Sakaigawa Namiemon

Sumo wrestler infobox
wrestlername = 境川 浪右衛門 Sakaigawa Namiemon


realname = Masakichi Udagawa
dateofbirth = birth date|1841|5|28
placeofbirth = Chiba, Japan
dateofdeath = death date and age|1887|9|16|1841|5|28
height = height|meters=1.68
weight = convert|128|kg|lb|abbr=on|lk=on
heya = Sakaigawa
rank =
record = 118-23-63
71draws-5holds(Makuuchi)
debut = November, 1857
highestrank = Yokozuna (February 1877)
retireddate = January, 1881
yushos = 5 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
goldstars =
update = July 2008

Sakaigawa Namiemon (境川 浪右衛門, May 28 1841 - September 16 1887) was a sumo wrestler from Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He was the sport's 14th Yokozuna.

Career

He made his debut in November 1857 and reached the top "makuuchi" division in April 1867, then fighting under the name Masuizan. He won his first tournament championship in June 1868 from the maegashira ranks, emerging undefeated with eight wins. He was promoted to "ozeki" (then sumo's highest rank) in April 1870 after winning two tournaments in a row from the rank of "sekiwake". Following his promotion, he changed his "shikona" to Sakaigawa. The name had previously been used by another wrestler from the same stable, who had been an "ozeki" from 1857 to 1861.

Sakaigawa was initially given a yokozuna licence by the Osaka based House of Gojo in February 1876. He was admitted as "yokozuna" by the House of Yoshida Tsukasa in February 1877. At that time, Meiji Restoration was confusing the sumo world. Many sumo wrestlers were promoted to nominal "yokozuna" and the worth of name "yokozuna" stayed very low. Among them, Sakaigawa became the only "yokozuna" admitted officially.

Sakaigawa retired in January 1881. In the top makuuchi division, he won 118 bouts and lost 23 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 83.7. However, he also recorded 71 draws because he did not want to get the first attack. He was nicknamed "Tanikaze in Meiji". [cite web|url=http://www.ep.sci.hokudai.ac.jp/~tsubota/yokoduna/y03.html|title=横綱伝　14代～18代|language=Japanese|author=Atsuo Tsubota|accessdate=2008-07-04]

Top division record

"*1-3 tournaments were held yearly in this period, though the actual time they were held was often erratic"
"*Championships from this period were unofficial
"*Yokozuna were not listed as such on the ranking sheets until 1890
"*There was no fusensho system until March 1927
"*All top division wrestlers were usually absent on the 10th day until 1909

References

ee also

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