Tomokaze Yuta

Tomokaze Yuta - 友風 勇太 (born December 2, 1994) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kawasaki, Kanagawa. He made his debut in May 2017 and currently wrestles for Nishonoseki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 2019 and has 1 special prize as well as 2 kinboshi. His highest rank as of 2023 is maegashira 3.

## **Early Life**

Yuta Minami participated in many sports at an early age competing in karate and basketball when attending Elementary School before taking up judo at Junior High School. He also took up sumo at junior high and competed for the schools successful sumo team although he had little interest in the sport. He began to take sumo more seriously when attending Oka Prefectural High School for Kanagawa Prefecture, reaching the final of a national competition in which he was defeated by the Mongolian Altankhuyag Ichinnorov. After graduating high school Minami attended Nippon Sport Science University, and continued to compete with some success in national sumo competitions.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

In the spring of 2017 Minami entered the professional sumo world as he joined the Oguruma stable led by the former ozeki Kotokaze. He adopted the shikona Tomokaze, combining the kanji for "friend" with the kanji for "wind" (風), the latter being often adopted by many Oguruma wrestlers including Yoshikaze and Takekaze.

He made his debut in the Nagoya tournament (basho) when he was unbeaten in seven bouts in the lowest jonokuchi to claim the championship (yusho). He was moved up to the fifth jonidan division in September and secured a second promotion as he posted a 6-1 record. In November he made his first appearance in the fourth sandanme division and took his second yusho as he won all seven of his regulation matches and then defeating Tsuyukusa in a playoff.

Tomokaze began 2018 in the third makushita division and worked his way steadily up the ranks with four consecutive winning records (kachi-koshi) to land at makushita 4 for the September basho. He won five of his seven matches, securing his promotion to the second juryo division with a win over Gagamaru in his final match.

### **Juryo Career**

On his juryo debut, Tomokaze initially struggled and lost three of his first five matches but then reeled off nine consecutive wins to enter the final day one win ahead of the former sekiwake Kotoyuki. He defeated his more experienced rival by oshidashi to take the yusho but his low rank of juryo 14 meant that he was not eligible for promotion. In January Tomokaze was ranked at juryo 4, giving him a realistic prospect of promotion with a strong kachi-koshi but his chances appeared slim when he ended the eighth day with a 3-5 record. In the second week however, he went unbeaten in seven bouts to end the basho on 10-5 secure his elevation to the top makuuchi division. His progress from his jonokuchi debut to makuuchi in eleven basho was the joint-fourth fastest in modern sumo.

### **Makuuchi Career**

On his top division debut Tomokaze was ranked at maegashira 13 and recorded nine wins including victories over Toyonoshima, Takarafuji, Asanoyama and Shohozan. At maegashira 9 in May he made his twelfth consecutive kachi-koshi with eight wins and secured a move up to maegashira 7 for the July basho in Nagoya. In July 2019 Tomokaze was in contention for the yusho after winning nine of his first eleven matches but lost to his old high school rival Ichinojo on day 12. On day 13 he faced the biggest challenge of his career when he was matched against yokozuna Kakuryu and in a major upset he earned his first kinboshi as he defeated the grand champion by hatakikomi. After the bout he commented: ″I'm happy, but it still doesn't feel real.″ He moved to eleven wins by beating Kotoeko but lost tamely to Terutsuyoshi on the final day to end with an 11-4 record. His achievements saw him awarded the shukun-sho or special prize for Outstanding Performance. On receiving the award he said ″It’s still like a dream, but I’m really happy to win this award. I put out some good sumo, but some bouts weren’t that good... I’m grateful for the opportunity to challenge the upper-ranked fighters but I have a long way to go. I’ll do my best to grow and catch up with them″. In September he defeated Kakuryu for the second straight tournament on Day 7 and afterwards dedicated the win to his stablemate and friend Yoshikaze, who had just announced his retirement. He picked up his first make-koshi or losing-record in his entire career on Day 14 of the Aki (September) Tournament, losing to future ozeki, Asanoyama on that day.

