Tochihikari Masayuki

Tochihikari Masayuki - 栃光 正之 (born August 29, 1933 - March 28, 1977) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ushibuka, Kumamoto. He made his debut in May 1952 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1955 and has five special prizes as well as four kinboshi. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in January 1966.

## **Early Life**

Ario Nakamura was born to farmers in the town of Ushikuba in Kumamoto prefecture. He participated in local sumo tournaments during his time in junior high school and he was a big fan of Tochinishiki. When a group of wrestlers came to nearby Amakusa for a tour, Nakamura was recruited into professional sumo and subsequently joined Kasugano stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in May 1952 and was given the shikona "Tochihikari" (栃光). He was promoted to sandanme in January 1953 and makushita in September 1953. In March 1954, he win the makushita yusho a perfect 8-0 record at the rank of makushita 18 and was promoted to juryo in May 1954 after only eight tournaments in the unsalaried ranks.

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Tochihikari finished with a solid 10-5 record. He followed with an 11-4 record in September 1954 and a 9-6 record in January 1955. In March 1955, Tochihikari won the juryo yusho with a perfect 15-0 record and became the first of only four wrestlers to win all fifteen matches in juryo (the others being Kitanofuji, Baruto, and Tochinoshin). He was subsequently promoted to makuuchi for the following May 1955 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

At the time of his makuuchi debut, Tochihikari had not produced a single losing record and he finished with a 10-5 record in his first top division tournament. In January 1956, he posted his first losing record, but still managed to defeat Yokozuna Yoshibayama to earn his first kinboshi.

In January 1957, Tochihikari finished runner-up to Yokozuna Chiyonoyama's 15-0 record with a strong 12-3 record and was promoted to komusubi for the following March 1957 tournament. He could only manage a 6-9 record in his san'yaku debut, but went on to to achieve two successive kinboshi in the following May and September 1957 tournaments where he defeated Yoshibayama and Kagamisato. In March 1959, he posted a 9-6 record at the rank of komusubi and was promoted to sekiwake for the following May tournament where he finished with a 10-5 record and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. In November 1961, he posted a disastrous 3-12 record at the rank of sekiwake and was demoted to the rank of maegashira 4 in January 1962. There, he finished with an 11-4 record and followed with a 10-5 record at the rank of komusubi to earn a re-promotion to sekiwake in May 1962. In this tournament, he produced a career-best 13-2 record and was runner-up to stablemate Tochinoumi's 14-1 record. Having accumulated 34 wins in the previous three tournaments, he was promoted alongside with stablemate Tochinoumi to the rank of ozeki in July 1962.

### **Ozeki Career**

In his ozeki debut, Tochihikari finished with an 11-4 record and was runner-up to Taiho's 14-1 record. In March 1963, he was aiming for is first championship and had accumulated 12 wins and 1 loss by the end of the thirteenth day. However, he lost to Taiho, who also had a 12-1 record, on the 14th day. He went on to win his final match to finish with a 13-2 record, but Taiho won on the final day to finish with a 14-1 record and claimed yusho. This was Tochihikari's last runner-up performance and he never managed to win a yusho.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He fought as an ozeki for 22 tournaments but lost the rank after recording three consecutive losing scores and immediately announced his retirement in January 1966. He became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Chiganoura. He was a judge of tournament bouts and was involved in both the incorrect decision to award a win to Toda that stopped Taiho's 45 bout winning streak in March 1969 and the famous decision in January 1972 to declare Kitanofuji the winner over Takanohana by kabai-te.

### **Death**

He died at a hospital in Chuo, Tokyo on March 28, 1977 due to rectal cancer. He was 43 years old. His shikona of Tochihikari was subsequently used by a later wrestler from Kasugano stable, also known as Kaneshiro Kofuku.

## **Fighting Style**

Tochihikari was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite was yorikiri (force out), followed by oshidashi (push out) and uwatenage (overarm throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 577-431-11/1006 (72 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 486-403-11/887 (60 basho)
* **Juryo:** 45-15/60 (4 basho)
* **Makushita:** 19-5/24 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 18-6/24 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 7-1/8 (1 basho)
* **Shinjo:** 2-1/3 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (March 1955)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (March 1954)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Outstanding Performance Prize (3), Fighting Spirit Prize (2)
* **Kinboshi:** 4: (2) Yoshibayama, (1) Asashio, (1) Kagamisato

## **Shikona History**

* Tochihikari Masayuki (1952.05 - 1966.01)

## **Gallery**

Tochihikari Masayuki - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Tochihikari's tegataTochihikari serves as Tochinishiki's sword bearer (c. 1957)Tochihikari with his first of many sansho prizes (c. 1959)Tochihikari gets promoted to Ozeki (c. 1962)Tochihikari celebrates promotion to Ozeki (c. 1962)Tochihikari's Ozeki promotion celebration parade (c. 1962)Tochihikari's hometown celebrates his Ozeki promotion (c. 1962)Tochihikari promoted to Ozeki alongside stablemate Tochinoumi (c. 1962)Tochihikari and Tochinoumi during the Makuuchi dohyo-iri (c. 1962)Tochihikari gifted a kesho-mawashi from his hometown (c. 1962)Tochihikari prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1964)Tochihikari announces his retirement (c. 1966)Tochihikari's retirement ceremony (c. 1966)Tochihikari after retirement as Chiganoura Oyakata (c. 1976)A statue of Ozeki Tochihikari
## **Sources**

* Tochihikari Masayuki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tochihikari Masayuki Rikishi Information