Touki retires

[Kintamayama]

Touki has announced his retirement today, citing his injuries as the reason.

Edited May 6, 2006 by Kintamayama

[ikishima]

He will be missed. When I lived in Japan, I would get the Daily Yomiuri delivered and regardless of what happened the evening before Touki's match would always be covered. "Elivis look-a-like", "double ganger", "mutton chopped", "orange mawashi clad" are only a few of the phrases that I knew would be there every single morning.

I have been told that in addition to the traditional cutting of the top-knot at the depatsushiki, each person that cuts will also shave a bit of his side burns. Any truth to this rumor?

[Jakusotsu]

I have been told that in addition to the traditional cutting of the top-knot at the depatsushiki, each person that cuts will also shave a bit of his side burns. Any truth to this rumor?

(Yusho winner...) Good one!

[Takanorappa]

Sad to see an icon like him go... I wonder if he'll change into a white sequined suit & belt out a few lines of "heartbreak hotel" at the intai ceremony? (Yusho winner...)

[Asashosakari]

I half-expected this, but I'm a bit surprised there's no corresponding toshiyori move...

[Kishinoyama]

I half-expected this, but I'm a bit surprised there's no corresponding toshiyori move...

So he will have a year to find a toshiyori-kabu right? I guess he will borrow one if he is not able to secure one during that time (Yusho winner...)

[Asashosakari]

So he will have a year to find a toshiyori-kabu right?

Yes.

I guess he will borrow one if he is not able to secure one during that time (Yusho winner...)

We'll have to see. As the kabu nuts among us have mentioned lately - we've pretty much reached a point where it's going to be much harder to find a lendable kabu for the foreseeable future, what with there being very few mandatory oyakata retirements (only 3 in the next 24 months, none of them in Takasago ichimon) and quite a few more veteran retirements likely coming up fairly soon.

[Kishinoyama]

...we've pretty much reached a point where it's going to be much harder to find a lendable kabu for the foreseeable future, what with there being very few mandatory oyakata retirements (only 3 in the next 24 months, none of them in Takasago ichimon) and quite a few more veteran retirements likely coming up fairly soon.

It would be a shame if he can not find a kabu to buy or borrow and is forced to leave sumo but such are the rules (Yusho winner...) .

[Gernobono]

So he will have a year to find a toshiyori-kabu right?

wouldn't it be possible that he already has one but uses his jun-toshiyori to give the loaner of "his" toshiyori a chance to get his own?

may sound strange, but why not make the best out of the jun-toshiyori-situation

on the other hand...toki might be more popular amongst western spectators because of his sideburns than he is in japan....

[Zentoryu]

It would be a shame if he can not find a kabu to buy or borrow and is forced to leave sumo but such are the rules (Yusho winner...) .

Well, that's assuming he wants to stay.

[Kishinoyama]

Well, that's assuming he wants to stay.

That is a very good point. Maybe he had his future planned out already whether in or out of sumo. I guess we will find out within the next year.

[Kaikitsune Makoto]

"Bad condition of the back makes him unable to do sumo so intai was decided" said Takasago-oyakata. He will stay at Takasago with jun-toshiyori status. There will be a press conference on shonichi where possible tears are shed and thank yous uttered.

[Asashosakari]

So he will have a year to find a toshiyori-kabu right?

wouldn't it be possible that he already has one but uses his jun-toshiyori to give the loaner of "his" toshiyori a chance to get his own?

Tamanaogijima doesn't list Toki as owning any kabu, and at any rate, I think we would have heard about this if he did own one; there hasn't really been any secrecy about kabu ownership lately, other than the occasional confusion over whether somebody was borrowing or owning. (And T-gijima solved that one when he recognized the patterns in the Kyokai's toshiyori listings last year.)

Still, I was actually wondering about the same thing today, although about the shares owned by Kaio and Chiyotaikai...would they be able to take a jun-toshiyori for 3 years even though they already have a kabu? I have no idea.

[Tamanaogijima]

As the kabu nuts among us have mentioned lately - we've pretty much reached a point where it's going to be much harder to find a lendable kabu for the foreseeable future, what with there being very few mandatory oyakata retirements (only 3 in the next 24 months, none of them in Takasago ichimon) and quite a few more veteran retirements likely coming up fairly soon.

Ahem... Furiwake-oyakata (former Asaarashi) turnes 65 on July 8th 2008. He is associate oyakata at Takasago-beya and may even retire one year before mandatory age if Toki can't find a kabu in the meantime. Or Toki hangs on some rent kabu from mid-2007 until mid-2008.

Tamanaogijima doesn't list Toki as owning any kabu

Because he doesn't. :-D

Still, I was actually wondering about the same thing today, although about the shares owned by Kaio and Chiyotaikai...would they be able to take a jun-toshiyori for 3 years even though they already have a kabu? I have no idea.

I was wondering about the same, too. Technically, nothing should speak against it. But it may be "disgraceful" if you go on with Jun toshiyori status if you own a real kabu. And it is a matter of money, too. By starting as Jun toshiyori and not as Toshiyori you lose some years on your promotion way to Shunin and Iin (and, possibly, Kanji or Riji).

[Gernobono]

And it is a matter of money, too. By starting as Jun toshiyori and not as Toshiyori you lose some years on your promotion way to Shunin and Iin (and, possibly, Kanji or Riji).

very interesting point...i always thought that being an oyakata adds up to those positions, but i never thought that it might be connected with an oyakta-name and the period someone uses them......is it the same if you change toshiyori?.....or only connected with non-full-toshiyori (jun-toshiyori)

[ilovesumo]

:-D so sad

[Tamanaogijima]

very interesting point...i always thought that being an oyakata adds up to those positions, but i never thought that it might be connected with an oyakta-name and the period someone uses them......is it the same if you change toshiyori?.....or only connected with non-full-toshiyori (jun-toshiyori)

As I understood it the promotion schedule is not connected with an oyakata name. BUT your "promotion counter" starts only with being Toshiyori (T-on-loan is enough, too), not before. I.e. you must hold a signed, stamped, notarized kabu certificate in your hands. Jun toshiyori is not one of the official 105 (plus X ichidai) toshiyori kabu, so the Jun toshiyori years aren't relevant for your promotion.