### **Injury and Comeback**

Tomokaze had to forfeit (kyujo) the tournament, after sustaining a serious injury to his right knee in his fight against Kotoyuki, on the second day of the November 2019 tournament in Kyushu. The medical certificate submitted by his stable to the Japan Sumo Association stated: "Dislocated right knee joint with ligament damage. The treatment period is currently undecided." His stablemaster stated to the press he could be out for up to a year. He was transported to a hospital in Fukuoka City by ambulance immediately after the bout, the injury being so serious that it almost resulted in amputation. However, he was encouraged by his master, who, having suffered a similar injury in the November 1978 tournament, nevertheless reached the rank of ozeki in November 1981.

Following his injury, he underwent surgery with a total of four different operations in five months to reconstruct his ligaments. He then underwent rehabilitation, dividing his time between his hometown of Kawasaki, Kanagawa and his stable. Since then, he cannot move his right leg from the ankle down due to the severed nerve. He sat out the next six tournaments (not including the cancelled May 2020 tournament) and made his comeback in the March 2021 tournament, where he scored a 6–1 record in jonidan. Two more winning records in May and July saw him progress to near the top of the sandanme division by September 2021, and he had reached upper makushita by January 2022. On the pressure of his injury, Tomokaze insists that he's recovering well and that his training with Yago is gradual.

Because Oguruma-oyakata would reach the mandatory age of retirement, the closure of Oguruma stable was decided in January 2022, the personnel of the stable being mainly transferred to Oshiogawa stable. Tomokaze however was transferred to Nishonoseki stable in February 2022, along his coach and friend Yoshikaze. March 2022 saw his first losing record since his return from injury. In the following tournament, however, he scored a solid 6–1 and once again found himself in a position of potential promotion to the juryo division.

### **Return to Makuuchi**

After a good score as juryo 3, it was announced that Tomokaze would make his return to the makuuchi division for the November 2023 tournament. This made Tomokaze the third wrestler in the sport's history to return to sumo's top division after dropping back down to the jonidan division, following Terunofuji in 2020 and Ura in 2021.

## **Personal Life**

* Tomokaze can speak conversational English. Tomokaze is extremely talented at playing the piano and has been practicing ever since kindergarten.
* Tomokaze served as Yoshikaze's tsukebito, or personal servant, and when he was promoted to juryo, he opted out of a tsukebito and continued his duties as Yoshikaze's tsukebito, which shows the amount of respect Tomokaze has for Yoshikaze.
* Following his injury, Tomokaze admitted in an interview given to the Tokyo Shimbun that he was certified as Level 5 disabled and issued a disability certificate in February 2021.

## **Fighting Style**

Tomokaze has shown a preference for tsuki and oshi techniques which involve pushing and thrusting rather than grasping his opponent's mawashi or belt. His most common kimarite or winning moves are hatakikomi, the slap-down and oshidashi, the push-out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 201-107-70/307 (39 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 42-36-12/77 (6 basho)
* **Juryo:** 59-31-30/90 (8 basho)
* **Makushita:** 58-33-14/91 (15 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 23-5-14/28 (6 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 Juryo Championship (November 2018)
* 1 Sandanme Championship (November 2017)
* 1 Jonokuchi Championship (July 2017)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Outstanding Performance Prize (1)
* **Kinboshi:** (2) Kakuryu
* **Record:** Tied for **4th** Fastest progress to top division

## **Shikona History**

* Minami Yuta (2017.05 - 2017.05)
* Tomokaze Yuta (2017.07 - )

## **Gallery**

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

Tomokaze Yuta - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tomokaze Yuta - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tomokaze Yuta - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tomokaze Yuta - 2018 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tomokaze's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Tomokaze gets recruited into Oguruma stable (c. 2017)Tomokaze wins the Sandanme Yusho (c. 2017)Tomokaze ensures promotion to Juryo (c. 2018)Tomokaze after promotion to Juryo (c. 2018)Tomokaze throws Daiseido (c. 2018)Tomokaze wins the Juryo Yusho (c. 2018)Tomokaze after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2019)Tomokaze defeats Yokozuna Kakuryu (c. 2019)Tomokaze with his first sansho prize (c. 2019)Tomokaze prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2019)Tomokaze badly injures his right knee (c. 2019)Tomokaze falls to Jonidan after a one year break (c. 2021)Tomokaze defeats Asagyokusei (c. 2022)Tomokaze ensures re-promotion to Juryo (c. 2023)Tomokaze returns to Juryo after three years (c. 2023)Tomokaze prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2023)Tomokaze defeats Chiyonoumi (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Tomokaze Yuta Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tomokaze Yuta Rikishi Information