was a Japanese professional

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 from Itō,

Izumo Province was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province is in the Chūgoku region. History During the early Kofun period (3rd century) this region was independent a ...

. He was the sport's 12th ''

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 ...

''.

Career

Jinmaku was born in Ou District,

(modern

Yatsuka District, Shimane was a district located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the district had an estimated population of 59,733 and a density of 169.95 persons per km2. The total area was 351.47 km2. Yatsuka District is notable for being the birth ...

). His real name was . In 1847, he became a pupil of wrestler Hatsushio Kyūgorō in Onomichi, Hiroshima. When Hatsushio died in 1848 he moved to Osaka and became a pupil of Asahiyama Shirouemon, fighting his first bout in 1850. He worked under Tokushima Domain and moved to Matsue Domain and then

Satsuma Domain The , briefly known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1602 to 1871. The Satsuma Domain was based at Kagoshima Castle in Satsuma Province, the core of the modern city of Kagoshima, l ...

. In 1850 he moved to Edo (now modern day Tokyo) and became a pupil of Hidenoyama Raigorō, the 9th ''yokozuna''. He entered the ''

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 o ...

'' division in January 1858. In January 1867, he was initially awarded a ''yokozuna'' licence by the House of Gojo and not the Tokyo-based House of Yoshida Tsukasa. He was awarded an official ''yokozuna'' licence in July 1867 but the November 1867 tournament became his last tournament. On December 25, 1867, he saw the beginnings of national strife and sent a letter to

Saigō Takamori was a Japanese samurai and nobleman. He was one of the most influential samurai in Japanese history and one of the three great nobles who led the Meiji Restoration. Living during the late Edo and early Meiji periods, he later led the Sats ...

. He escaped from Edo and moved to Kyoto. The

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

began in January 1868 and he protected his master

Shimazu Tadayoshi was a ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of Satsuma Province during Japan's Sengoku period. He was born into the Mimasaka Shimazu family (伊作島津家), which was part of the Shimazu clan, but after his father Shimazu Yoshihisa died, his mother ma ...

from harm. He died in 1903. Jinmaku won 87 bouts and lost only 5 bouts in the top ''makuuchi'' division. All his defeats came when he was ranked as a ''

maegashira , 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 o ...

'' and ''

sekiwake , 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 o ...

''. He is the only wrestler to have never lost a bout as a ''yokozuna''. His winning percentage reached 94.6. Jinmaku is also an ''

toshiyori A is a sumo elder of the Japan Sumo Association (JSA). Also known as , former wrestlers who reached a sufficiently high rank are the only people eligible. The benefits are considerable, as only ''toshiyori'' are allowed to run and coach in su ...

'' or elder name in the

Japan Sumo Association The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling (called ''Ōzumō'', 大相撲) in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). '' Rikishi'' (active ...

. The holder as of 2019 is former ''maegashira'' Fujinoshin.

''Yokozuna'' monument

In 1900 Jinmaku erected the Yokozuna Rikishi Memorial Monument in the grounds of the

Tomioka Hachiman Shrine is the largest Hachiman shrine in Tokyo. History The shrine was established in Fukagawa in with reclamation of a shoal. Hachiman, whom the shrine reveres, was also a local kami of the Minamoto clan, thus the shrine received cordial protection ...

in the

Koto ward Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women ...

of Tokyo. It was the culmination of a lengthy personal project to properly acknowledge all his fellow ''yokozuna''. For the first time, Akashi Shiganosuke, Ayagawa Gorōji and Maruyama Gondazaemon were recognised as the first three ''yokozuna''.

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 above unofficial championships 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

complete biography and basho results (Japanese)

Article on Jinmaku's yokozuna list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jinmaku, Kyugoro 1829 births 1903 deaths Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Shimane Prefecture Yokozuna

Career

''Yokozuna'' monument

Top division record

See also

References

External links