is purported to be 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 t ...

wrestler in antiquity who is formally recognized as the first ''yokozuna''. A legendary figure, his historical existence is disputed. He is said to have been active in the

Kan'ei was a after '' Genna'' and before ''Shōhō.'' This period spanned the years from February 1624 through December 1644. The reigning emperors and empress were , and .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834) ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 411./ref> Chan ...

era (1624–1643). He was described as being of gigantic size, at tall and weighing . He is said to have been born in

Utsunomiya is the prefectural capital city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 519,223, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its '' gyoza' ...

Tochigi prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to th ...

in central

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 n ...

, the son of Yamanouchi Shuzen, a

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They ...

who served Sumaura Rinemon. According to sumo folklore, he took part in a sumo tournament in

Yotsuya is a neighborhood in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It is a former ward (四谷区 ''Yotsuya-ku'') in the now-defunct Tokyo City. In 1947, when the 35 wards of Tokyo were reorganized into 23, it was merged with Ushigome ward of Tokyo City and Yo ...

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 37.46 ...

in 1624 and became an instant star, enabling sumo organisers to charge admission for the first time. He is said to have been given the title of ''Hinoshita Kaisan'' (a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

term signifying a man of exceptional power) by the third Tokugawa shōgun,

Iemitsu Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third '' shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, w ...

. By 1800 his legendary reputation as a huge and powerful ''

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 ...

'' had been solidified and his exploits were retold and embellished through the years. He became so legendary that when the 12th ''yokozuna'' Jinmaku Kyugoro came to compile the first list of ''yokozuna'' in 1900, Akashi was placed at the beginning, followed by two dominant champions from the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

, Ayagawa Goroji and Maruyama Gondazaemon. Despite this, Tanikaze was the first to receive a ''yokozuna'' licence and perform the ''yokozuna'' '' dohyo-iri'' and so is often regarded as the first "real" ''yokozuna''.

References

External links

Article on Akashi Shiganosuke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akashi Shiganosuke 1600s births 1649 deaths Japanese sumo wrestlers People from Utsunomiya, Tochigi Sumo people from Tochigi Prefecture Yokozuna

See also

References

External links