Tochihiryu Yukiya

Tochihiryu Yukiya - 栃飛龍 幸也 (born April 23, 1987) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mishima, Shizuoka. He made his debut in March 2006 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the juryo division in March 2013. His highest rank was juryo 7 and he retired in May 2019.

## **Early Life**

Yukiya Honma began sumo wrestling in the second grade of elementary school. He attended Numazu Gakuen Hiryu Senior High School which was also the same high school that Sagatsukasa, who was six years his senior, attended. After graduation from high school, Honma joined Kasugano stable and made his professional debut in March 2006.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut alongside Shohozan, Sakaizawa, Ryuden, and stablemate Tochinoshin. He took the shikona "Tochihiryu" and had a relatively good start. He produced four straight winning records (kachi-koshi) and was promoted to the sandanme division in January 2007.

He produced a disastrous 1-6 record and as a result was regulated back to the jonidan division. In his return to jonidan, he won all seven matches and a playoff against Katsunofuji to win the jonidan yusho. He was promoted all the way up to sandanme 17, but struggled immensely and posted an embarrassing 0-7 record. He bounced back and after a year he was promoted to the makushita division.
Tochihiryu made his makushita debut in May 2008. While training in March 2009, Tochihiryu aggravated an old injury during practice and had to sit out of the following two tournaments. He returned in July 2009 at the rank of jonidan 29 and won all seven matches to claim his second jonidan yusho. He continued his strong by posting five more winning records and was promoted all the way up to makushita 9 for the July 2010 tournament. Five tournaments later, he reached the highly competitive rank of makushita 2 and defeated juryo-ranked Hishofuji, however, he finished with a 3-4 record. He would remain in the highly competitive top tier of makushita for around a year and a half, and Tochihiryu finally earned promotion to the juryo division in March 2013.

### **Juryo Career**

In Tochihiryu's juryo debut, he produced an 8-7 record and was promoted his highest rank of juryo 7. Tochihiryu struggled at this rank and produced a 5-10 record, which was followed by a 3-12 record. As a result, he was regulated back down to makushita. Tochihiryu would spend another two tournaments in makushita before earning promotion bak to juryo in January 2014. In his first tournament back, it seemed like Tochihiryu was on his way to achieving a winning record as he was 7-5 by the end of the twelfth day. However, he lost his last three matches and finished with a 7-8 record. This record was followed by a 5-10 record which sent him back down to makushita. He would immediately earn promotion back to juryo in July 2014, however, a losing record sent him back down to makushita for the September 2014 tournament. As usual, Tochihiryu earned a promotion back to juryo, and similarly, two tournaments later he was once regulated back to makushita.

### **Later Career**

In January 2016, Tochihiryu was ranked at makushita 6 and was on the verge of winning the makushita yusho. He was 6-0, however, he was placed against juryo-ranked wrestler on the twelfth day (rare for a wrestler ranked at makushita 6). He lost to Dewahayate which resulted in an eight-man playoff for the yusho. Tochihiryu defeated Takagenji in the first round, but ended up losing to stablemate Tochimaru in the second round. In November 2017, Tochihiryu won the makushita yusho at the rank of makushita 10 and earned promotion back to juryo after a three year absence. In his return back, he struggled and produced a 4-11 record. This would be his last tournament as a sekitori as he was immediately demoted back down to makushita.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Tochihiryu announced his retirement on May 25, 2019. He cited that his old neck injury that he suffered during his third year of high school was starting to act up. When he had his neck examined, the doctors told him that he could be paralyzed if he continued his sumo career. His danpatsu-shiki, or retirement ceremony, was held on June 3, 2019, at the Kasugano stable.

After retirement, he was employed in the transportation industry as a company employee. However, he has stated that he has a dream of opening up a restaurant, because he took a course about food culture in high school, and has been interested ever since.

## **Personal Life**

* The "Tochi" (栃) from his shikona is the kanji that many sumo wrestlers from his stable use, while the "hiryu" (飛龍) was taken from his high school: Numazu Gakuen Hiryu Senior High School.
* Tochihiryu attended Numazu Gakuen Hiryu Senior High School which was also the school that future-wrestler Sagatsukasa (he was six year his senior) attended.
* Tochihiryu wears a mouthguard when wrestling which is unusual for many wrestlers.

## **Fighting Style**

Tochihiryu is a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or technique is oshidashi or a straightforward push out. He struggles heavily on the mawashi and has only won by yorikiri four times, which only accounts for 1% of his victories (on average it is around 25%). Moreover, he only won three matches by throws.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 315-289-14/604 (79 basho)
* **Juryo:** 50-85/135 (9 basho)
* **Makushita:** 188-155/343 (49 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 44-40-14/84 (14 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 29-6/35 (5 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-3/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (November 2017)
* 2 **Jonidan** Championships
	+ 1st (March 2007)
	+ 2nd (July 2009)

## **Gallery**

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

Tochihiryu Yukiya - 2018 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochihiryu Yukiya - 2015 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochihiryu Yukiya - 2014 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochihiryu Yukiya - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochihiryu Yukiya - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochihiryu Yukiya - 2013 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochihiryu's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Tochihiryu's time in the unsalaried ranks (c. 2009)Tochihiryu after promotion to Juryo (c. 2013)Tochihiryu's Juryo promotion party (c. 2013)Tochihiryu defeats Sakigake (c. 2014)Tochihiryu defeats Keitenkai (c. 2015)Tochihiryu defeats Shotenro (c. 2016)Tochihiryu defeats Kiribayama to win the Makushita Yusho (c. 2017)Tochihiryu wins his first Makushita Yusho (c. 2017)Tochihiryu celebrates his Makushita Yusho (c. 2017)Tochihiryu defeats Tobizaru (c. 2018)Tochihiryu defeats Takanoiwa (c. 2018)Tochihiryu celebrates Tochinoshin's Ozeki promotion (c. 2018)Tochihiryu's retirement ceremony (c. 2019)
## **Sources**

* Tochihiryu Yukiya Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tochihiryu Yukiya Rikishi Information