- Minanogawa Tōzō
-
男女ノ川 登三
Minanogawa Tōzō
Personal information Born Tomojiro Sakata
September 17, 1903
Ibaraki, JapanDied January 20, 1971 (aged 67) Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Weight 146 kg (320 lb) Career Heya Takasago, Sadogatake Record 294-155-34-1draw Debut January 1924 Highest rank Yokozuna (January 1936) Retired January 1942 Yūshō 2 (Makuuchi)
1 (Sandanme)Kinboshi 2 * Career information is correct as of November 2007. Minanogawa Tōzō (男女ノ川 登三, September 17, 1903 - January 20, 1971) was a sumo wrestler from Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. He was the sport's 34th Yokozuna.
Contents
Career
He had lost his father in the Russo-Japanese War at the age of two, and worked as a labourer to support his mother.[1] Already 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) tall at the age of 15, very large for Japanese youths in his time, he was spotted by Takasago stable's Akutsugawa.[1] He made his debut in January 1924 and reached the second highest juryo division after only six tournamnents in January 1927. He initially relied on pushing techniques, or oshi-sumo, but began to develop a more rounded technique after being given instruction by former sekiwake Kiyosegawa.[1]
He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 1928. In 1929 Akutsugawa, the wrestler who had discovered him, retired and encouraged him to join his newly established Sadogatake stable.[1] However Takasago's stablemaster did not want his promising rikishi to leave and even changed Minanogawa's shikona to the prestigious Asashio Tarō[disambiguation needed
] to obligate him to stay. Eventually a compromise was worked out and Minanogawa divided his time between the two stables.[1]He made komusubi in January 1930, and had two consecutive runner-up scores in October 1930 and January 1931, the second from the third highest sekiwake rank. Along with the lean and handsome Musashiyama he was one of the most popular men in sumo.[1] However in 1931 he suffered a series of knee injuries, and in 1932 was caught up in the so called "Shunjeun Incident", when a number of top division wrestlers went on strike. Minanogawa was out of the Japan Sumo Association for four tournaments and he and his followers held a number of their own rival tournaments with knockout rounds.[1]
He returned to the Sumo Association in 1933 and immediately took his first tournament championship with an unbeaten record, defeating Musashiyama, ozeki Shimizugawa and yokozuna Tamanishiki, all of whom had stayed with the Association during the strike.[1] He reverted to the Minanogawa shikona and won his second championship in January 1934. This earned him promotion to ozeki. He was promoted to yokozuna after a 9-2 runner-up score in January 1936, just one tournament after Musashiyama, and it was suggested that the double promotion was as a result of a deal between the Takasago and Dewanoumi factions.[1]
Although his record at yokozuna rank was not as bad as Musashiyama, who managed only one kachi-koshi winning score as a grand champion, Minanogawa was unable to win any further championships, and was overshadowed by Tamanishiki and the dominant Futabayama. He was never able to beat Futabayama as a yokozuna and had only one win over Tamanishiki. In May 1938 he could win only six out of 13 bouts, and became one of the very few yokozuna to compete in a full tournament and turn in a make-koshi losing score. By 1941 he was 36 years old and suffering from injuries, and he wanted to retire, but was asked to stay on until Maenoyama or Akinoumi were ready to replace him.[2] He eventually retired in January 1942, a tournament in which Akinoumi produced a strong 13-2 record.[2]
Retirement from sumo
Minanogawa had been able to stay in sumo as an elder due to his yokozuna ranking, but he had lost interest in sumo.[2] He had recently married and started a family, and had also done a law and economics degree at Waseda University.[2] He decided to resign from the Sumo Association (an irreversible decision) and run for election to parliament. However he lost badly and used up most of his severance pay from the Sumo Association.[2] He also lost money through gambling. He tried a succession of unsuccessful jobs and even had a bit part in a 1958 Hollywood film called The Barbarian and the Geisha.[2] He was eventually divorced from his wife and separated from his children, and in his later years was confined to a rest home and reliant on hand outs from fans and sumo officials.[2] He died in 1971, largely forgotten by the general public.
Top division record
January March May October 1928 West Maegashira#14 (6-5) East Maegashira #13 (8-3) East Maegashira #10 (7-4) East Maegashira #10 (5-6) 1929 West Maegashira #4 (5-5-1draw) West Maegashira #4 (9-2) East Maegashira #2 (6-5) East Maegashira #2 (8-3)* 1930 West Komusubi (8-3) West Komusubi (6-5) West Maegashira #1 (6-5)☆ West Maegashira #1 (9-2) 1931 East Sekiwake (9-2) East Sekiwake (8-3) Sat out West Sekiwake (1-10) 1932 Not listed** Not listed Not listed Not listed 1933 East Maegashira #9 (11-0)☆ no tournament held West Komusubi (8-3) no tournament held 1934 West Sekiwake (9-2) no tournament held West Ōzeki (5-6) no tournament held 1935 West Ōzeki (9-2) no tournament held West Ōzeki (8-3) no tournament held 1936 East Ōzeki (9-2) no tournament held East Yokozuna (6-5) no tournament held 1937 West Yokozuna (7-4) no tournament held Sat out no tournament held 1938 East Yokzouna (7-6) no tournament held East Yokozuna (6-7) no tournament held 1939 East Yokozuna (11-2) no tournament held West Yokozuna (9-6) no tournament held 1940 West Yokozuna (10-5) no tournament held West Yokozuna (10-5) no tournament held 1941 East Yokozuna (10-5) no tournament held East Yokozuna (2-4-9) no tournament held 1942 West Yokozuna (9-6)(Retired) x x x *tournament actually held one month earlier
**tournament actually held one month later- The wrestler's East/West designation, rank, and win/loss record are listed for each tournament[3]
- A third figure in win-loss records represents matches sat-out during the tournament (usually due to injury)
Green Box=Tournament Championship ☆= Number of Kinboshi. See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Kuroda, Joe (August 2006). "Rikishi of Old Minanogawa Tozo Part 1". Sumo Fan Magazine. http://www.sumofanmag.com/content/Issue_8/Rikishi_of_Old.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kuroda, Joe (October 2006). "Rikishi of Old Minanogawa Tozo Part 2". Sumo Fan Magazine. http://www.sumofanmag.com/content/Issue_9/Rikishi_of_Old.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- ^ "Minanogawa Tozo". Sumo Reference. http://sumodb.sumogames.com/Rikishi.aspx?shikona=minanogawa&heya=-1&shusshin=-1&b=-1&high=-1&hd=-1&entry=-1&intai=-1&sort=1. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
External links
- previous:
- Musashiyama Takeshi
- 34th Yokozuna
- 1936 - 1942
- next:
- Futabayama Sadaji
Yokozuna is not a successive rank, and more than one wrestler can share the title Categories:- 1903 births
- 1971 deaths
- Japanese sumo wrestlers
- Yokozuna
- People from Ibaraki Prefecture
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
