Tochiisami Yoshiharu

Tochiisami Yoshiharu - 栃勇 義治 (born October 2, 1947) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Inakadate, Aomori. He made his debut in March 1963 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1969. His highest rank was maegashira 7 and he retired in November 1979.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Abo began sumo wrestling in junior high school and was a big fan of Tochinoumi who was also from Inakadate, Aomori. After graduating junior high school, he joined Kasugano stable, which Tochinoumi belonged to, and made his professional debut in March 1963. He initially wrestled under his surname Abo before changing to shikona to "Tochiisami" (栃勇) in his second tournament. He was promoted to sandanme in September 1963 and makushita in July 1965. He reached the second highest juryo division two years later in November 1967, after winning the third highest makushita division championship with a perfect 7-0 record from the rank of makushita 20 (before the rules were changed to make makushita 15 the lowest rank for juryo promotion in 1977).

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Tochiisami produced a strong 11-4 record and followed up with a 10-5 record to earn a promotion to the top of juryo in March 1968. However, he went on to post three consecutive losing records and was regulated back to the lower ranks of juryo. Nevertheless, he bounced and was promoted to makuuchi in July 1969.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Tochiisami was ranked in makuuchi for a total of 11 tournaments, reaching as high as maegashira 7 in July 1970. He suffered a right knee injury in January 1971 and was demoted back to juryo in March 1971. He returned to makuuchi in November 1971, however, a left shoulder injury in September 1972 sent him back down to juryo. This proved to be his last appearance in makuuchi.

### **Later Career**

Due to his shoulder injury, Tochiisami eventually fell back down to makushita in September 1973, but returned to juryo in January 1975. He won the juryo yusho with an 11-4 record in May 1976 after defeating Kurama in a playoff. He was ranked in juryo for a total of 54 tournaments which was a record for most juryo tournaments (later broken by stablemate Hachiya who was ranked in juryo for 55 tournaments).

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He retired in November 1979 and became an elder in the Japan Sumo Association under the name Iwatomo. He reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 in October 2012. The Iwatomo name is now owned by former maegashira Kimurayama, also of the Kasugano stable.

## **Fighting Style**

Tochiisami was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite was oshidashi (push out), followed by yorikiri (force out). He was also fond of employing tsuridashi, or lift out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 607-590-23/1194 (101 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 64-85-16/147 (11 basho)
* **Juryo:** 399-404-7/802 (54 basho)
* **Makushita:** 91-63/154 (22 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 43-34/77 (11 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (May 1976)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (September 1967)

## **Shikona History**

* Abo Tetsuo (1963.03 - 1963.05)
* Tochiisami Tetsuo (1963.07 - 1970.03)
* Tochiisami Yoshiharu (1970.05 - 1979.11)

## **Gallery**

Tochiisami (second from left) wins the makushita yusho (c. 1967)Tochiisami poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1976)Tochiisami's retirement ceremony (c. 1979)Tochiisami after retirement as Iwatomo Oyakata (c. 2012)
## **Sources**

* Tochiisami Yoshiharu Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tochiisami Yoshiharu Rikishi Information