Tanikaze Kajinosuke

Tanikaze Kajinosuke
谷風 梶之助
Personal information
Born	金子 与四郎 Kaneko Yoshiro September 8, 1750 Wakabayashi, Sendai, Japan
Died	February 27, 1795 (aged 44)
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	169 kg (373 lb; 26.6 st)
Career
Stable	Isenoumi
Record	258-14-112
Debut	April 1769
Highest rank	Yokozuna (November 1789)
Championships	21 (unofficial)
* Up to date as of July 2007.

Kajinosuke Tanikaze (谷風梶之助 Tanikaze Kajinosuke, September 8, 1750 – February 27, 1795) was a sumo wrestler in Japan in the Tokugawa era, is officially recognized as the fourth yokozuna, and the first to be awarded the title of yokozuna within his own lifetime. He achieved great fame and won 21 tournament championships. He was also the coach of Raiden Tameemon.

Early career

He was born in Sendai with Yoshiro (与四郎) as his infant name. He made his debut in sumo in 1769 when he was 19. With a height of 189 cm and a weight of 169 kg, he was extremely large in comparison with most Japanese men of his era.^[1]

In this period, local men with a large physique but often little to no sumo background were asked to enter sumo tournaments. They would debut as kanban or "guest" ōzeki and in most cases their "careers" were short-lived. This is how Tanikaze, due to his size, debuted in 1769. He chose to stay active in sumo however, and would eventually be promoted to a true ōzeki outright in March 1781. From October 1777 until February 1786, he lost only one bout. This was to Onogawa in February 1782. He recorded the longest run of consecutive victories in sumo bouts at that time, with 63.^[2] This record remained unbroken for about 150 years, until Futabayama in 1938.

Yokozuna

On November 19, 1789, he became one of the first two sumo wrestlers to be allowed to perform a yokozuna dohyō-iri (a special ring-entrance ceremony for the yokozuna alone, rather than entering as part of a parade of the top ranked wrestlers). Both he and Onogawa were granted a special so-called yokozuna license simultaneously in that year. Officially he is recorded as being the 4th Yokozuna in sumo history. However, as the first three (see list of yokozuna), if indeed they existed at all, were awarded the title posthumously, he can be said to be one of the first two real holders of the title.^[3]

He was still an active wrestler when he died at the age of 44 of influenza. He was on another winning streak of 35 bouts at his death. In the top makuuchi division, Tanikaze won 258 bouts and lost only 14 bouts, achieving a winning percentage of 94.9.

Tanikaze was a very popular rikishi. Unlike other wrestlers of his day, many nishikie (woodblock print based) portraits and images of him participating in bouts still remain.

Top division record

• The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.
• Tanikaze's first three tournaments were as a "guest" ōzeki, see above.
• Tanikaze's record for the Spring 1776 tournament is unknown.

Tanikaze^[4]

-	Spring	Winter
1769	West Ōzeki 4–0–3	West Ōzeki 0–1–7
1770	West Ōzeki 3–0–5	West Maegashira #1 7–1
1771	Sat out	West Komusubi #1 5–0 1d 2h
1772	West Komusubi #1 6–0–2 Unofficial	Not held
1773	West Maegashira #1 5–1 1d 1h	West Maegashira #1 5–2 1h
1774	West Maegashira #1 6–0–2 Unofficial	West Komusubi 5–0–1 2d
1775	West Komusubi 4–0 Unofficial	West Komusubi 5–1–1 2h
1776	West Maegashira #1 –	West Komusubi 7–0 1nr Unofficial
1777	West Sekiwake 2–1–5	West Komusubi 5–1 1d 1h Unofficial
1778	West Sekiwake 9–0–1 Unofficial	Sat out
1779	West Sekiwake 9–0–1 Unofficial	West Sekiwake 9–0 1d Unofficial
1780	West Sekiwake 6–0 Unofficial	West Sekiwake 8–0 2h Unofficial
1781	West Ōzeki 9–0–1 Unofficial	West Sekiwake 9–0–1 Unofficial
1782	West Ōzeki 6–1–3	West Ōzeki 7–0–1 1h 1nr Unofficial
1783	West Ōzeki 5–0–4 1nr Unofficial	West Ōzeki 8–0–1 1d Unofficial
1784	West Ōzeki 6–0–2 2h Unofficial	West Ōzeki 3–0–7
1785	Not held	Not held
1786	West Ōzeki 10–0 Unofficial	West Ōzeki 3–1–6
1787	Called off due to bad harvest	West Sekiwake 6–1–1 1d 1h
1788	West Sekiwake 7–0–1 1d 1h Unofficial	West Sekiwake 7–0–1 1d 1h
1789	West Sekiwake 7–1–1 1d	West Sekiwake 6–0–3 1d
1790	West Ōzeki 4–0–2 1d 1h 1nr	West Ōzeki 7–1–1 1d
1791	West Ōzeki 6–1–2 1nr	Sat out
1792	West Ōzeki 8–0–2 Unofficial	West Ōzeki 3–0 Unofficial
1793	West Ōzeki 7–0–2 Unofficial	West Ōzeki 5–0–3 2d
1794	West Ōzeki 5–0–5	West Ōzeki Retired 4–0–6
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 unofficial championships above are historically conferred. For more information, see yūshō.

See also

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

References

1. Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X.
2. Consecutive Wins (1757-)
3. Kuroda, Joe (February 2006). "Yokozuna Comparison". sumofanmag.com. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
4. "Tanikaze Kajinosuke Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference.

External links

• (Japanese) Tanikaze Kajinosuke Tournament Results