Tokitsuyama Jin'ichi
Tokitsuyama Jin'ichi (March 10, 1925 – November 21, 1968) was a professional sumo wrestler from Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan who wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He won the top division sumo championship in the summer tournament of 1953 and was runner-up in five other tournaments. His highest rank was "sekiwake." After his retirement in 1961 he worked as a coach at Tatsunami stable until his death in 1968. Life and career. At a young age his parents divorced and he was raised by his grandparents. His first professional tournament was in May 1940 as a wrestler for the former incarnation  of Tokitsukaze stable, which was a leftover from the days of Osaka sumo. The stable soon closed however, and he transferred to Tatsunami stable. He tried out a number of ring names before settling on Tokitsuyama to honor the defunct stable he originally debuted for. He was a weak wrestler at first, and he was not able to actually be listed on the sumo ranking sheet known as the "banzuke" until the January tournament of 1943. He did not really bloom as a strong competitor until after returning as a soldier from World War II. In the 1946 tournament (the  only one held that year) he achieved a 7–0 perfect record and also took the championship in the "makushita" division. Expectations surrounding him began to rise after this. He was promoted to the salaried ranks of "jūryō" in the following summer tournament of 1947. He was promoted to the top division "makuuchi" in May 1949, but received a losing record and fell back to "jūryō". He was soon back in "makuuchi" though, and in September 1950 at "maegashira" 21 he achieved a 12–3 record and the Fighting Spirit Prize. He was a top division regular from then on. Almost three  years later, in May 1953 he achieved his one and only top division championship with a perfect 15–0 record. However, as he was only ranked at "maegashira" 6, the highest ranked opponent he faced that tournament was a "komusubi" and the two "ōzeki" at the time Yoshibayama and Tochinishiki, who also had winning streaks in that tournament, never had a chance to face him to even the odds. In the January 1955 tournament he was in a similar situation at "maegashira" 9. He was in position to win the championship on the final day of the tournament, but this time  had to face "yokozuna" Chiyonoyama in a playoff, which he lost. He was a consistent "makuuchi" wrestler for many years after this, but began to decline after 1960. Retirement from sumo. Tokisuyama retired before the 1961 March tournament rather than face demotion to "jūryō". He remained in the sumo world after his retirement as an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name of Oshiogawa, but died of liver cancer at age 43 in November 1968. Fighting style. During his career, Tokitsuyama was known for using a variety of techniques such as lifting and inner-thigh throws, and would  often twist and turn even the strongest opponents all over the "dohyō". This reliance on such techniques also led to inconsistency, and though he was a formidable opponent, he never had more than 12 wins in any tournament besides his championship tournament and was never promoted above "sekiwake". Regardless, he was part of a group of well-known top division wrestlers from his same Tatsunami stable at this time, namely Wakahaguro, Annenyama and Kitanonada who were popularly known then as the Four Heavenly Kings, a Buddhist reference. Pre-modern sumo record. Modern sumo record.