Tochinishiki Kiyotaka

Tochinishiki Kiyotaka
栃錦 清隆
Personal information
Born	Kiyotaka Uchida (1925-02-20)February 20, 1925 Tokyo, Japan
Died	January 10, 1990(1990-01-10) (aged 64)
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Weight	132 kg (291 lb)
Career
Stable	Kasugano
Record	576-244-32-1 draw
Debut	January, 1939
Highest rank	Yokozuna (October 1954)
Retired	May, 1960
Championships	10 (Makuuchi)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (1) Technique (9)
Gold Stars	1 (Azumafuji)
* Up to date as of August 2012.

Tochinishiki Kiyotaka (栃錦 清隆, February 20, 1925 - January 10, 1990) was a sumo wrestler from Tokyo, Japan. He was the sport's 44th yokozuna. He won ten top division yūshō or tournament championships and was a rival of fellow yokozuna Wakanohana I. He became the head coach of Kasugano stable in 1959 and was head of the Japan Sumo Association from 1974 until 1988.

Early career

One of few yokozuna to hail from the city rather than the country,^[1] he was born in what is now Koiwa, Edogawa.^[2] He was a fine all round athlete at elementary school, and although he had no family connections to sumo, he was introduced by a shop owner to Kasugano Oyakata, the former yokozuna Tochigiyama.^[2] Tochinishiki made his professional debut in January 1939. He was of such a small size that he had to drink copious amounts of water to meet the weight requirement at his physical.^[2] However, his stablemaster, to whom Tochinishiki served as an attendant or tsukebito and was a great influence on him in his early days, expected him to become strong.^[2]

Top division career and yokozuna career

Tochinishiki performing dohyō-iri at Sep. 1954 tournament

He reached the top makuuchi division in June 1947. He made up for his lack of size by showing superb technique. He won no fewer than nine special prizes for Technique, and it was even suggested that the prize had been created especially for him.^[2] Tochinishiki was known as the Mamushi (Viper) due to his tenacity once he grabbed hold of his opponent's mawashi.^[3] In January 1951, he lost 7 consecutive bouts, but he bounced back to win eight in a row and clinched his majority of wins or kachi-koshi on the final day, despite the bout being interrupted by a drunken spectator.^[2] After this performance, Tochinishiki began to raise his rank on the banzuke rapidly, taking his first top division championship in September 1952 and earning promotion to ōzeki. He finally reached yokozuna in October 1954 after winning two successive championships. There had been four yokozuna in the September 1954 tournament, Kagamisato, Chiyonoyama, Yoshibayama and Azumafuji, but Azumafuji announced his retirement so as not to hinder Tochinishiki's promotion.^[4]

When Tochinishiki was promoted to yokozuna, he expected that his stablemaster Tochigiyama would commend him.^[5] However, his stablemaster told him, "From this day on, you should spend every day of your yokozuna life by thinking about the day you retire".^[2] At first, he struggled somewhat against heavier wrestlers, but he raised his weight to around 130 kg and he became a wrestler able to use more orthodox methods. Between March 1959 and March 1960, he won 95 bouts and lost only 10 bouts.

Tochinishiki's handprint displayed on a monument in Ryōgoku, Tokyo

He had a great rivalry with yokozuna Wakanohana Kanji I, who reached the top rank in January 1958. They were of a similar build, and they each won ten top division tournament championships in their careers, with Tochinishiki coming out slightly ahead in their personal meetings with 19 wins out of 35 bouts. In July 1959 he defeated Wakanohana on the final day and won the championship with a perfect 15-0 score despite the fact that his father had been fatally hit by a truck the previous day.^[1] In October 1959 his stablemaster died suddenly and Tochinishiki became head coach of Kasugano stable whilst still an active wrestler (a practice no longer permitted).^[1] After losing to Wakanohana in a championship-deciding match on the final day of the March 1960 tournament, he decided to retire from active competition two days into the following tournament.

Later life

In addition to his position as stable boss he was also the chairman (rijichō) of the Japan Sumo Association from 1974 to 1988, making him the longest serving chairman to date.^[1] Under his direction the new Ryōgoku Kokugikan was built in 1985.^[4] Suffering from diabetes, he stood down voluntarily, allowing his old rival Wakanohana to ascend to the position.^[4] During his tenure as head of the Association, in 1985, he performed his kanreki dohyō-iri or '60th year ring entrance ceremony' to commemorate his years as yokozuna. He died in January 1990, following a stroke.^[4]

Pre-Modern Top division record

• Through most of the 1940s only two tournaments were held a year. In 1953 the New Year tournament began and the Spring tournament resumed in Osaka.

Modern top division record

• Since the addition of the Kyushu tournament in 1957 and the Nagoya tournament in 1958, the yearly schedule has remained unchanged.

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo tournament top division champions
• List of yokozuna

References

External links

• Japan Sumo Association profile