Tanikaze Kajinosuke

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谷風 梶之助
Tanikaze Kajinosuke
Personal information
Born 金子 与四郎
Kaneko Yoshiro
(1750-09-08)September 8, 1750
Wakabayashi, Sendai, Japan
Died February 27, 1795(1795-02-27) (aged 44)
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 169 kg (373 lb; 26.6 st)
Career
Stable Isenoumi
Record 258-14-112
Debut April 1769
Highest rank Yokozuna (November 1789)
Championships 21 (unofficial)
* Career information is correct as of July 2007.

Kajinosuke Tanikaze (谷風梶之助 Tanikaze Kajinosuke, September 8, 1750 – February 27, 1795) was a sumo wrestler in Japan in the Tokugawa era, and the first to be awarded the title of yokozuna within his own lifetime. He achieved great fame and won 21 tournament championships. He was also the coach of Raiden Tameemon.

Early career

He was born in Sendai with Yoshiro (与四郎) as his infant name. He made his debut in sumo in 1769 when he was 19. With a height of 189 cm and a weight of 169 kg, he was extremely large in comparison with most Japanese men of his era.[1]

In this period, local men with a large physique but often little to no sumo background were asked to enter sumo tournaments. They would debut as kanban or "guest" ōzeki and in most cases their "careers" were short-lived. This is how Tanikaze, due to his size, debuted in 1769. He chose to stay active in sumo however, and would eventually be promoted to a true ōzeki outright in March 1781. From October 1777 until February 1786, he lost only one bout. This was to Onogawa in February 1782. He recorded the longest run of consecutive victories in sumo bouts at that time, with 63.[2] This record remained unbroken for about 150 years, until Futabayama in 1938.

Yokozuna

On November 19, 1789, he became one of the first two sumo wrestlers to be allowed to perform a yokozuna dohyō-iri (a special ring-entrance ceremony for the yokozuna alone, rather than entering as part of a parade of the top ranked wrestlers). Both he and Onogawa were granted a special so-called yokozuna license simultaneously in that year. Officially he is recorded as being the 4th Yokozuna in sumo history. However, as the first three (see list of Yokozuna), if indeed they existed at all, were awarded the title posthumously, he can be said to be one of the first two real holders of the title.[3]

He was still an active wrestler when he died at the age of 44 of influenza. He was on another winning streak of 35 bouts at his death. In the top makuuchi division, Tanikaze won 258 bouts and lost only 14 bouts, achieving a winning percentage of 94.9.

Tanikaze was a very popular rikishi. Unlike other wrestlers of his day, many nishikie (woodblock print based) portraits and images of him participating in bouts still remain.

Top division record

  • The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.
  • Tanikaze's first three tournaments were as a "guest" ōzeki, see above.
  • Tanikaze's record for the Spring 1776 tournament is unknown.
Tanikaze[4]
- Spring Winter
1769 West Ōzeki
403
 
West Ōzeki
017
 
1770 West Ōzeki
305
 
West Maegashira #1
71
 
1771 Sat out West Komusubi #1
50
1d 2h

 
1772 West Komusubi #1
602
Unofficial

 
Not held
1773 West Maegashira #1
51
1d 1h

 
West Maegashira #1
52
1h

 
1774 West Maegashira #1
602
Unofficial

 
West Komusubi
501
2d

 
1775 West Komusubi
40
Unofficial

 
West Komusubi
511
2h

 
1776 West Maegashira #1

 
West Komusubi
70
1nr
Unofficial

 
1777 West Sekiwake
215
 
West Komusubi
51
1d 1h
Unofficial

 
1778 West Sekiwake
901
Unofficial

 
Sat out
1779 West Sekiwake
901
Unofficial

 
West Sekiwake
90
1d
Unofficial

 
1780 West Sekiwake
60
Unofficial

 
West Sekiwake
80
2h
Unofficial

 
1781 West Ōzeki
901
Unofficial

 
West Sekiwake
901
Unofficial

 
1782 West Ōzeki
613
 
West Ōzeki
701
1h 1nr
Unofficial

 
1783 West Ōzeki
504
1nr
Unofficial

 
West Ōzeki
801
1d
Unofficial

 
1784 West Ōzeki
602
2h
Unofficial

 
West Ōzeki
307
 
1785 Not held Not held
1786 West Ōzeki
100
Unofficial

 
West Ōzeki
316
 
1787 Called off due to bad harvest West Sekiwake
611
1d 1h

 
1788 West Sekiwake
701
1d 1h
Unofficial

 
West Sekiwake
701
1d 1h

 
1789 West Sekiwake
711
1d

 
West Sekiwake
603
1d

 
1790 West Ōzeki
402
1d 1h 1nr

 
West Ōzeki
711
1d

 
1791 West Ōzeki
612
1nr

 
Sat out
1792 West Ōzeki
802
Unofficial

 
West Ōzeki
30
Unofficial

 
1793 West Ōzeki
702
Unofficial

 
West Ōzeki
503
2d

 
1794 West Ōzeki
505
 
West Ōzeki
Retired
406
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions

Key:  =Kinboshi(s);   d=Draw(s) (引分);   h=Hold(s) (預り);   nr=no result recorded
Divisions: Makuuchi Jūryō Makushita Sandanme Jonidan Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: 
Yokozuna (not ranked as such on banzuke until 1890)
Ōzeki Sekiwake Komusubi Maegashira

*Championships for the best record in a tournament were not recognized or awarded before the 1909 summer tournament, and the unofficial championships above are historically conferred. For more information, see yūshō.

See also

References

  1. Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X. 
  2. Consecutive Wins (1757-)
  3. Kuroda, Joe (February 2006). "Yokozuna Comparison". sumofanmag.com. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
  4. "Tanikaze Kajinosuke Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. 

External links

previous:
Maruyama Gondazaemon
4th Yokozuna
1789–1794
next:
Onogawa Kisaburō
Yokozuna is not a successive rank, and more than one wrestler can share the title
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