Ōtori Tanigorō

Ōtori Tanigorō
鳳 谷五郎
Personal information
Born	Akira Takida April 3, 1887 Chiba, Japan
Died	November 16, 1956 (aged 69)
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Weight	113 kg (249 lb)
Career
Stable	Miyagino
Record	107-49-68-6draws-10holds (Makuuchi)
Debut	May, 1903
Highest rank	Yokozuna (February, 1915)
Retired	May, 1920
Championships	2 (Makuuchi)
* Up to date as of October 2007.

Ōtori Tanigorō (鳳 谷五郎, April 3, 1887 – November 16, 1956) was a sumo wrestler from Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He was the sport's 24th yokozuna.

Career

He fought out of Miyagino stable and made his debut in the jonokuchi division in May 1903. He reached the top division in January 1909 and won his first tournament championship in his debut tournament at ōzeki rank in January 1913. He was undefeated in that tournament, recording seven wins, one draw and one no decision. His second championship in January 1915, which he took with ten straight wins, saw him promoted to yokozuna.

Okuma Shigenobu presented a tachi, or long sword, to him.^[1] However, his record at sumo's highest rank was very patchy and he did not manage to win any further championships. He was known for his wide variety of techniques, but at that time the most popular yokozuna was Hitachiyama and so his fighting style was regarded as unacceptable.^[2] His record as yokozuna was 35 wins against 24 defeats, compared with 36 wins and only four defeats at ōzeki rank. He retired in May 1920. In the top makuuchi division, he won 108 bouts and lost 49 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 68.8.

He was head coach of Miyagino stable from 1916 until his death in 1956 (there was no mandatory retirement age for oyakata at that time). He had insisted that his successor had to be a yokozuna, so it became inactive for a while. Eventually yokozuna Yoshibayama revived the stable and assumed the Miyagino name in 1960.

On November 11, 2006, a monument to Ōtori was established in his home city of Inzai.^[3]

Top Division Record

Ōtori Tanigorō^[4]

-	Spring	Summer
1909	West Maegashira #10 4–3–1 2h	West Maegashira #2 7–2 1d
1910	West Sekiwake 2–6 2h	West Maegashira #3 5–3–1 1h
1911	West Komusubi 0–3–6 1h	West Maegashira #6 5–1–3 1h
1912	East Komusubi 6–2–1 1h	West Sekiwake 7–1 2d
1913	West Ōzeki 7–0–1 1d 1h	East Ōzeki 8–1 1d
1914	East Ōzeki 8–2	West Ōzeki 3–1–6
1915	West Ōzeki 10–0	West Yokozuna 2–2–6
1916	West Yokozuna 6–3 1d	Sat out
1917	East Yokozuna 8–2	East Yokozuna 3–2–5
1918	West Yokozuna 7–3	West Yokozuna 0–1–9
1919	West Yokozuna 3–1–5 1h	West Yokozuna 3–6–1
1920	West Yokozuna 3–4–3	East Yokozuna Retired 0–0–10
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Key:d=Draw(s) (引分);   h=Hold(s) (預り) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

References

1. 鳳 谷五郎 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-06-13.
2. Atsuo Tsubota. 横綱伝 19代～25代 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-06-14.
3. まいたいむ北総2006年11月25日号 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
4. "Otori Tanigoro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference.

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo tournament top division champions
• List of yokozuna