Tochihikari Masayuki (29 August 1933 – 28 March 1977) was a

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler from

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

who reached the second highest rank of '' ōzeki'' in 1962. He joined

Kasugano stable is a Heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ''Glossary of sumo terms#ichimon, ichimon'' or group of stables. As of January 2022 it had 18 wrestlers. It has been led by former ''sekiwake'' Tochinowaka Kiyotaka since 2003. It w ...

in 1952 and reached the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'' division in 1955. He never won a top division

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

but was a tournament runner-up four times. He was promoted to ''ōzeki'' in May 1962 alongside his stablemate

Tochinoumi was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Aomori. He was the sport's 49th ''yokozuna'', earning promotion in 1964. He was somewhat overshadowed by his ''yokozuna'' contemporaries Taihō and Kashiwado, but he was a noted technician and ear ...

. He fought as an ''ōzeki'' for 22 tournaments but lost the rank after recording three consecutive losing scores and immediately announced his retirement in January 1966. He became an

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

of the

Japan Sumo Association The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling (called ''Ōzumō'', 大相撲) in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). ''Rikishi'' (active ...

under the name Chiganoura. He was a

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of tournament bouts and was involved in both the incorrect decision to award a win to Toda that stopped Taiho's 45 bout winning streak in March 1969 and the famous decision in January 1972 to declare

Kitanofuji is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Asahikawa, Hokkaidō. He made his professional debut in 1957, reaching the top ''makuuchi'' division in 1964. He was the sport's 52nd ''yokozuna'', a rank he attained in 1970. He won ten tourn ...

the winner over Takanohana by '' kabai-te.'' He died of

rectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of th ...

at the age of 43. His ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Edo period, where they were used as a means to attract customers and hide the identities of the ''rikishi''. Like standard Japanese names, a ''shikona'' co ...

'' of Tochihikari was subsequently used by a later wrestler from Kasugano stable, also known as

Kaneshiro Kofuku is a Japanese surname meaning "golden castle". The kanji used to write this surname may also be read Kinjō in ''on'yomi'' or Kanagusuku in the Okinawan language pronunciation. The former reading often indicates Okinawan origin, and the latter r ...

Pre-modern career record

*''In 1953 the New Year tournament was begun and the Spring tournament began to be held in Osaka.''

Modern career record

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

References

1933 births 1977 deaths Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Kumamoto Prefecture Ōzeki {{sumo-bio-stub

Pre-modern career record

Modern career record

See also

References