Tochinonada Taiichi
栃乃洋 泰一
Personal information
Born	Taiichi Gotō (1974-02-26)February 26, 1974 (age 51) Ishikawa, Japan
Height	1.87 m (6 ft1+1⁄2 in)
Weight	162 kg (357 lb; 25.5 st)
Career
Stable	Kasugano
University	Takushoku University
Record	669–700–31
Debut	January 1996
Highest rank	Sekiwake (March 2001)
Retired	January, 2012
Elder name	Takenawa
Championships	2 (Jūryō)
Special Prizes	Outstanding Performance (3) Fighting Spirit (2) Technique (1)
Gold Stars	12 Akebono (3) Wakanohana III (3) Musashimaru (3) Asashōryū (3)
* Up to date as of Jan 2012.

Tochinonada Taiichi (栃乃洋 泰一 born February 26, 1974, asTaiichi Gotō) is a formersumo wrestler fromIshikawa Prefecture,Japan. An amateur sumo champion, he turned professional in 1996 and reached the topmakuuchi division in 1997. He earned twelvekinboshi or gold stars for defeatingyokozuna, the second highest ever, and he was a runner-up in two tournaments. His highest rank wassekiwake. He is now a coach atKasugano stable under the name Takenawa Oyakata.

Born inNanao, he was a rival of fellow top division wrestlerDejima in elementary school.^[1] He was an amateur sumo champion atTakushoku University, winning the College Yokozuna title. He joinedKasugano stable through a connection to Chigonoura Oyakata (the formersekiwakeMasudayama), who was a fellow Takushoku University alumni and a coach at the stable, and made his professional debut in January 1996. Because of his amateur achievements he hadmakushita tsukedashi status, and so his debut tournament was in the third highestmakushita division. He made thejūryō division in November 1996, switching from his family name of Gotō and adopting theshikona of Tochinonada. He was promoted to the topmakuuchi division three tournaments later in May 1997.

Tochinonada had a strong start to hismakuuchi career, earningspecial prizes for Fighting Spirit in consecutive tournaments in July and September 1997. He made his titledsan'yaku debut that November at the rank ofkomusubi. However he could manage only six wins there and did not return to thesan'yaku ranks until January 2001, when he madekomusubi once again. He reached his highest rank ofsekiwake in March 2001 and held it for two tournaments. He was runner-up in the January 2003 tournament, when he lost his first four matches but then rallied to win eleven in a row to finish three wins behindAsashōryū. He was also runner-up toKaiō in September 2004, where he also scored 11–4.

In March 1999 he became the first wrestler ever to win by default two days in a row.^[2] On Day 10yokozunaWakanohana withdrew, followed the next day by his brother Takanohana. However he did not receive akinboshi for these victories. In May 1999 he injured ligaments in his left elbow in a match against Kaiō and had to sit out the following tournament in July. He did not miss any more bouts until six years later in July 2005 when he injured his right thigh on the second day and missed the rest of the tournament.

During his long stay in the top division Tochinonada earned twelvekinboshi or gold stars for defeatingyokozuna while ranked as amaegashira, which places him equal second on the all-time list, level withTakamiyama and behind onlyAkinoshima. His firstkinboshi came in January 1998 when he defeatedAkebono, and he earned his next three in three successive tournaments from May to September 1998. In November 2003 he defeated twoyokozuna on two successive days, and was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize as well. He defeated all theyokozuna he met at least once, with the exception of Hakuhō (his victory overTakanohana was atsekiwake rank, meaning he was not eligible for a gold star on that occasion). His twelfth and finalkinboshi came nearly four years after his previous one, in July 2008 against Asashōryū. Although Tochinonada touched the ground first, Asashōryū had already gone out of the ring, and was thereforeshini-tai.^[3] '

In November 2005 Tochinonada dropped to the juryo division, breaking a run of 52 consecutive tournaments in the top division since his entry in May 1997. However he immediately won thejūryō championship in January 2006 and was promoted straight back. He won his 500th career match in July 2007, producing a strong 10–5 score. He was promoted up the rankings tomaegashira 2 in September 2007 and fought his firstyokozuna bout since May 2005 when he metHakuhō on the 4th day. He had a win overōzekiKotoōshū but finished the tournament with a 4–11 record. In March 2008 he recovered from losing his first six bouts to win eight in a row and achievekachi-koshi. He was demoted to thejūryō division for the second time after the September 2009 tournament, and he moved back and forth between the top two divisions a number of times after that. In the January 2011 tournament, Tochinonada managed a 7–0 start after 7 days, his best ever, although he finished on 9–6. Following the retirement of Kaiō in the July 2011 tournament he became the active wrestler with the most wins in the top division (556), but could not avoid demotion tojūryō. In September he recorded his first evermake-koshi in the[jūryō division, scoring only 4–11.

Following a performance with only three wins in the January 2012 tournament and facing certain demotion to themakushita division, he declared his retirement and missed his last match on the final day. He is remaining in the sumo world as a coach at his stable under thetoshiyori or elder name Takenawa Oyakata. His official retirement ceremony ordanpatsu-shiki took place at theRyōgoku Kokugikan on 29 September 2012, with newyokozunaHarumafuji performing hisdohyō-iri there for the first time.

In 6 February 2024, he led a delegation of wrestlers coming fromIshikawa Prefecture (includingŌnosato,Endō andKagayaki) sent after the2024 Noto earthquake; charged with symbolically presenting GovernorHiroshi Hase with the sums raised during theJanuary tournament and donations from the Sumo Association.^[4]

Tochinonada was ayotsu-sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques that involve grabbing the opponent'smawashi. His favoured grip washidari-yotsu (left hand inside, right hand outside), for which he was well known.^[5] His most common winningkimarite wasyorikiri (force out) but he also regularly used his preferred inside grip to win byshitatenage (underarm throw). He was also fond ofoshidashi (push out) andtsukiotoshi (thrust down).

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of sumo record holders
• List of sumo tournament top division runners-up
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo elders
• List of sekiwake

• Tochinonada Taiichi's official biography (English) at the Grand Sumo Homepage
• Tochinonada's basho results

• 1974 births
• Living people
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Sumo people from Ishikawa Prefecture
• Sekiwake
• Takushoku University alumni

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata