was a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
located in
Nishikanbara District,
Niigata Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
As of 2005, the village had an estimated
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 6,613 and a
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...
of 328.03 persons per km². The total area was 20.16 km².
On March 21, 2005, Nakanokuchi, along with the cities of
Niitsu
was a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The city itself was founded on January 1, 1951, but the area had already been opened to railway traffic as early as November 20, 1897. As of 2003, the city had an estimated population of 66,058 an ...
,
Shirone and
Toyosaka, the towns of
Kameda,
Kosudo and
Yokogoshi (all from
Nakakanbara District), the town of
Nishikawa, and the villages of
Ajikata,
Iwamuro,
Katahigashi and
Tsukigata (all from
Nishikanbara District), was merged into the expanded city of
Niigata. As of April 1, 2007, the area is now part of .
Sumo Champion
The village is the birthplace of
Haguroyama Masaji
was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nakanokuchi, Niigata. He was the sport's 36th '' yokozuna''. He was a ''yokozuna'' for a period of twelve years and three months dating from his promotion to that rank in May 1941 until his retire ...
(羽黒山 政司, November 18, 1914 - October 14, 1969) who was
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 ...
's 36th ''
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 ...
''. Haguroyama earned the rank in May 1941 and held the title for twelve years and three months. It remains an all-time record today.
During his career Haguroyama won seven top division championships and was runner-up on six other occasions.
In Nakanokuchi, there is a museum dedicated to Haguroyama and a bronze statue of the famous wrestler wearing his shimenawa (the knotted rope indicating his rank as yokozuna).
External links
Haguroyama
Dissolved municipalities of Niigata Prefecture
{{Niigata-geo-stub