From Strength in the Ring to Strength in a Glass: Tochinoshin’s Journey from Sumo Champion to Wine Trader

Former ozeki Tochinoshin, who announced his retirement in May of this year, has turned into a trader. He currently imports wine between Japan and Georgia. He came to Japan at the age of 17 and overcame a serious injury to become a makuuchi champion and become an ozeki in his sumo career. We asked him a lot about why he chose wine importing as his second career, as well as the charm and culture of Georgian wine.

The sumo life of former Ozeki Tochinoshin, a famous wrestler who won the Makuuchi championship

He has been familiar with judo since childhood, and was a member of Georgia’s Olympic junior team, so he came to Japan for the first time in 2004 to compete in the 2004 World Junior Sumo Championships.

“Japan is the home country of judo.My grandfather and I had watched the matches of Yasuhiro Yamashita and Shinohara Shinohara many times on video, so I just wanted to go to Japan.I didn’t know anything about sumo, so I thought it would be a good idea to hold the event. If the place wasn’t Japan, I might not have participated.”

After that, I moved on to the sumo world and competed in the sumo world for the first time in March 2006. Utilizing his natural strength, strong legs, and the right four kata cultivated through intense training at the prestigious Kasugano Stable, he rose through the ranks with unusual speed and won the sekitori position in just 11 places.

Provided by: Royal Georgia

“I was the happiest when I was promoted to Juryo. From Juryo, I got a big ginkgo as a sekitori, and I also had a attendant. And I got paid every month. Back then, they didn’t pay by bank transfer, so my brother Kimura was promoted at the same time. I was overjoyed with Yamazeki (currently Iwatomo Master) and the cash in my hand (lol). Sumo wrestlers below makushita were called “sumo trainees” and were treated as trainees, receiving only six allowances a year. Around that time. But I really didn’t have any money because I was sending money home to my parents.I thought I could help my family even more with this.”

Although he was known for his patience and dedication to his training, he was not without pride.

If I start my life over again, I will become the strongest Yokozuna!

“It was really fun these days when I was steadily climbing the rankings. I think I was just having a little too much fun (lol). Someone must have been watching, and that might have been a bit of a punishment.”

This is what he said in 2013, when he suffered a serious injury that tore the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his right knee during a tournament. Due to the surgery and closure, the ranking will be from upper makuuchi to makushita. Despite his efforts in rehabilitation, he has not achieved the results he had hoped for, and sometimes thinks that he may never be able to step into the ring again.

However, with the support of his master Kasugano Oyakata (former Sekiwake: Waka Tochino) and the voices of his fans, he rallied. Since then, he has returned to makuuchi after winning four consecutive tournaments in makushita and juryo with even stronger sumo wrestling. In her first tournament in 2018, she showed off her divine strength and finally won the makuuchi championship and was promoted to ozeki.

Photo: Jiji Press
Tochinoshin smiles and poses for a photo with the Georgian flag in hand after the ozeki promotion ceremony (May 30, 2018)

For this performance, he was awarded the highest medal given to athletes in his home country. President Margvelashvili praised him, calling him “the pride of Georgia,” and no one knows his name as a Georgian hero. “The language and culture are different. I’m afraid I’ll just give him a hard time.” Although he was hesitant to accept him, the hug scene he shared with Kasugano, who guided him strictly and correctly, is etched in the hearts of sumo fans as a famous scene. It should be.

After announcing his retirement, he was asked, “If you could start your life over again, would you become a wrestler in Japan again?” and he answered immediately. “I will. I wanted to become stronger.”

Until the hair cutting ceremony in February next year, he will be training with Kasugano Stable sumo wrestlers.

“The life of a sumo wrestler is short. The only way to become stronger is through training. Don’t just do it tomorrow because you’re tired, you have to do it today. I tell this to young people (sumo wrestlers below the makushita level), but it’s up to you to realize that you can’t do it by teaching. It’s really difficult. If I had realized that, I might have become an ozeki sooner, and I might have been able to aim for a higher rank. I did my best, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have regrets. After all, I wish I had become stronger. shelf”

Tochinoshin’s first choice in his second life was wine.

2023-12-15 01:14:10
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