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 th ...

wrestler from

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...

(now

Shiga Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

). 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 o ...

''. Along with Tanikaze, Onogawa was the first to be given a ''yokozuna'' licence during his lifetime. He is described as a leading figure of sumo during the Kansei era.

Career

His real name was . When he was 14 years old, he became a pupil of Kusazuri Iwanosuke (草摺岩之助) in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

-sumo, and took the ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Muromachi period and established itself during the Edo period, where they were used as a means to hide the identities of the . Given by the master to his di ...

'', or ring name, . The following year, he was adopted by his master, Onogawa Saisuke (小野川才助), and stepped in the ring for the first time in May of 1772. He later changed his ring name to and moved to

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

-sumo in 1779. Onogawa was promoted to the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, 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 ...

'' division in March 1781 and began to wrestle for the Kurume Domain. In February 1782, he defeated '' ōzeki'' Tanikaze. The victory surprised people in Edo as it brought to an end Tanikaze's 63 consecutive victories, after four years and seven unbeaten seasons in Edo. Since then, the match between Tanikaze and Onogawa has been passed down in the annals of the sumo's history as one of the greatest matches of all time. 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.
In November 1789, the Yoshida family certified both Onogawa and Tanikaze as ''yokozuna'' in a ceremony which was also featured the introduction of the ''

yokozuna dohyō-iri , 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 ...

'' ceremony and the first appearance of the ''yokozuna'' 's belt. At the time however, the belt was closer to a '' shimenawa'' rope than the current '' tsuna''.Bolitho, Harold. "Sumō and Popular Culture", in ''Sport'', Ed. Eric Dunning and Dominic Malcolm, Routledge, 2003. Onogawa was however past his prime and did not participate in many tournaments anymore. He broke his shoulder during training in March 1794, and his retirement was hastened by the sudden death of Tanikaze. After Tanikaze's death, Onogawa refused to wrestle ''ōzeki'' Raiden Tameimon, who was Tanikaze's apprentice. His withdrawal led to a period of dominance where Raiden had no rivals. Onogawa's popularity waned without any opportunities to be seen in the ring and he retired in October 1797. Onogawa won 91.7% of his bouts, winning 144 times and losing only 13 times. The next ''yokozuna,'' Ōnomatsu, was not appointed for another thirty years.
Some sources say that after retirement he returned to Osaka and opened a teahouse in Haramachi (now Kawachinagano,

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

), which became prosperous. A more likely source wants him to have stayed as an elder in Edo under his ring name. He died on March 12, 1806. His grave is in the premises of the Enjōin temple in Tennōji,

. A popular story holds that Onogawa studied

jujutsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

with renowned Kyūshin Ryū Sōke Inugami Gunbei after being thrown down twice in a casual match with that master outside a teahouse. Yokozuna promotion 1789

Another story tells that, after Onogawa became an official ''

rikishi A , or, more colloquially, , is a sumo wrestler. Although used to define all wrestlers participating in sumo wrestling matches, the term is more commonly used to refer to professional wrestlers, employed by the Japan Sumo Association, who par ...

'' of the lord of the Kurume domain, he exterminated the ghosts that plagued the lord's domain at night by his boldness, as depicted in an

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

woodblock print produced by Yoshitoshi in his series on the 'One Hundred Ghost Stories of China and Japan'.

Fighting style

Onogawa was much shorter than Tanikaze at only but he had a speedy, crowd pleasing sumo style which helped him overcome his small physique. Onogawa is often depicted as good at standing his ground, careful and seamless.

In popular culture

Onogawa makes an appearance in the Record of Ragnarok manga series, where he cheers on Raiden during his fight.

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 ...

.''

References

External links