Tamanoumi Daitarō

Tamanoumi Daitarō (real name Tomohiro Miura; 2 January 1923 – 27 September 1987) was a sumo wrestler from Ōita, Japan. His highest rank was ''sekiwake''. He won a top division tournament championship in 1957. He was later the head coach of Kataonami stable.

Career

He made his professional debut at the age of 14 in May 1937, joining Nishonoseki stable, then run by active ''yokozuna'' Tamanishiki, although upon Tamanishiki's death the following year Tamanoumi Umekichi became his stablemaster. He used the ''shikona'' of Fukusumi. However, during a sumo tour of Shanghai in 1940, he got into a drunken argument with a driver. Military police went to the site and he also began to fight with them. Police officers wanted him shot, but '' ōzeki'' Haguroyama (later ''yokozuna'') and his stablemaster apologized to them. He survived, but was forced to leave sumo and was drafted into the Japanese army. After escaping a POW camp in Siberia and returning to Japan to work in a shipyard, he was invited to return to sumo in 1950. He was allowed to resume his career in the third ''makushita'' division where he had left off, and made the ''jūryō'' division in 1951, adopting the Tamanoumi name, and the top ''makuuchi'' division the year after, when he was already 29 years old. In May 1953, he faced Haguroyama in the ring for the only time. Tamanoumi defeated the man who had helped save his life, in what was to be the last bout of Haguroyama's career.

Tamanoumi reached his highest rank of ''sekiwake'' in 1957 but then was forced to sit out a couple of tournaments through injury. He fell to the ''maegashira'' ranks and considered retiring, but came back to win the top division tournament championship in November 1957 (the first time the Kyūshū ''honbasho'' had been staged) with a perfect 15–0 score. During that tournament he wore a gold-coloured ''mawashi,'' the first wrestler to flout the Japan Sumo Association's rule that only dark colours should be worn. It had been given to him by the chairman of his supporter's club, who was also the head of the shipping company for whom he had worked in his years out of sumo.[sumo] Yokozuna Tamanoumi
/ref> Because other wrestlers regarded it as a symbol of good luck, and also because NHK began colour broadcasts of sumo matches in 1960, many others have followed Tamanoumi's lead and worn brightly coloured ''mawashi''. He was runner-up in two other tournaments and earned nine ''kinboshi'' or gold stars for defeating ''yokozuna''.

Retirement from sumo

He retired in January 1961 at the age of 38, and opened up the Kataonami stable, which he ran until his death. The stable produced the ''yokozuna'' Tamanoumi Masahiro. In his later years he was also a somewhat controversial commentator for NHK's sumo coverage.

Personal life

His second wife was a teacher of traditional Japanese music as well as a professional singer.

Career record

See also

*List of sumo record holders
*List of sumo tournament second division champions
*List of sumo tournament top division champions
*Glossary of sumo terms
*List of past sumo wrestlers
*List of sekiwake

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamanoumi, Daitaro
1923 births
1987 deaths
Japanese sumo wrestlers
Sumo people from Ōita Prefecture
Sekiwake
Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II
Siberian internees
Japanese escapees
Escapees from Soviet detention
Sportspeople from Ōita (city)