Tochiōzan Yūichirō

Tochiōzan Yūichirō (栃煌山 雄一郎) is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler from Aki, Kōchi.

He made his professional debut in January 2005 and reached the top makuuchi division in March 2007, retiring in July 2020.

At one point he was regarded as one of the most promising Japanese Rikishi during a period of domination by foreign born wrestlers.

His highest rank was sekiwake.

He made his ring debut at the March 2005 tournament, under his family name Kageyama.

He rose through the divisions quickly, winning the third lowest sandanme division championship in November of that same year.

In September 2006 at the age of 19 he became a salaried sekitori wrestler when he entered jūryō, the second highest division, adopting the ring name Tochiōzan.

He made his debut in the top makuuchi division in March 2007, where he was in contention for the championship until the 14th day.

He finished with a strong 11–4 record and won the Fighting Spirit award.

Promoted to maegashira 4 for the May tournament, he faced all the top ranked wrestlers for the first time and faltered with a 6–9 record, suffering the first tournament in his career where he had more losses than wins (make-koshi).

At the July tournament the same year he suffered a dislocated shoulder on the tenth day and was forced to withdraw.

Ranked at maegashira 13 in September, he finished the tournament with a disappointing 7–8 score, losing his last five bouts.

They began their professional careers in the same tournament and Tochiōzan preceded him into the jūryō and makuuchi divisions, but he had beaten Gōeidō just once in six meetings, in September 2007.

In the end both wrestlers finished on 6–9, although Tochiōzan did beat his rival for the second time in their individual match.

Falling back to the maegashira ranks for July, he could only produce a very poor 2–13 record, with one of his wins coming against Gōeidō.

He remained at the bottom of the division for the next few tournaments, struggling with lower back pain, but returned to form in March 2008, finishing with 11–4 and winning the Technique award.

He struggled once again in May however, losing his first eight bouts before staging a partial recovery to finish on 5–10.

He was one of seven wrestlers who NHK commentator Shuhei Nagao (the former Mainoumi) in 2008 called the "Seven Samurai" and identified as "holding the key" to a Japanese resurgence in sumo, which was dominated by foreigners in the top ranks.

(The others were Gōeidō, Kisenosato, Kotoshōgiku, Homashō, Toyonoshima and Toyohibiki).

After disappointing 6–9 scores in September and November 2008, he fell to maegashira 12, where he responded by winning his first eight matches in January 2009, finishing on 10–5.

This resulted in promotion to maegashira 2 for the March 2009 tournament.

He had a good start to this tournament as well, defeating three ōzeki (Kotoōshū, Harumafuji and Chiyotaikai) and standing at 7–3 after ten days.

He then lost four matches in a row, before securing his kachi-koshi with a win on the final day.

This was enough to earn Tochiōzan promotion to the san'yaku ranks for the first time for the May 2009 tournament, at the rank of komusubi.

When the banzuke for the tournament was released in late April he held a press conference and said he would like to go one win better than his rival from high school sumo days, Gōeidō, who had just made sekiwake for the first time.

An 11–4 score in September 2009 put him back up to maegashira 3 for the November tournament in Kyushu, where he beat two ōzeki (Harumafuji and the struggling Chiyotaikai) but fell short with a 5–10 record.

At maegashira 6 in March 2010 he defeated ōzeki Kotomitsuki and scored 11–4, returning to komusubi.

A strong 9–6 record in July, which included defeats of two more ōzeki, earned him promotion to sekiwake for the first time for the September 2010 tournament.

His best performance came in May 2012 when he tied with Kyokutenhō after fifteen days but was beaten in a play-off.

He earned six special prizes for his achievements in tournaments and six gold stars for defeating yokozuna.

He made twenty-five appearances in the san'yaku ranks.

Kageyama was exposed to sumo from a very young age because it was popular in his area and his parents were fans of the sport.

His parents arranged for him to join a local sumo club.

He did not enjoy sumo at all at first, disliking the fierceness and the constant training that was necessary.

He considered quitting many times, but as he continued he eventually came to enjoy and excel at the sport and transferred to Meitoku Gijuku junior high school, a school in his native Kōchi prefecture known for its strong sumo program.

In his third year of junior high he won a national competition and was named the junior high yokozuna.

Upon graduation, he transferred to far away Saitama Sakae High School, in the greater Tokyo area to continue his sumo training, as this school was also known for its strong sumo program.

The future ōzeki Gōeidō was already a member there, and the two would begin a spirited rivalry that continues to this day in their professional roles.

As high school graduation approached he considered university, but eventually chose to enter professional sumo directly from high school.

Several different heya were interested in recruiting him for professional sumo, but he eventually chose Kasugano stable.