Umegatani Tōtarō I

Umegatani Tōtarō I
梅ヶ谷 藤太郎
Personal information
Born	Tōtarō Oe March 16, 1845 Asakura, Fukuoka, Japan
Died	May 15, 1928 (aged 83)
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 ^1⁄2 in)
Weight	105 kg (231 lb)
Career
Stable	Ikazuchi
Record	116-6-78 18 draws-2 holds(Makuuchi)
Debut	March, 1871
Highest rank	Yokozuna (February, 1884)
Retired	May, 1885
Championships	9 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of September 2007.

Umegatani Tōtarō I (梅ヶ谷 藤太郎, March 16, 1845 – May 15, 1928) was a sumo wrestler from Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. He was the sport's 15th yokozuna. He was generally regarded as the strongest wrestler to emerge since the era of Tanikaze and Raiden.

Career

Umegatani entered Osaka sumo in 1863 and was promoted to ōzeki in 1870. He wasn't content with the rank and so gave it up. He transferred to Tokyo sumo in December 1870, and began his career over again from the bottom of the rankings.^[1] Umegatani won 58 bouts in a row from January 1876 to January 1881. It is the fourth best record of consecutive victories behind Futabayama, Tanikaze and Hakuhō. He was awarded a yokozuna licence in February 1884, receiving it simultaneously from both the Osaka and Tokyo based organisations. Emperor Meiji took pleasure in seeing his bout on March 10, 1884. The event helped to make sumo more famous among the people of Japan. He won 116 bouts and lost only 6 bouts in the top makuuchi division.^[2] He achieved a winning average of 95.1, the highest record among yokozuna,^[3] though could not surpass ōzeki Raiden. He was not a particularly large wrestler but was remarkably strong.^[2]

Retirement from sumo

After his retirement he remained in the sumo world as a coach under the name Ikazuchi Oyakata. He helped to raise funds for the building of the first Ryōgoku Kokugikan stadium in 1909. It is said that when asked by a potential backer what he had in the way of collateral, simply showing his muscles was enough to clinch the deal.^[4]

He lived until the age of eighty-three, making him the longest-lived yokozuna of all time. He outlived his son-in-law Umegatani II, and is one of very few yokozuna to have died of old age.^[2]

Top division record

• The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied. The spring tournament recorded for 1878 was actually held in December of the previous year.

Umegatani^[5]

-	Spring	Winter
1874	x	West Maegashira #6 8–0–1 1d Unofficial

-	Spring Haru basho, varied	Summer Natsu basho, varied
1875	West Maegashira #5 6–1–3	Not held
1876	West Maegashira #4 5–2–2 1d	West Maegashira #2 3–0–6 1d
1877	West Maegashira #1 8–0–2 Unofficial	West Komusubi 7–0–2 1d Unofficial
1878	West Sekiwake 7–0–1 Unofficial	West Sekiwake 4–0–4 1d 1h
1879	West Ōzeki 6–0–1 3d	West Ōzeki 5–0–4 1h
1880	West Ōzeki 0–0–6 4d	West Ōzeki 9–0–1 Unofficial
1881	West Ōzeki 7–1–1 1d Unofficial	West Ōzeki 8–0–2 Unofficial
1882	Sat out	West Ōzeki 5–0–4 1d Unofficial
1883	East Ōzeki 6–0–4	East Ōzeki 3–0–7
1884	East Ōzeki 7–0–2 1d Unofficial	East Ōzeki 7–2–1
1885	East Ōzeki 3–0–4 3d	East 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. Schilling, Mark (1994). Sumo: A Fan's Guide. Japan Times. ISBN 4-7890-0725-1.
2. Newton, Clyde (1994). Dynamic Sumo. Kodansha. p. 56. ISBN 4-7700-1802-9.
3. Kuroda, Joe (February 2006). "A Shot At the Impossible-Yokozuna Comparison Through The Ages". sumofanmag.com. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
4. Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X.
5. "Umegatani Totaro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2007-09-27.