throws and defeats Kitaharima (c. 2012)Hokutokuni's retirement ceremony (c. 2013)
## **Sources**

* Hokutokuni Hideaki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hokutokuni Hideaki Rikishi Information