Tanikaze Kajinosuke

Tanikaze on an old woodcut

Tanikaze Kajinosuke ( Japanese 谷 風 梶 之 助 ; * September 8, 1750 in Kasuminome, Miyagi-gun (today: Kasuminome, Wakabayashi-ku , Sendai ); † February 27, 1795 ) was a famous sumo wrestler of the Edo period and the first historically guaranteed Yokozuna .

Tanikaze, who was born as the son of a farmer under the name Kaneko Yoshirō ( 金子 与 begann ), began at the age of 19 under the battle name Dategaseki ( 達 ヶ 関 ) with sumō and competed in fights until he died of influenza at 44 . Influenza was called tanikaze after him because kaze can mean “cold” as well as “ wind ”.

In the course of 70 tournaments he was defeated in only 20 fights. Twice he won seven tournaments in a row without defeat. Of course, he was helped by his outstanding stature: At 1.89 meters tall and 169 kilograms, he was a giant by Japanese standards at the time. Its popularity is reflected in the numerous preserved Ukiyo-e - woodcuts resist showing it in portrait or in the fight.

Statue in Kōtōdai Park in Sendai

In 1789 Tanikaze and Onogawa , who were fighting as sekiwake at the time , were promoted to yokozunas. However, they were still listed as Ōzeki on the banzuke rankings , as the yokozuna was initially only considered a type of Ōzeki with special ceremonial powers. This consisted of the fact that the two were allowed to hold a yokozuna Dohyō-iri for the first time . Even today, this special ring entry ceremony is reserved for holders of the grandmaster title. Although Tanikaze is only considered the fourth yokozuna according to the official history of sumo, it could be that he was actually the first. For the three predecessors, the historical facts are so thin that they can be assigned to the realm of legends.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} 鶴 見 俊 輔 : 谷 風 梶 之 助 . In: 朝日 日本 歴 史 人物 事 典 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved September 8, 2015 (Japanese). 

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Tanikaze is the family name, Kajinosuke the first name.