Hokutoryu Sadahiro

Hokutoryu Sadahiro - 北斗龍 定裕 (born March 16, 1971) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Hakodate, Hokkaido. He made his debut in March 1986 and wrestled for Yamahibiki stable. His highest rank was sandanme 53 and he retired in March 2017.

## **Early Life**

Maruyama was born in Hakodate, Hokkaido, on March 16, 1971. Around the fourth grade, he became too big for soccer or baseball so he decided to take up judo when attending junior high school. During his final year of junior high school, he was scouted by fellow Hokkaido-native Kitanoumi for professional sumo. After graduating junior high school, he joined the recently established Kitanoumi stable.

## **Career**

He made his professional debut in March 1986 alongside Ganyu who would later become his stablemaster. He was given the shikona "Hokutoryu" (北斗龍). He reached the jonidan division in November 1986 and sandanme in July 1990. He was never able to establish himself in sandanme, with his highest rank being sandanme 53, and he wrestled mainly in the second lowest jonidan division. In May 1992, he was aiming for the jonidan yusho and won his first six matches, however, he lost is final match to Takahashiyama. This was also his only career 6-1 record.

In January 1998, Hokutoryu injured his neck during training and suffered from whiplash. As a result, he took a two day break from training, however, upon returning to practice he injured his neck again. Onogawa Oyakata (former maegashira Hachiya), a coach at Kitanoumi stable, recommended that he no longer train and assigned him as the head chef for the stable. He was a talented cook and Kitanoumi would regularly request dishes such as yudofu (hot tofu) and hiyashi chuka, a cold noodle dish.

Even though Hokutoryu suffered from diabetes and the whiplash from his neck injury, he still tried to participate in the tournaments as much as he could. During training in March 2014, he suffered an accident which resulted in necrosis on his right big toe. As a result, the toe needed to be amputated and Hokutoryu missed the May 2014 tournament. This was the first time he sat out during his 28 year career. He sat out of the following July 2014 tournament as well. Upon returning to sumo in September 2014, he had to redo maezumo (pre-sumo).

Initially Hokutoryu had intended on retiring when Kitanoumi reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 which would have been in May 2018, however, Kitanoumi passed away on November 20, 2015. The stable was inherited by Yamahibiki Oyakata (former maegashira Ganyu) and the stable was renamed Yamahibiki stable.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Hokutoryu retired from sumo in March 2017 after a 31 year career. After retiring, he worked at a fried chicken restaurant in Fukuoka which was owned by an acquaintance of his. Due to his bad legs, he sits while working.

## **Fighting Style**

Hokutoryu was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. His most common kimarite was yorikiri (force out) followed by uwatenage (overarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 577-690-21/1267 (186 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 58-75/133 (19 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 469-574-14/1043 (151 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 50-41-7/91 (14 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Maruyama Sadahiro (1986.03 - 1986.03)
* Hokutoryu Sadahiro (1986.05 - 2017.03)

## **Gallery**

Hokutoryu battles Kaishimizu (c. 2002)Hokutoryu talks about his stablemaster's passing (c. 2015)Hokutoryu awaits for his upcoming match (c. 2015)Hokutoryu defeats Asadoji (c. 2016)Hokutoryu after wrestling his final match (c. 2017)Hokutoryu's retirement ceremony (c. 2017)
## **Sources**

* Hokutoryu Sadahiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hokutoryu Sadahiro Rikishi Information