Hokutohikari Yasuhito

Hokutohikari Yasuhito - 北勝光 康仁 (born July 15, 1972) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Hondo, Kumamoto. He made his debut in January 1995 and wrestled for Hakkaku stable. He reached the juryo division in January 1998. His highest rank was juryo 6 and he retired in January 2001.

## **Early Life**

He started sumo wrestling from an early age and practiced karate through junior high and high school. He enrolled at Nihon University and joined their sumo club, however, he did not produce any noticeable results in his four years. After graduating, he joined Hakkaku stable in January 1995.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Due to his lackluster amateur career, he was not given makushita tsukedashi which mean that he could not make his debut at the bottom of makushita and instead had to do maezumo (pre-sumo). He initially wrestled under his surname "Tsutsumiuchi" (堤内) before switching to "Hokutohikari" (北勝光) in January 1997. He produced three consecutive 6-1 records from his debut and followed with a 7-0 record in sandanme, however, he missed out on the yusho after losing to Hidakayama in a playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makushita by his sixth tournament. In November 1997, he produced a 4-3 record at the rank of makushita 1 and was promoted to juryo in January 1998.

### **Juryo Career**

Hokutohikari managed a solid 8-7 record in his sekitori debut and was promoted to his highest rank of juryo 10. He managed to stay in juryo for another three tournaments before falling back down to makushita in September 1998. He was immediately promoted back to juryo after a 5-2 record, but he was only lasted one tournament in his return due to injuries.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Hokutohikari announced his retirement from sumo after the January 2001 tournament at the age of 28. After retiring, he trained as a cook and was employed at a Fugu restaurant. He later went on to work for a real estate company, and now he runs a sports bar.

## **Personal Life**

* Hokutohikari's hobby is reading.
* As a student, Hokutohikari was known to be nice to his juniors and would not haze or make them feel uncomfortable. Because of his personality, Kaiho, who was one year younger than Hokutohikari decided to join the same stable that Hokutohikari joined the previous year.

## **Fighting Style**

Hokutohikari was 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 was oshidashi, or push out.

## **Career**

### **Record**

* **Total:** 160-132/292 (37 basho)
* **Juryo:** 34-41/75 (5 basho)
* **Makushita:** 91-84/175 (25 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 17-4/21 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Tsutsumiuchi Yasuhito (1995.01 - 1996.11)
* Hokutohikari Yasuhito (1997.01 - 2001.01)

## **Gallery**

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

Hokutohikari Yasuhito - 1998 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hokutohikari Yasuhito - 1998 (Retrieved from the JSA)Hokutohikari's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Hokutohikari after promotion to Juryo (c. 1997)Hokutohikari outside his stable, Hakkaku stable (c. 2001)Hokutohikari's retirement ceremony (c. 2001)
## **Sources**

* Hokutohikari Yasuhito Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hokutohikari Yasuhito Rikishi Information