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 the Tokugawa era, who is officially recognized as the fourth ''yokozuna'', and the first to be awarded the title of ''

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 ...

'' within his own lifetime. He achieved great fame and though championships were not awarded in his era, he achieved the mathematical equivalent of 21 tournament championships. He was also the coach of Raiden Tameemon.

Early career

Tanikaze was born in Miyagi District,

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

(now part of

Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai is the eastern ward of the city Sendai, in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the ward had a population of 138,102 and a population density of 2715 persons per km² in 63583 households. The total area of the ward was . Geography Wakabayashi-ku is locat ...

). He made his debut in sumo in 1769 when he was 19. With a height of 189 cm and a weight of 169 kg, he was extremely large in comparison with most Japanese men of his era. In this period, local men with a large physique but often little to no sumo background were asked to enter sumo tournaments. They would debut as ''kanban'' or "guest" '' ōzeki'' and in most cases their "careers" were short-lived. This is how Tanikaze, due to his size, debuted in 1769. He chose to stay active in sumo however, and would eventually be promoted to a true ''ōzeki'' outright in March 1781. From October 1777 until February 1786, he lost only one bout. This was to Onogawa in February 1782. He recorded the longest run of consecutive victories in sumo bouts at that time, with 63. This record remained unbroken for about 150 years, until

Futabayama was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Oita Prefecture. Entering sumo in 1927, he was the sport's 35th ''yokozuna'' from 1937 until his retirement in 1945. He won twelve ''yūshō'' or top division championships and had a winning streak ...

in 1938.

Yokozuna

On November 19, 1789, he became one of the first two sumo wrestlers to be allowed to perform a ''yokozuna

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

'' (a special ring-entrance ceremony for the ''yokozuna'' alone, rather than entering as part of a parade of the top ranked wrestlers). Both he and Onogawa were granted a special so-called ''yokozuna'' license simultaneously in that year. Officially he is recorded as being the 4th ''yokozuna'' in sumo history. However, as the first three (see

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 ...

), if indeed they existed at all, were awarded the title posthumously, he can be said to be one of the first two real holders of the title. He was still an active wrestler when he died at the age of 44 of

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

. He was on another winning streak of 35 bouts at the time of his death. In the top ''makuuchi'' division, Tanikaze won 258 bouts and lost only 14 bouts, achieving a winning percentage of 94.9. Tanikaze was a very popular ''

rikishi A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official t ...

.'' Unlike other wrestlers of his day, many ''

nishikie is a type of Japanese multi-coloured woodblock printing; the technique is used primarily in ukiyo-e. It was invented in the 1760s, and perfected and popularized by the printmaker Suzuki Harunobu, who produced many ''nishiki-e'' prints between 17 ...

'' (woodblock print based) portraits and images of him participating in bouts still remain.

Family

He had a younger brother, Dategaseki Moriemon (1756-1807), who was also a sumo wrestler and reached the top division himself in 1791. They were the second pair of brothers in sumo history to both reach ''makuuchi''.

Top division record

*''The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.'' *''Tanikaze's first three tournaments were as a "guest" ''ōzeki'', see above.'' *''Tanikaze's record for the Spring 1776 tournament is unknown.'' ''*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. ''Y� ...

.''

References

External links