Tomikaze Satoru

Tomikaze Satoru - 富風 悟 (born January 27, 1972) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yatomi, Aichi. He made his debut in July 1987 and wrestled for Oguruma stable. He reached the juryo division in July 2000. His highest rank was juryo 8 and he retired in July 2004.

## **Early Life**

Satoru Hirakawa was born in Yatomi, Aichi, on January 27, 1972. In junior high school he was a member of the judo club, but he also participated in sumo and competed in the Aichi Prefectural Tournament. He was then introduced to Oguruma stable by an acquaintance and he joined the stable in July 1987.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He was given the shikona "Tomikaze" (富風) and produced a strong 6-1 record in his first tournament. He was promoted to sandanme in September 1988 and makushita in September 1994. In July 1996 he participated in an eight-man playoff for the makushita yusho after winning 6 of his 7 matches, but he lost in the first round to Takaozaki. In May 2000, Tomikaze produced a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 3 which earned him a promotion to the juryo division in July 2000.

### **Juryo Career**

In his sekitori debut, Tomikaze only managed to win 6 of his matches, but was lucky enough to keep his sekitori status. In the following tournament, Tomikaze was in the juryo race for majority of the tournament and his record 9-2 by the end of the 11th day. However, he lost his last four matches to finish with a 9-6 record. Nevertheless, he was promoted to a career-best juryo 8 in November 2000. In January 2001, Tomikaze was demoted back down to makushita after a disastrous 3-12 record. After a year and a half in makushita, Tomikaze returned to juryo in September 2002 and got off to a good start where he achieved a 6-3 record by the end of the ninth day. However he lost his last six matches and finished with a losing record of 6-9. In January 2003 he was promoted back to juryo but was demoted after a 6-9 record in the March 2003 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

In July 2003, Tomikaze suffered a myocardial infarction and was hospitalized immediately. He withdrew from the following seven tournaments and fell all the way down to jonokuchi. After suffering the life-threatening heart attack, Tomikaze had no intention of returning. He announced his retirement after the July 2004 tournament. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held in the Ryogoku Kokugikan.

After retirement, he trained at a chicken restaurant in Fukuoka and a sumo restaurant in Shinjuku. In October 2005, he opened up a chankonabe restaurant called "Rikishi Cuisine Tomikaze" (力士料理 富風) in Minato, Tokyo.

## **Fighting Style**

According to his Japan Sumo Association profile, his favored techniques are yori (forcing) and hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most common winning kimarite is a straightforward yorikiri or force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 357-306-108/659 (103 basho)
* **Juryo:** 36-54-15/89 (7 basho)
* **Makushita:** 169-130-38/297 (48 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 113-105-34/217 (36 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 33-16-14/49 (9 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1-7/7 (2 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Hirakawa Satoru (1987.07 - 1987.09)
* Tomikaze Satoru (1987.11 - 2004.07)

## **Gallery**

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

Tomikaze Satoru - 2000 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tomikaze's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Tomikaze visits a Grand Prix event (c. 1999)Tomikaze after promotion to juryo (c. 2000)Tomikaze during the juryo dohyo-iriTomikaze artTomikaze's retirement ceremony (c. 2004)Tomikaze's restaurant, Rikishi Cuisine TomikazeTomikaze's kesho-mawashi on display
## **Sources**

* Tomikaze Satoru Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tomikaze Satoru Rikishi Information