was a Japanese
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
Ōmi Province
was a province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, Ōmi was ranked as one of the 13 "great countrie ...
. He was the sport's 5th ''
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 ...
''. 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
The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan.
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'' to promote sumo tournaments. His real name was .
Career
Onogawa was promoted to 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 March 1781. He defeated ''
ōzeki''
Tanikaze in February 1782. The victory surprised people in
Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
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.
Onogawa was much shorter than Tanikaze at only but he had a speedy, crowd pleasing sumo style which helped him overcome his small physique.
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
The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan.
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'' display and the first appearance of the ''yokozuna's'' traditional ornaments: a thick girdle of white rope, supporting white paper ''
gohei
, , or are wooden wands, decorated with two (zigzagging paper streamers) used in Shinto rituals.
The streamers are usually white, although they can also be gold, silver, or a mixture of several colors, and are often attached as decorations to ...
''.
[Bolitho, Harold. "Sumō and Popular Culture", in ''Sport'', Ed. Eric Dunning and Dominic Malcolm, Routledge, 2003, pp. 189–90. ] 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
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
sumo, but the next ''yokozuna,''
Ōnomatsu, was not appointed for another thirty years. Fortunately for sumo's popularity, during that time the immensely powerful wrestler
Raiden emerged.
A popular story holds that Onogawa studied
jujutsu
Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...
with renowned
Kyūshin Ryū Sōke Inugami Gunbei after being thrown down twice in a casual match with that master outside a teahouse.
[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.
Top division record
*''The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.''
''*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
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 ...
.''
See also
*
List of yokozuna
This is a list of all sumo wrestlers who have reached the sport's highest rank of ''yokozuna''. It was not recorded on the ''banzuke'' until 1890 and was not officially recognised as sumo's highest rank until 1909. Until then, ''yokozuna'' was mer ...
*
List of past sumo wrestlers
This is a list of prominent past wrestlers (either retired or deceased) in the sport of professional sumo. They are listed in order of the year and tournament month that they made their professional debuts. The information listed below was gleaned ...
*
References
External links
Onogawa Saisuke Tournament results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onogawa Kisaburo
1758 births
1806 deaths
Japanese sumo wrestlers
People from Ōtsu, Shiga
Sumo people from Shiga Prefecture
Yokozuna