Ōnishiki Uichirō facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ōnishiki Uichirō |
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| 大錦 卯一郎 | |
Ōnishiki, circa 1917
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| Personal information | |
| Born | Hosokawa Uichirō 25 November 1891 Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan |
| Died | 13 May 1941 (aged 49) |
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Weight | 139 kg (306 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Dewanoumi |
| Record | 119-16-32-3draws (Makuuchi) |
| Debut | January 1910 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (May, 1917) |
| Retired | January 1923 |
| Championships | 5 (Makuuchi) 1 (Jūryō) 1 (Jonidan) |
| * Up to date as of September 2007. | |
Ōnishiki Uichirō (Japanese: 大錦 卯一郎, 25 November 1891 – 13 May 1941) was a famous Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He became the 26th yokozuna, which is the highest rank a sumo wrestler can achieve. He was also the first yokozuna to perform a special ceremony called the yokozuna dohyō-iri at the important Meiji Shrine in 1922.
Contents
Life as a Sumo Wrestler
Ōnishiki Uichirō was born Hosokawa Uichirō in Osaka, Japan, on November 25, 1891. He trained to become a sumo wrestler under a former yokozuna named Hitachiyama Taniemon. Ōnishiki joined his sumo training group, known as the Dewanoumi stable.
Rising Through the Ranks
Ōnishiki quickly moved up the ranks in sumo. He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 1915. After doing very well in the May 1915 tournament, he was promoted to ōzeki. This is the second-highest rank in sumo.
He won his first major championship, called a yūshō, in January 1917. He won every single match, finishing with a perfect 10–0 record. Because of this amazing performance, he was promoted to yokozuna. He reached this top rank in only five tournaments, which is still the fastest promotion in sumo history!
Impressive Achievements
Ōnishiki was a very strong and smart wrestler. He lost only 16 matches in his entire professional career. He won five top division championships and was the runner-up in four other tournaments. He had a very high winning percentage of 88.1%, meaning he won almost 9 out of every 10 matches he fought. He also had very few draws, only three in his career.
Unexpected Retirement
Ōnishiki's sumo career ended suddenly in January 1923. At that time, many sumo wrestlers went on strike against the Tokyo Sumo Association. This event is known as the Mikawajima Incident (三河島事件, Mikawajima-Jiken). Ōnishiki tried to help solve the problem, but he couldn't. After the police got involved, the wrestlers eventually got what they wanted, which was better retirement pay.
Ōnishiki felt responsible for the incident, even though he tried to help. Because of this, he decided to retire from sumo and leave the sumo world completely. He often spoke about how he disagreed with some of the old traditions in sumo.
Life After Sumo
After retiring from sumo, Ōnishiki decided to go to college. He studied at Waseda University. After he graduated, he started working for a newspaper called Hochi Shimbun. He wrote articles and essays about sumo. Ōnishiki passed away on May 13, 1941.
See also
- Glossary of sumo terms
- List of past sumo wrestlers
- List of sumo tournament top division champions
- List of sumo tournament second division champions
- List of yokozuna
