Hoo Tomomichi

Hoo Tomomichi - 鳳凰 倶往 (born December 7, 1956 - January 16, 2013) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Gamagori, Aichi. He made his debut in September 1971 and wrestled for Nishonoseki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1979 and has three kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in May 1990.

## **Early Life**

Kabetani attended Gamagorishiritsunishiura Junior High School (西浦中学校) where he was a member of the judo club. He was recruited by Hamakaze Oyakata (former maegashira Miyabashira), who was a coach at Nishonoseki stable, during his third year in junior high school. He later joined the stable and made his professional debut in September 1971.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He initially wrestled under his surname Kabetani. At the time of joining professional sumo, he was still attending junior high school and was only permitted to wrestle on the weekends during the tournaments held in Tokyo. He graduated from high school in March 1972 and was allowed to wrestle full tournaments from then on. In January 1974, he changed his shikona to "Hoo" (鳳凰), which was derived from the Meiji era ozeki Hoo Umagoro. He was promoted to makushita in November 1974 and juryo in May 1978.

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Hoo posted a strong 10-5 record and followed with two more winning records. A 4-11 record in November 1978 sent him back down to the lower half of juryo, but he went on to produce three consecutive winning records which earned him a promotion to makuuchi in July 1979.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Hoo was ranked in the top division for a total of 34 tournaments. His first two kinboshi were against yokozuna Wakanohana II where he defeated him by uwatenage (overarm throw). He was promoted to komusubi in November 1980, but followed with four consecutive losing records which sent him back down to juryo. He was ranked in makuuchi for another two years before falling back down to juryo in May 1983. He returned to makuuchi for the third time after winning two consecutive juryo yusho. He was promoted to sekiwake in July 1984, but could only manage a 4-11 record at that rank. He is the only sekiwake to never win a special prize.

### **Later Career**

He was demoted back down to juryo in November 1985 and eventually lost his sekitori status in March 1986. Nevertheless, he won the makushita yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and was promoted back to juryo. He returned to makuuchi in November 1988, but could only retain his rank for two tournaments. In May 1989, Hoo posted an embarrassing 0-15 record and was demoted back down to makushita. In makushita, he faced off against a 17 year old Takahanada and defeated him. This made him the one of the only wrestlers to defeat Takahanada and the senior Takanohana.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He announced his retirement after the May 1990 tournament and left the sumo world all together. After retiring, he worked at a company in Chuo, Tokyo. He also worked as a temporary coach for Magaki stable. As of January 2005, it was reported that he was working for a company while teaching amateur sumo on the side.

### **Death**

Hoo died on January 16, 2013, due to heart disease. He was 56 years old.

## **Fighting Style**

Hoo was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out. He was also fond of employing uwatenage, or overarm throw.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 617-631-26/1248 (113 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 218-277-15/495 (34 basho)
* **Juryo:** 221-214/435 (29 basho)
* **Makushita:** 116-90-11/206 (31 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 25-17/42 (6 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 35-31/66 (11 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 2-2/4 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 4 **Juryo** Championships
	+ 1st (September 1981)
	+ 2nd (September 1983)
	+ 3rd (November 1983)
	+ 4th (November 1987)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (March 1986)

### **Achievements**

* **Kinboshi:** 3: (2) Wakanohana II, (1) Chiyonofuji

## **Shikona History**

* Kabetani Tomomichi (1971.09 - 1973.11)
* Hoo Tomomichi (1974.01 - 1990.05)

## **Gallery**

Hoo poses with his kesho-mawashiHoo battles his opponent (c. 1985)Hoo (c. 1987)Hoo's tegata
## **Sources**

* Hoo Tomomichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hoo Tomomichi Rikishi Information