Kimenzan Tanigorō

Kimenzan Tanigorō
鬼面山 谷五郎
Shiranui (left) and Kimenzan (right) in 1869
Personal information
Born	Shin'ichi Tanaka 1826 Gifu, Japan
Died	September 7, 1871 (aged 45)
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	140 kg (310 lb)
Career
Stable	Takekuma
Record	143-24-63 16draws-8holds(Makuuchi)
Debut	February 1852
Highest rank	Yokozuna (April 1869)
Retired	November, 1870
Championships	7 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of October 2007.

Kimenzan Tanigorō (鬼面山 谷五郎, 1826? – September 7, 1871) was a sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 13th yokozuna.

Career

Kimenzan was born in Yoro, Gifu Prefecture, Japan and his real name was Shin'ichi Tanaka. He entered sumo in February 1852 in the second highest jūryō division and reached the top makuuchi division in January 1857. He was employed by the Tokushima Domain.

He was promoted to ōzeki in November 1865. However, he was unenrolled in the November 1866 banzuke. It was reportedly because he had a quarrel with sumo elders.^[1] He was promoted to ōzeki again in June 1868.

He was awarded a yokozuna license in February 1869. He became a yokozuna at the age of 43, the oldest ever.^[2]

In the top makuuchi division, he won 143 bouts and lost 24 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 85.6.

He retired as an active wrestler in November 1870, but died in the next year. His grave can be found in Sayama, Saitama.

There is a monument to him in Yōrō, Gifu.^[3]

Top division record

• The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.

Kimenzan Tanigorō^[4]

-	Spring	Winter
1857	East Maegashira #7 8–0–2	East Maegashira #4 6–2–2
1858	East Maegashira #2 8–0–2 Unofficial	Called off due to fire
1859	East Komusubi 8–0–1 1h Unofficial	East Komusubi 6–2–2
1860	East Komusubi 8–1–1	East Komusubi 6–0–1 Unofficial
1861	East Komusubi 3–1–5 1h	East Komusubi 6–1–3
1862	East Komusubi 6–1–2 1d	East Sekiwake 6–3–1
1863	East Sekiwake 7–0–1 1d 1h Unofficial	East Sekiwake 7–0–2 2d Unofficial
1864	East Sekiwake 5–0–3 2d	East Sekiwake 5–3–2
1865	East Sekiwake 5–2–2 1h	East Ōzeki 4–0–3 3d 1h
1866	East Ōzeki 7–0–1 1d 1h Unofficial	Not enrolled
1867	East Komusubi 5–0–1 3d 1h	East Komusubi 4–0–5 1d
1868	West Ōzeki 1–2–6 1h	West Ōzeki 9–0–1 Unofficial
1869	West Ōzeki 7–2–1	West Ōzeki 6–0–2 2d
1870	West Ōzeki 4–1–5	West Ōzeki 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);   nr=no result recorded Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks:  Yokozuna (not ranked as such on banzuke until 1890) Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

*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.

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of yokozuna

References

1. 横綱の歴史 (in Japanese). History Research Council in Kyoto University. 1997-12-05. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
2. Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X.
3. 句歌碑めぐり (in Japanese). Yoro-cho Tourist sightseeing association. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
4. "Kimenzan Tanigoro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2007-09-27.

External links

• (Japanese) Kimenzan Tanigoro tournament results