Toki Susumu

Toki Susumu - 闘牙 進 (born July 4, 1974) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ichikawa, Chiba. He made his debut in January 1991 and wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1998. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in May 2006.

## **Early Life**

Tamaki initially practiced judo at his father's dojo and he went to junior high school in his father's hometown of Okinawa. After junior high school, he attended Tokai University Sagami Senior High School and excelled in judo. However, he suffered a back injury and decided to quit judo. He planned on graduating high school, but ended up dropping out due to an excessive academic workload. After this, he received an offer to join Takasago stable which he accepted.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his debut in January 1991 and initially wrestled under his surname. Even though he had no sumo experience prior to becoming professional he eventually started to climb the ranks and was promoted to sandanme in May 1992. In March 1994 he won the sandanme yusho with a perfect 7-0 record and was promoted to makushita in the following May tournament. In January 1996 he changed his shikona to "Toki" (闘牙). In May 1997, Toki was ranked at the top of makushita and he produced a 6-1 record which qualified him for a six-man playoff; he won the playoff to claim the yusho and he was promoted to juryo in July 1997.

### **Juryo Career**

Toki could only manage six wins in his sekitori debut and he was regulated back to makushita in the following tournament. He immediately returned to juryo after one tournament in the unsalaried ranks. In March 1998, Toki produced a strong 12-3 record, but he lost out on the yusho after losing to Kushimaumi in a playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makuuchi in the following tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In 1998 Toki managed to enter the top makuuchi division for the first time and quickly became a regular maegashira, although his results were not sufficient to make him a sanyaku wrestler (although he was a komusubi for one tournament in September 2003, he could not retain this rank). He was not a great challenge to the top wrestlers in his makuuchi days, losing every bout he fought against both Musashimaru and Takanohana. He never managed to defeat a yokozuna or win a special prize.

### **Later Career**

In 2004, Toki suffered a shoulder injury which eventually led to him dropping to juryo once more. He did not succeed in making a sustained comeback to makuuchi, although he managed to return temporarily twice. He suffered increasingly from back problems related to spinal stenosis, which was the reason why he missed six days of the January 2006 tournament. This also reduced the power of his pushes and thrusts to his opponents. After a disastrous make-koshi in March, Toki was demoted to makushita in May 2006 and announced his retirement on the day the tournament started.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Toki had his official retirement ceremony on January 27, 2007 and worked as a coach at Kokonoe stable. Until January 2010 he used the name Sanoyama Oyakata. However, the elder stock is owned by the stable's former ozeki Chiyotaikai, and upon Chiyotaikai's retirement Toki switched to the Asakayama name owned by Kaio. He changed once again, to Oshiogawa Oyakata, in September 2010. In 2012 he became Sendagawa Oyakata and in the same year left Kokonoe stable to take up a coaching role at Nishikido stable.

The Japan Sumo Association announced Toki's retirement on 7 September 2023. At the time of his retirement he was working in various departments within the Sumo Association, including as a ringside judge.

## **Controversy**

### **Car Accident**

On December 18, 2000 in Osaka Toki was behind the wheel of a car which hit a pedestrian and killed her. He should not have been driving at all because the Sumo Association had banned all wrestlers from doing so following a previous incident. Toki was told by the Sumo Association not to leave his house for two months, and given a 20 percent pay cut. He withdrew from the January 2001 tournament as a result, and fell to the juryo division. This left the Takasago stable without any top division wrestlers for the first time in its 123-year history.

## **Personal Life**

* Toki wore long sideburns as a distinctive feature. He is known for sharing a close resemblance with Takanotsuru of Naruto stable. They both announced their retirement in May 2006.
* Toki's father was also a sumo wrestler during the late 50s and early 60s. He wrestled for Takasago stable under the shikona "Takaisami" (高勇) and rose as high as jonidan 103.

## **Fighting Style**

Toki relied almost exclusively on slapping and pushing techniques, making his style very predictable, yet often surprisingly successful. However, he was very vulnerable when his opponents got hold of his mawashi. He won only eight matches in his career by yorikiri, or force out, and lost 132. His most common winning kimarite were the slap down, hatakikomi, and the pull down, hikiotoshi.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 511-518-31/1026 (93 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 249-303-18/551 (38 basho)
* **Juryo:** 107-97-6/203 (14 basho)
* **Makushita:** 70-49-7/119 (18 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 47-44/90 (13 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 30-19/49 (7 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 8-6/14 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (November 2005)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (May 1997)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (March 1994)

## **Shikona History**

* Tamaki Jun (1991.01 - 1995.11)
* Toki Susumu (1996.01 - 2006.05)

## **Gallery**

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

Toki Susumu - 1998 (Retrieved from the JSA)Toki's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Toki after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 1998)Toki battles his opponent (c. 1998)Toki battles Yokozuna Takanohana (c. 2003)Toki battles Takamisakari (c. 2003)Toki after promotion to Komusubi (c. 2003)Toki serves as Yokozuna Asashoryu's sword bearer (c. 2004)Toki defeats his opponent (c. 2004)Toki serves as Yokozuna Asashoryu's flag bearer (c. 2005)Toki was known for his huge sideburns (c. 2005)Toki and his lookalike Takanotsuru (c. 2005)Toki battles Takanotsuru (c. 2005)Toki announces his retirement (c. 2006)Toki's retirement ceremony (c. 2007)Toki after retirement as Sendagawa Oyakata
## **Sources**

* Toki Susumu Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Toki Susumu Rikishi Information