We're not talking about peanuts here. The jump from Toshiyori to Shunin adds 1 million Yen to your yearly income, from Shunin to Iin it's another 2 millions (currently: 1.000.000 JPY = 8.830 USD = 6.930 EUR).

With all the technical kabu stuff I nearly forgot to say that I find it very sad that he retires. He was the first rikishi I could identify in the Eurosport broadcasts, and I'm probably not the only one here...

[Gernobono]

He was the first rikishi I could identify in the Eurosport broadcasts, and I'm probably not the only one here...

same with me here....but that lastest only until his brother (according to the commentator) takanotsuru was on the makuuchi-dohyo :-D

[Asashosakari]

Ahem... Furiwake-oyakata (former Asaarashi) turnes 65 on July 8th 2008. He is associate oyakata at Takasago-beya and may even retire one year before mandatory age if Toki can't find a kabu in the meantime. Or Toki hangs on some rent kabu from mid-2007 until mid-2008.

I'm aware that there's a rush of 4 retirements in the second half of 2008, with two of them in Takasago-ichimon. That's why I wrote "next 24 months". :-) At any rate, unless he does retire early (that doesn't happen too often unless there's a personal relationship involved, does it?), Toki is still out of luck, with his jun-toshiyori running out much earlier than that. And "some rent kabu" is exactly the problem...how many will there be available for that purpose?

I guess they could call back Sanoyama-kabu from Zaonishiki if they were really desperate, but then that assumes that Chiyotaiki will still be active in a year and won't need it himself.

Tamanaogijima doesn't list Toki as owning any kabu

Because he doesn't. :-D

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound as though I'm doubting your information, I was actually just trying to quote you as the authoritative source on this, because of Gernobono's speculation. :-) :-)

I was wondering about the same, too. Technically, nothing should speak against it. But it may be "disgraceful" if you go on with Jun toshiyori status if you own a real kabu. And it is a matter of money, too. By starting as Jun toshiyori and not as Toshiyori you lose some years on your promotion way to Shunin and Iin (and, possibly, Kanji or Riji).

That makes sense. Many thanks!

[Tamanaogijima]

I'm aware that there's a rush of 4 retirements in the second half of 2008, with two of them in Takasago-ichimon. That's why I wrote "next 24 months". :-) At any rate, unless he does retire early (that doesn't happen too often unless there's a personal relationship involved, does it?), Toki is still out of luck, with his jun-toshiyori running out much earlier than that. And "some rent kabu" is exactly the problem...how many will there be available for that purpose?

I guess they could call back Sanoyama-kabu from Zaonishiki if they were really desperate, but then that assumes that Chiyotaiki will still be active in a year and won't need it himself.

Since Furiwake is from the "Asa" wing and Toki is from the "orginial" Takasago wing, the early retirement scenario isn't likely. And right, in 24 months it is May 2008, and not December 2008...

Another scenario: Takanohana still has one kabu too much. Maybe he gives back Yamahibiki-kabu to Takasago-ichimon. It was one of the many kabu that were bought by the merged mighty Futagoyama-beya (headed by Takanohana's father) in the mid-1990s. Current Takasago-oyakata was the 15th Yamahibiki, it was his very first kabu.

Current 19th Yamahibiki, the former Dairyu, would be the loser then.

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound as though I'm doubting your information, I was actually just trying to quote you as the authoritative source on this, because of Gernobono's speculation. :-) :-D

I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean to sound rude or like I felt attacked. When I read your statement "isn't listed as owning" I thought (and should have written) "Well... he isn't. Simply because he hasn't one (Poor Toki!)." :-) No harm done...

EDIT: typos...

Edited May 6, 2006 by Tamanaogijima

[Kaikitsune Makoto]

Touki held his intai press conference today. "Surprised I feel refreshed now after intai. I planned on taking part in the basho but the condition of the hip was bad and I couldn't do any keiko. Hence also will to continue faded away. I have been blessed with many great people around me (including Mitoizumi and present oyakata) and to me it was a big thing to get promoted to sanyaku. From now on I will work on the young guys promoting them to do forward moving sumo without hataki/hiki" (and smiled then to that since his own tokuiwaza was exactly those).

[Cammy]

:'-( This makes me sad, he was one of the first rikishi that I really enjoyed to watch. :'-(

[Tikozan]

It is unfortunate that Toki is retired. He was one of them. We are pleased to see him fight. But on the other side I must say, his kind of fighting was not flexibly enough, to stay in higher rankings then a Maegashira. I think, he was only one time ranked as a Komusubi. After the Juryo Yusho at Kyushu Basho 2005 I hoped, he would have a chnace to come back to Makuuchi in 2006, but it came the way down to Makushita. I had already feared that he will retire when he goes down to Makushita. So it was. I hope, he will get a good job in the future.

Greetings to all Toki fans!

[Sasanishiki]

I never particularly liked watching Touki but at least he was easy to recognise. I wonder where his future lies a year from now? Hopefully not as a professional driver (cheap shot, I know)!

[Cammy]

I never particularly liked watching Touki but at least he was easy to recognise. I wonder where his future lies a year from now? Hopefully not as a professional driver (cheap shot, I know)!

(Clapping wildly...) Bad Joke...but kinda funny (Eating...)