Kotonomine Tokumi

Kotonomine Tokumi - 琴乃峰 篤実 (born October 28, 1972) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Higashi-ku, Fukuoka. He made his debut in March 1988 and wrestled for Sadogatake stable. He reached the juryo division in May 2002. His highest rank was juryo 13 and he retired in March 2008.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Tokumi Horiuchi began sumo wrestling in junior high school and joined Sadogatake stable in March 1988. He was given the shikona "Kotohoriuchi" (琴堀内) and rose up the ranks at a slower rate than most future sekitori. He made his debut alongside future yokozuna Akebono and was the one to hand Akebono his first career lost. He was promoted to sandanme in September 1990 and changed his shikona to "Kotonomine" (琴乃峰) in November 1991.

He was promoted to makushita in May 1992 but could not establish himself in the division until January 1998. In March 1997, Kotonomine finished with a strong 6-1 record and participated in an eight-man playoff for the yusho, however, he lost to Kogawa in the first round. In March 2002, Kotonomine was ranked at makushita 4 which was a career-high at the time and he produced a 4-3 record which earned him a spot in the salaried juryo division for the May 2002 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

It had taken Kotonomine 85 tournaments (a little over 14 years) to reach the juryo division which was the second slowest progress at the time. He got off to a strong start in his debut as a sekitori and by the end of the eighth day, his record was 6-2. However, he went on to lose his last seven matches and finished with a losing record of 6-9. He was demoted back to makushita, but returned to juryo after four tournaments in the unsalaried division. However, his second juryo stint only lasted one tournament and he was demoted back down to makushita. He returned back to juryo in July 2004 after seven tournaments in makushita, but he only lasted two tournaments as a knee injury forced him to sit out of the September 2004 tournament.

### **Later Career**

Kotonomine's slump continued due to his knee injury and he fell back down to sandanme after only two tournaments in makushita. He spent the majority of his later career bouncing back and forth between the high-ranks of sandanme and the low-ranks of makushita.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Kotonomine's knee injuries forced him to sit out of the January 2008 tournament and he ultimately announced his retirement after the March 2008 tournament. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, took place on March 24th, 2008, in Itami, Hyogo.

After retirement, he returned back to his hometown of Fukuoka and is currently working at a factory.

## **Fighting Style**

According to his Japan Sumo Association profile, Kotonomine's 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:** 433-400-39/831 (121 basho)
* **Juryo:** 19-28-13/46 (4 basho)
* **Makushita:** 241-242-14/482 (71 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 111-87-12/198 (30 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 57-41/98 (14 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Horiuchi Tokumi (1988.03 - 1988.03)
* Kotohoriuchi Tokumi (1988.05 - 1991.09)
* Kotonomine Tokumi (1991.11 - 2008.03)

## **Gallery**

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

Kotonomine Tokumi - 2002 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kotonomine's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Kotonomine after promotion to juryo (c. 2002)Kotonomine makes his way into Ryogoku Kokugikan (c. 2002)Kotonomine's kesho-mawashi (c. 2003)Kotonomine loses to future yokozuna Kisenosato (c. 2004)
## **Sources**

* Kotonomine Tokumi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kotonomine Tokumi Rikishi Information