Enazakura Tooru

Enazakura Tooru - 恵那櫻 徹 (born July 29, 1960) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Sakashita, Gifu. He made his debut in March 1977 and last wrestled for Oshiogawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 1987 and has one special prize. His highest rank was maegashira 1 and he retired in July 1994.

## **Early Life**

Hayakawa was born and the town of Sakashita in Gifu Prefecture and his father was a taxi driver. He originally aspired to be a cook, but he was recruited by the former ozeki Daikirin and joined Oshiogawa stable in March 1977 at the age of 16.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Hayakawa steadily rose through the ranks in the lower divisions. He was promoted to sandanme in January 1979 and in May 1980 he changed his shikona from his surname to "Enazakura" (meaning ″the cherry blossoms of Ena″, a region in his native Gifu Prefecture). He was promoted to makushita in January 1981. He remained in makushita for the next five years. In January 1986, he posted a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 3 and was promoted to juryo in the following tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Enazakura made his sekitori debut in March 1986 and posted a strong 10-5 record. He moved up and down the division a few times before winning promotion to the top makuuchi division in November 1987 after a 9-6 score at the rank of Juryo 2 in September 1987.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He won promotion to the top makuuchi division in November 1987, alongside Kotoinazuma and Nankairyu, and all three came thorough with kachi-koshi or winning records. In July 1989 he earned what was to be his only sansho or special prize, for Fighting Spirit after a fine 10–5 score. He never reached the sanyaku ranks, peaking at maegashira 1 which he reached in November 1990 at the age of 30. He was unable to defeat a yokozuna in his career, but won both of his two matches against ozeki Konishiki.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Enazakura′s last appearance in the top division was in March 1993, and he was demoted from the second juryo division a year later. He retired in July 1994 after two losing scores in the unsalaried makushita division. He remained in a sumo as a coach at Oshiogwawa stable, under the elder name Shikoroyama which was owned by the former komusubi Wakabayama. He switched to the Takenawa elder name in 1995, but when this was needed by the retiring Tochinowaka in July 1999, Enazakura had to leave the sumo world. He received a 2 million yen retirement payoff. Afterwards he ran a sumo-themed chanko restaurant called "Chanko Enazakura", however, it has since closed down.

## **Personal Life**

Enazakura enjoyed cooking and listening to traditional Japanese music, and was an enka singer himself.

## **Fighting Style**

Enazakura was a solid if unspectacular wrestler who favored pushing and thrusting techniques to fighting on the mawashi or belt. He regularly used oshidashi (push out), tsukiotoshi (thrust over), hatakikomi (slap down), hikiotoshi (pull down) and yorikiri (force out). He rarely employed throwing moves, occasionally using sukuinage (scoop throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 555-565/1120 (105 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 175-215/390 (26 basho)
* **Juryo:** 177-168/345 (23 basho)
* **Makushita:** 111-106/217 (31 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 49-42/91 (13 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 39-31/70 (10 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)

### Achievements

* **Special Prizes:** Fighting Spirit Prize (1)

## **Shikona History**

* Hayakawa Tooru (1977.03 - 1980.03)
* Enazakura Tooru (1980.05 - 1994.07)

## **Gallery**

Enazakura throws salt into the ring as he prepares for his bout (c. 1987)Enazakura poses with his kesho-mawashiEnazakura's tegata
## **Sources**

* Enazakura Tooru Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Enazakura Tooru Rikishi Information