Sōkokurai Eikichi (蒼国来栄吉, born 9 January 1984 as Enkhtuvshin (Chinese: 恩和图布新, Mongolian: Энхтүвшин)) is a former professional sumo wrestler from Inner Mongolia, China.
After another year of mediocre performances, which were exacerbated by a duodenal ulcer, he managed a 6–1 record in the July 2008 tournament and vied for the makushita championship in which he was eliminated in a seven-man playoff.
However, Kiyonohana was actually born and raised in Ōsaka and only listed his birthplace as Fujian out of respect for his ancestry, which made Sōkokurai the first true Chinese national to achieve a jūryō rank.
[3][4] He took a strong step in this direction, by securing a majority of wins on the final day of the tournament, and gaining his eleventh consecutive kachi-koshi.
In April 2011 he was ordered to retire by the Japan Sumo Association after an investigation concluded he had been involved in fixing the result of matches.
Sōkokurai and Mongolian rikishi Hoshikaze were not originally in the main group of 23 wrestlers who were found guilty, but subsequent investigations concluded that they had indeed been involved.
Both wrestlers protested their innocence and refused to comply and hand in their retirement papers, and sources from Arashio stable made it clear Sōkokurai was prepared to go to court if he was thrown out of sumo.
[7] In June 2011 Sōkokurai and the Sumo Association reached a deal by which he would be paid the equivalent of a makuuchi wrestler's salary for the next year.
[12] Sōkokurai told reporters ahead of the Nagoya tournament that he could not bear to watch sumo on TV during his absence and had had trouble sleeping at night, but he was now in good condition and would "go all out.
He maintained his makuuchi status and in May 2015 a new high of maegashira 7 but after being forced to withdraw from the tournament through injury he dropped back to jūryō.
In January 2017, wrestling at maegashira 10 he produced a career-best performance: wins over Mitakeumi, Takayasu and Takanoiwa in the last three days saw him finish runner-up to Kisenosato with a 12–3 record.
Eventually demoted again, he went on to win the makushita division championship at the November 2018 basho with a perfect 7–0 record and his promotion back to jūryō was confirmed shortly after the tournament.
[16] He timed the move to coincide with retirement of his stablemaster Ōyutaka Masachika who was approaching 65 years of age, with Sōkokurai widely believed to be lined up as his successor.
[19] He, along with other members of Arashio Stable, were tested following the positive result of top division wrestler Wakatakakage the previous day.
Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique Also shown: ★=Kinboshi; P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi