Tochinohana Hitoshi

Tochinohana Hitoshi (born February 28, 1973 as Hitoshi Yachi) is a former sumo wrestler from Yamagata, Kunohe, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was komusubi. He is now a sumo coach.

Career

Tochinohana practised amateur sumo at Meiji University, but unlike many former amateur wrestlers, he still began his professional career at the very bottom of the rankings. He joined Kasugano stable in March 1995 at the age of 22. Initially fighting under his own surname, Yachi, it took him four years to become a sekitori. Upon reaching the second highest jūryō division in January 1999 he adopted the shikona Tochinohana.

After capturing the jūryō yūshō or tournament championship with a 13-2 record, he made his debut in the top makuuchi division in May 2000 He made an explosive start, winning twelve bouts and receiving two special prizes. He made the titled sanyaku ranks in November 2000 at komusubi, but could only manage a 3-12 record. This was to be his only tournament in the titled ranks. A serious back injury forced him all the way down to the unsalaried divisions in 2004, but he fought his way back to makuuchi in November 2005. In the May 2007 tournament he could only win only four bouts at maegashira 13 and was demoted back to jūryō.

Retirement from sumo

After a disastrous 2-13 record in November 2007 Tochinohana fell to Jūryō 14 West, making him the lowest ranking sekitori. In January 2008, after losing nine of his first twelve bouts, he announced his retirement. He has with the Sumo Association as an toshiyori, or elder, under the name Hatachiyama, and is working as a coach at Kasugano stable. His danpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, will be held jointly with his stablemate Tochisakae in January 2009.