Tochinonada Taiichi

Tochinonada Taiichi - 栃乃洋 泰一 (born February 26, 1974) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nanao, Ishikawa. He made his debut in January 1996 and wrestled for Kasugano stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1997 and has 6 special prizes as well as 12 kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in January 2012.

## **Early Life**

Born in Nanao to a fisherman, he was a rival of fellow top division wrestler Dejima in elementary school. He attended Nanao Shinonome High School and was also a member of the school's sumo club.

He was an amateur sumo champion at Takushoku University, winning the College Yokozuna title. He joined Kasugano stable through a connection to Chigonoura Oyakata (the former sekiwake Masudayama), who was a fellow Takushoku University alumni and a coach at the stable, and made his professional debut in January 1996.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Because of his amateur achievements he had makushita tsukedashi status, and so his debut tournament was in the third highest makushita division. After five tournaments in makushita he was promoted to juryo in November 1996.

### **Juryo Career**

He made the juryo division in November 1996, switching from his family name of Goto and adopting the shikona of Tochinonada. He won the juryo yusho with a strong 13-2 record and followed with a 10-5 and 9-6 record. As a result he was promoted to makuuchi in May 1997 after three tournaments in juryo.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Tochinonada had a strong start to his makuuchi career, earning  special prizes for Fighting Spirit in consecutive tournaments in July and September 1997. He made his titled san'yaku debut that November at the rank of komusubi. However he could manage only six wins there and did not return to the san'yaku ranks until January 2001, when he made komusubi once again. He reached his highest rank of sekiwake in March 2001 and held it for two tournaments. He was runner-up in the January 2003 tournament, when he lost his first four matches but then rallied to win eleven in a row to finish three wins behind Asashoryu. He was also runner-up to Kaio in September 2004, where he also scored 11–4.

In May 1999 he injured ligaments in his left elbow in a match against Kaio and had to sit out the following tournament in July. He did not miss any more bouts until six years later in July 2005 when he injured his right thigh on the second day and missed the rest of the tournament.

During his long stay in the top division Tochinonada earned twelve kinboshi or gold stars for defeating yokozunawhile ranked as a maegashira, which places him equal second on the all-time list, level with Takamiyama and behind only Akinoshima. His first kinboshi came in January 1998 when he defeated Akebono, and he earned his next three in three successive tournaments from May to September 1998. In November 2003 he defeated two yokozuna on two successive days, and was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize as well. He defeated all the yokozuna he met at least once, with the exception of Hakuho (his victory over Takanohana was at sekiwake rank, meaning he was not eligible for a gold star on that occasion). His twelfth and final kinboshi came nearly four years after his previous one, in July 2008 against Asashoryu. Although Tochinonada touched the ground first, Asashoryu had already gone out of the ring, and was therefore shini-tai.

### **Later Career**

In November 2005 Tochinonada dropped to the juryo division, breaking a run of 52 consecutive tournaments in the top division since his entry in May 1997. However he immediately won the juryo championship in January 2006 and was promoted straight back. He won his 500th career match in July 2007, producing a strong 10–5 score. He was promoted up the rankings to maegashira 2 in September 2007 and fought his first yokozuna bout since May 2005 when he met Hakuho on the 4th day. He had a win over ozeki Kotooshu but finished the tournament with a 4–11 record. In March 2008 he recovered from losing his first six bouts to win eight in a row and achieve kachi-koshi. He was demoted to the juryo division for the second time after the September 2009 tournament, and he moved back and forth between the top two divisions a number of times after that. In the January 2011 tournament, Tochinonada managed a 7–0 start after 7 days, his best ever, although he finished on 9–6. Following the retirement of Kaio in the July 2011 tournament he became the active wrestler with the most wins in the top division (556), but could not avoid demotion to juryo. In September he recorded his first ever make-koshi in the [juryo division, scoring only 4–11.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Following a performance with only three wins in the January 2012 tournament and facing certain demotion to the makushita division, he declared his retirement and missed his last match on the final day. He is remaining in the sumo world as a coach at his stable under the toshiyori or elder name Takenawa Oyakata. His official retirement ceremony or danpatsu-shiki took place at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on 29 September 2012, with new yokozuna Harumafuji performing his dohyo-iri there for the first time.

## **Personal Life**

* He is married and his wedding was held on February 2002.
* Tochinonada use to be a smoker, but has new since quit.
* Tochinonada performs very well in the March tournaments in Osaka. He produced winning records from 1996-2006. Although he produced a losing record in 2007, he continued to produce winning records from 2008-2010.
* In March 1999 he became the first wrestler ever to win by default two days in a row. On Day 10 yokozuna Wakanohana withdrew, followed the next day by his brother Takanohana. However he did not receive a kinboshi for these victories.
* Tochinonada's hobby is reading.

## **Fighting Style**

Tochinonada was a yotsu-sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques that involve grabbing the opponent's mawashi. His favored grip was hidari-yotsu (left hand inside, right hand outside), for which he was well known. His most common winning kimarite was yorikiri (force out) but he also regularly used his preferred inside grip to win by shitatenage (underarm throw). He was also fond of oshidashi (push out) and tsukiotoshi (thrust down).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 669-700-31/1366 (96 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 556-628-31/1182 (81 basho)
* **Juryo:** 87-63/149 (10 basho)
* **Makushita:** 26-9/35 (5 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Juryo** Championship
	+ 1st (November 1996)
	+ 2nd (January 2006)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Outstanding Performance Prize (3), Fighting Spirit Prize (2), Technique Prize (1)
* **Kinboshi:** 12: (3) Akebono, (3) Wakanohana, (3) Musashimaru, (3) Asashoryu
* **Record:** Tied for **2nd** most kinboshi (12)

## **Shikona History**

* Goto Taiichi (1996.01 - 1996.09)
* Tochinonada Taiichi (1996.11 - 2012.01)

## **Gallery**

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

Tochinonada Taiichi - 2001 (Retrieved from the JSA)Tochinonada's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Goto gets recruited into Kasugano stable (c. 1995)Goto defeats Yanagawa in Makushita (c. 1996)Goto becomes Tochinonada upon promotion to Juryo (c. 1996)Tochinonada presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1996)Tochinonada after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 1997)Tochinonada prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1997)Tochinonada loses to future Yokozuna Wakanohana (c. 1997)Tochinonada with one of his many sansho prizes (c. 1997)Tochinonada after promotion to Komusubi (c. 1997)Tochinonada defeats Yokozuna Akebono (c. 1998)Tochinonada defeats Yokozuna Wakanohana (c. 1999)Tochinonada defeats Yokozuna Akebono (c. 2000)Tochinonada pushes out and defeats Wakanosato (c. 2001)Tochinonada after promotion to Sekiwake (c. 2001)Tochinonada defeats Yokozuna Musashimaru (c. 2002)Tochinonada defeats Yokozuna Musashimaru (c. 2003)Tochinonada defeats Yokozuna Asashoryu (c. 2004)Tochinonada defeats future Yokozuna Hakuho (c. 2005)Tochinonada defeats Takamisakari (c. 2006)Tochinonada battles Aminishiki (c. 2007)Tochinonada defeats Yokozuna Asashoryu (c. 2008)Tochinonada prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2009)Tochinonada loses to Toyonoshima (c. 2010)Tochinonada throws and defeats Koryu (c. 2011)Tochinonada announces his retirement (c. 2012)Tochinonada's retirement ceremony (c. 2012)Tochinonada after retirement as Takenawa Oyakata (c. 2018)
## **Sources**

* Tochinonada Taiichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tochinonada Taiichi Rikishi Information