Hitenryu Takanobu

Hitenryu Takanobu - 飛天龍 貴信 (born June 16, 1984) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Fukuoka City, Fukuoka. He made his debut in March 2000 and wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He reached the juryo division in July 2011. His highest rank was juryo 13 and he retired in November 2020.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He was recruited into professional sumo by Tatsunami oyakata in March 2000. Initially wrestling under his family name of Mochimaru, he rose up the ranks in slow fashion. In November 2000 he changed his shikona to "Chojimaru" (桃持丸). He was promoted to sandanme in January 2002 and remained in that division for around two years.

He was promoted to makushita in July 2004, and in the following tournament he changed his shikona to "Yutakamaru" (豊丸). He remained in makushita for around two years, however, he was demoted back down to sandanme in January 2007 which caused him to revert hi shikona back to his family name. He immediately returned back to makushita and even reached as high as makushita 3 in May 2009.

In January 2011 he was ranked at makushita 4 and finished with a rare 3-5 record. Hitenryu was benefited from the 2011 match-fixing scandal, as many slots were open due to the retirements of many juryo wrestlers. As a result a 4-3 at the rank of makushita 10 promoted him to the salaried juryo division in July 2011.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona to "Hitenryu" (飛天龍). He had a relatively good start to the first-half of the tournament and his record was 6 wins to 4 losses by the end of the tenth day. However, he lost his remaining five matches and finished with a 6-9 record. Nonetheless, he remained in juryo for the following tournament, but continued to struggle and finished with a 5-10 in the September 2011 tournament. As a result he was demoted back down to makushita and would never return back to sekitori status.

### **Later Career**

Hitenryu remained in the high level ranks of makushita for majority of 2012, however, in July 2012 he tore his rotator cuff on the eighth day and subsequently withdrew from the tournament on the tenth day. After sitting out of three straight tournaments, Hitenryu fell back down to jonidan; he returned in March 2013 and finished with a 6-1 record which qualified him for a 10 man playoff, however, he lost in the second round to his stablemate Kinunonami. After three more winning records he returned back to makushita, however, he was not the same and would constantly fall back down to sandanme.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Hitenryu announced his intention to retire on 13th day of the March 2019 tournament and even had his retirement ceremony date set for May 4, 2019, at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. However, he never turned in his retirement papers and was still listed to wrestle at the May 2019 tournament. In July 2019 he sat out of three straight tournaments due to a surgery on a lumbar hernia. He submitted his retirement papers to the Japan Sumo Association on the 13th day of the November 2020 tournament.

His retirement ceremony was held on November 22, 2022, in his hometown of Fukuoka. He currently works as a vocational counselor at the Osaka City Livelihood Support Measures Organization.

## **Fighting Style**

Hitenryu was a yotsu-sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques to pushing and thrusting. His most common winning kimarite is a straightforward yorikiri, or force out, and he uses a hidari-yotsu grip on the mawashi or belt, with his right hand outside and left hand inside his opponent's arms.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 427-386-58/810 (123 basho)
* **Juryo:** 11-19/30 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 191-206-10/395 (58 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 164-124-41/287 (47 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 53-31-7/84 (13 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 8-6/14 (2 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Mochimaru Takanobu (2000.03 - 2000.09)
* Chojimaru Seido (2000.11 - 2004.07)
* Yutakamaru Takanobu (2004.09 - 2006.11)
* Mochimaru Takanobu (2007.01 - 2011.05)
* Hitenryu Takanobu (2011.07 - 2020.11)

## **Gallery**

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

Hitenryu Takanobu - 2011 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hitenryu's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Hitenryu during his time in maezumo (c. 2000)Hitenryu promoted to Juryo after the match-fixing scandal (c. 2011)Hitenryu after promotion to Juryo (c. 2011)Hitenryu defeats veteran Takamisakari (c. 2011)Hitenryu battles the future Oho (c. 2018)Hitenryu prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2020)Hitenryu after wrestling his last match (c. 2020)Hitenryu's retirement ceremony (c. 2022)
## **Sources**

* Hitenryu Takanobu Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hitenryu Takanobu Rikishi Information