Onogawa Kisaburō

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Onogawa Kisaburō
小野川喜三郎
Onogawa Kisaburo.jpg
19th century woodblock print of Onogawa (left)
Personal information
Born川村 喜三郎
Kawamura Kisaburō
1758
Ōmi Province, Japan
DiedApril 30, 1806(1806-04-30) (aged 48)
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight116 kg (256 lb)
Career
Stable
Record144-13-40
4draws-10holds-3no results
(Makuuchi)
DebutOctober, 1779
Highest rankYokozuna (November, 1789)
RetiredOctober, 1798
Championships7 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of October 2007.

Onogawa Kisaburō (Japanese: 小野川喜三郎, 1758 – April 30, 1806) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Ōmi Province. He was the sport's 5th yokozuna. Along with Tanikaze, Onogawa was the first to be given a yokozuna licence by the House of Yoshida Tsukasa and the first to perform the dohyō-iri to promote sumo tournaments. His real name was Kawamura Kisaburō (川村 喜三郎)

Career[]

Onogawa was promoted to the top makuuchi division in March 1781. He defeated ōzeki Tanikaze in February 1782. The victory surprised people in Edo as it brought to an end Tanikaze's run of 63 consecutive victories. Onogawa became a rival of Tanikaze and was popular with the public, although in reality he was quite far behind his rival and won only seven tournament titles to Tanikaze's 21.[1] Onogawa was much shorter than Tanikaze at only 1.76 m (5 ft 9+12 in) but he had a speedy, crowd pleasing sumo style which helped him overcome his small physique.[1]

certified both Onogawa and Tanikaze as holders of the yokozuna rank in November 1789, in a ceremony which was also featured the introduction of the dohyō-iri display and the first appearance of the yokozuna's traditional ornaments: a thick girdle of white rope, supporting white paper gohei.[2] He won 91.7% of his bouts, winning 144 times and losing only 13 times. Onogawa retired in 1798 to become a coach in Osaka sumo, but the next yokozuna, Ōnomatsu, was not appointed for another thirty years.[3] Fortunately for sumo's popularity, during that time the immensely powerful wrestler Raiden emerged.[1]

A popular story holds that Onogawa studied jujutsu with renowned Kyūshin Ryū Sōke Inugami Gunbei after being thrown down twice in a casual match with that master outside a teahouse.[4]

Top division record[]

  • The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.
Onogawa[5]
- Spring Winter
1781 East Maegashira #3
5–1–3
1h

 
East Jūryō #5
6–2
 
1782 East Jūryō #3
5–1
 
East Maegashira #4
7–1–1
1d

 
1783 East Maegashira #4
5–0–3
1h 1nr

 
East Maegashira #2
6–0–2
1d 1h

 
1784 East Komusubi
6–2
2h

 
East Sekiwake
9–0–1
Unofficial

 
1785 Not held Not held
1786 Unenrolled East Sekiwake
7–0–3
Unofficial

 
1787 Called off due to bad harvest East Sekiwake
7–1–2
 
1788 East Sekiwake
7–2–1
 
East Sekiwake
7–1–1
1h

 
1789 East Sekiwake
10–0
Unofficial

 
East Sekiwake
8–0
1d 1h
Unofficial

 
1790 East Ōzeki
8–0
1nr
Unofficial

 
East Ōzeki
6–1–2
1h

 
1791 East Ōzeki
8–0–1
1nr
Unofficial

 
East Ōzeki
8–0–1
1h
Unofficial

 
1792 Unenrolled Unenrolled
1793 Unenrolled East Ōzeki
8–1
1d

 
1794 East Ōzeki
3–0–7
 
Sat out
1795 East Ōzeki
4–0–1
 
Unenrolled
1796 Unenrolled East Ōzeki
7���2–1
 
1797 Unenrolled East Ōzeki
Retired
8–1–1
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions

Key:   d=Draw(s) (引分);   h=Hold(s) (預り);   nr=no result recorded
Divisions: MakuuchiJūryōMakushitaSandanmeJonidanJonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: 
Yokozuna (not ranked as such on banzuke until 1890)
ŌzekiSekiwakeKomusubiMaegashira

*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. ^ Jump up to: a b c Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X.
  2. ^ Bolitho, Harold. "Sumō and Popular Culture", in Sport, Ed. Eric Dunning and Dominic Malcolm, Routledge, 2003, pp. 189–90. ISBN 0-415-26292-5
  3. ^ Bolitho, p. 190.
  4. ^ Lindsay, Rev. T. and Kano, J. "Jiujutsu – The Old Samurai Art of Fighting Without Weapons" in Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol. XVI, Part III, R. Meiklejohn and Co., 1889, p. 203.
  5. ^ "Onogawa Saisuke Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference.

External links[]


Preceded by
Tanikaze Kajinosuke
5th Yokozuna
1789–1798
Succeeded by
Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke
Yokozuna is not a successive rank, and more than one wrestler can hold the title at once
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