Tokitsuyama Jin'ichi
| Tokitsuyama Jin'ichi | |
|---|---|
| 時津山 仁一 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Waragai Jin'ichi March 10, 1925 Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan |
| Died | November 21, 1968 (aged 43) |
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 137 kg (302 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Tatsunami |
| Record | 432-390-40 |
| Debut | May, 1940 |
| Highest rank | Sekiwake (January 1954) |
| Retired | March, 1961 |
| Championships | 1 (Makuuchi) 1 (Makushita) |
| Special Prizes |
Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (4) |
| Gold Stars | 8 (4) Chiyonoyama (2) Terukuni Yoshibayama |
| * Up to date as of July 2013. | |
Tokitsuyama Jin'ichi (March 10, 1925 – November 21, 1968) was a professional sumo wrestler from Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan who wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He won the top division sumo championship in the summer tournament of 1953.
At a young age his parents divorced and he was raised by his grandparents. His first professional tournament was in May 1940 as a wrestler for the former incarnation of Tokitsukaze stable, which was a leftover from the days of Osaka sumo. The stable soon closed however, and he transferred to Tatsunami stable. He tried out a number of ring names before settling on Tokitsuyama to honor the defunct stable he originally debuted for.
He was a weak wrestler at first, and he was not able to actually be listed on the sumo ranking sheet known as the banzuke until the January tournament of 1943. He did not really bloom as a strong competitor until after returning as a soldier from World War II. In the 1946 tournament (the only one held that year) he achieved a 7-0 perfect record and also took the championship in the makushita division. Expectations surrounding him began to rise after this. He was promoted to the salaried ranks of jūryō in the following summer tournament of 1947. He was promoted to the top division makuuchi in May 1949, but received a losing record and fell back to jūryō. He was soon back in makuuchi though, and in September 1950 at maegashira 21 he achieved 12-3 record and the Fighting Spirit Prize. He was a top division regular from then on. Almost three years later, in May 1953 he achieved his one and only top division championship with a perfect 15-0 record. However, as he was only ranked at maegashira 6, the highest ranked opponent he faced that tournament was a komusubi and the two ōzeki at the time Yoshibayama and , who also had winning streaks in that tournament, never had a chance to face him to even the odds. In the January 1955 tournament he was in a similar situation at maegashira 9. He was in position to win the championship on the final day of the tournament, but this time had to face yokozuna Chiyonoyama in a playoff, which he lost. He was a consistent makuuchi wrestler for many years after this, but began to decline after 1960 and he retired before the 1961 March tournament rather than face demotion to jūryō.
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