was a Japanese professional

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. His highest rank was '' ōzeki''.

Career

Born in Chuo, Tokyo, he joined

Dewanoumi stable is a heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ''Glossary of sumo terms#ichimon, ichimon'' or group of stables. It has a long, prestigious history. Its current head coach is former ''maegashira'' Oginohana Akikazu, Oginohana. A ...

and was coached by former ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

Hitachiyama was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. He was the sport's 19th ''yokozuna'' from 1903 till 1914. His great rivalry with Umegatani Tōtarō II created the "Ume-Hitachi Era" and did much to popularise sumo. He i ...

. He made his debut in May 1917, and was promoted to the ''

jūryō Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. For ...

'' division in May 1922. After winning the ''jūryō'' division championship in January 1923 he reached the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'' division in May 1923. In January 1926, at the rank of ''

maegashira , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'' 2, he finished as runner-up to ''yokozuna''

Tsunenohana was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Okayama. He was the sport's 31st ''yokozuna''. Career He was born . He made his professional debut in January 1910 and reached the top ''makuuchi'' division in May 1917. He won his first top divis ...

with a fine 10–1 record. His earned him promotion to ''

sekiwake , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'', and after two more runner-up performances he was promoted to ''ōzeki'' in May 1927. In January 1928, he won his only top division ''

yūshō is the term for a championship in Japanese. This article focuses on championships in the sport of professional sumo. It is awarded in each of the six annual ''honbasho'' or official tournaments, to the wrestler who wins the most bouts. ''Yūs ...

'', or championship, but it caused great controversy. On Day 10, he scored a win by default (''

fusensho The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'') against

Nishinoumi Kajirō III was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 30th ''yokozuna''. Career He was born . He joined Izutsu stable and made a debut in January 1910. His first ''shikona'' or ring name was . In January 1914, he changed its given nam ...

, who was a no-show for the bout. His rival for the championship, veteran ''maegashira'' and former ''sekiwake'' Misugiiso, had won all his bouts in actual fights but was then defeated by strong ''komusubi'' Tamanishiki (later ''yokozuna'') on the 11th day. At the end of the tournament they both had 10–1 records, as Hitachiiwa had defeated ''yokozuna''

Miyagiyama was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Ichinoseki, Iwate, Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture. He was the sport's 29th ''Yokozuna (sumo), yokozuna'', and the last ''yokozuna'' in Osaka sumo. Career He was born . In the fall of 1909, he joined ...

on the final day. Hitachiiwa and Misugiiso were too far apart in rank to have been paired against each other during the tournament, and as there was no playoff system in place at that time, Hitachiiwa, in the higher ''ōzeki'' rank was awarded the ''yūshō''. Many people sympathized with Misugiiso as it had cost him his only chance to win a championship. Misugiiso was only able to win two more bouts in his career and retired a year later. The controversy gathered around the system of keeping score for matches won by default as one wrestler does not appear for their scheduled fight (''fusensho''). At the time, only in the last two days of a tournament could a win by default be accepted, and there was no formal announcement (''kachi-nanori'') of the winner by default, so both wrestlers would be scored as not appearing for the match. In the following tournament in March 1928, the modern system was established where the winner by default was officially scored as a win and not a no-show, as it was in the past. Hitachiiwa fell ill after the dispute and was unable to capitalise on his win, sitting out the March 1928 tournament. He was unable to record consistently good results in his following career and was never in contention for another championship. He retired in March 1931. He remained in the sumo world as an

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

, under the name , and worked as a coach in Dewanoumi stable until his death.

Career record

*''In 1927 Tokyo and Osaka sumo merged and four tournaments a year in Tokyo and other locations began to be held.''

References

External links

Japan Sumo Association profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitachiiwa, Eitaro 1900 births People from Chūō, Tokyo 1957 deaths Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Tokyo Ōzeki

Career

Career record

See also

References

External links