Tochimaru Masanori

Tochimaru Masanori - 栃丸 正典 (born August 26, 1992) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nerima, Tokyo. He made his debut in May 2011 and currently wrestles for Kasugano stable. He reached the juryo division in May 2022. His highest rank as of 2023 is juryo 11.

## **Early Life**

Haseyama began sumo wrestling at a local sumo dojo from an early age because his elder brother, who was older by nine years, was also practicing sumo wrestling. During his fourth year at Oizumigakuen Elementary School, Haseyama won the title of Wanpaku Yokozuna at the Wanpaku National Sumo Tournament and received an award from the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education. He failed to regain the title in his fifth year, but in his sixth year, he won the title again after defeating Genki Sakamoto (the future Daiamami) in the final round.

He went on to attend Oizumigakuen Junior High School in Nerima, Tokyo, and participated in other sports such as shot put and soccer. While in junior high school, Haseyama was unable to participate in national competitions because he had no local training partners. Nevertheless, he was invited to join the sumo club at Adachi Shinden High School in Adachi, Tokyo, where he trained with the future Chiyotairyu.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

After graduating from high school, Haseyama opted to turn professional and joined Kasugano stable in 2011. He was below the minimum height requirement of 173 cm but was allowed to make his debut after passing a secondary physical exam. His professional debut was delayed until May 2011 due to the 2011 match-fixing scandal. He made his debut alongside Terunofuji, Rikishin, Meisei, Jokoryu, and high school classmate Chiyotairyu.

Haseyama got off to a solid start and was promoted to sandanme in January 2012. Upon promotion to makushita in January 2013, he was given the shikona "Tochimaru" (栃丸) due to his round look. He was unable to establish himself in makushita until around 2015. In January 2016, while ranked at makushita 13, Tochimaru won his first six matches, but lost his final match to Terutsuyoshi to finish with a 6-1 record and miss out on a direct juryo promotion. Nevertheless, he qualified for an eight-man playoff for the makushita yusho. He defeated Kotaro in the first round and stablemate Tochihiryu in the second round. In the final round, he defeated up-and-comer Ura by tsukitaoshi, or thrust down, to win the makushita yusho.

By this time, Tochimaru had established himself in the top quarter of makushita, and had reached the rank of makushita 3 by January 2017. However, prolonged knee injuries sent him back down to low sandanme in May 2018. He eventually returned to makushita in March 2019, but was still a bit sluggish. In May 2021, Tochimaru finished with a solid 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 2, but missed out on a juryo promotion and was promoted to the rank of makushita 1 instead in July 2021. In this tournament, Tochimaru finished with a 3-4 record and subsequently missed out on another juryo promotion. He returned to the rank of makushita 1 in March 2022 and this time finished with a 4-3 record to secure a promotion to juryo in May 2022, after eleven years in the unsalaried ranks.

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Tochimaru finished with an 8-7 record. However, after the winning record, Tochimaru would then post 2 make-koshi, the second one being a 2-13 at the rank of juryo 13, demoting Tochimaru back to Makushita after 3 tournaments in Juryo.

## **Personal Life**

* Tochimaru's favorite artists are Ketsumeishi, ZORN, and AK-69. His hobbies are cooking, watching movies, drinking craft beer, playing games, and hip hop. His favorite food is white rice. His favorite TV show is *Aiseki Shokudo*. His favorite manga is *Kingdom*.
* Prior to his juryo promotion in May 2022, Tochimaru served as stablemate Aoiyama's tsukebito, or personal servant.

## **Fighting Style**

Tochimaru is oshi-zumo specialist, which means he prefers thrusting and pushing techniques rather than fighting on the mawashi. He is known for his rapid series of thrusts to the chest (tsuppari). The most common kimarite that he employs is oshidashi (push-out), tsukidashi (thrust-out) and hatakikomi (slap-down).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 279-238-25/514 (75 basho)
* **Juryo:** 16-29/45 (3 basho)
* **Makushita:** 190-173-8/361 (53 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 59-31-15/89 (15 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 8-4-2/12 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 2016)

## **Shikona History**

* Haseyama Masanori (2011.05 - 2012.11)
* Tochimaru Masanori (2013.01 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Tochimaru Masanori - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochimaru Masanori - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochimaru's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Tochimaru defeats Ura to win the Makushita Yusho (c. 2016)Tochimaru celebrates his Makushita Yusho (c. 2016)Tochimaru ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2022)Tochimaru after promotion to Juryo (c. 2022)Tochimaru presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2022)Tochimaru during the Juryo dohyo-iri (c. 2022)Tochimaru defeats Chiyoarashi (c. 2022)Tochimaru prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2022)Tochimaru defeats Chiyonoumi (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Tochimaru Masanori Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tochimaru Masanori Rikishi Information