# Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke

Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke (Japanese: 阿武松 緑之助, 1794 – 20 January 1852) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Noto Province. He was the sport's 6th yokozuna. He trained ōzeki Tsurugizan Taniemon.

## Early career

He was born in Shitsumi, Noto. His birth name remains ambiguous, but was claimed to be Sasaki Jokichi (佐々木 長吉). He was born to poor farmers and worked as a stable boy in the countryside. There, he earned a reputation in amateur sumo and decided to move to Edo in 1815 and got introduced to Takekuma Bunzo (武隈 文藏). He made his debut under the shikona Koyanagi Tsunekichi (小柳 常吉) in March 1815 and won the jonokuchi tournament.

## Makuuchi career

He reached the top makuuchi division in October 1822 and transferred to the Shikoroyama stable. He began to wrestle for the Chōshū Domain under the ring name Koyanagi Chokichi (小柳 長吉). In January 1824, he was defeated by Inazuma, but defeated others at the maegashira #2 rank and was promoted to komusubi. In the summer of 1825, he defeated Inazuma at the Hirakawa Tenjin Shrine. He was promoted to ōzeki in October 1826. In March 1827, he was given his definitive ring name by his lord and was renamed Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke (阿武松 緑之助) to evoke a famous scenic spot in Hagi, Yamaguchi (once part of the Chōshū domain).

## Yokozuna

Ōnomatsu was awarded a yokozuna license by the Yoshida family in February 1828. At the time, he was the first yokozuna to be promoted in 31 years, since the promotion of Onogawa Kisaburō. On 25 March 1829, Ienari Tokugawa was present to see Ōnomatsu defeat Inazuma. Ōnomatsu retired in October 1835 after eight years as yokozuna. In the top makuuchi division, he won 142 bouts and lost 31 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 82.1. He was permitted to stay as an elder under his ring name. While still an active wrestler, he recruited and raised ōzeki Koyanagi, to whom he gave his old ring name. He died in Edo in 1851 and his remains were divided between the Gyokusen-in temple of Kōtō, Tokyo and the Ritsuzo-ji temple in Teramachi, Kanazawa. Since the funeral of Ōnomatsu in the Tokyo temple, it was customary to have the wrestlers using the Ōnomatsu shikona buried in this temple (from the first to the fourth). In 1936, a monument made of natural stone pulled up from the seabed of Ugawa Port was erected the by a resolution of his hometown Ugawa Village.

## Fighting style

Ōnomatsu was known for being extremely careful in his moves, often waiting for his opponent to start first. In practice, he would want to shake his competitors' confidence by doing matta, waiting at the initial charge (or tachi-ai) of his sumo bouts. He would also attempt to win bouts by fair means or foul. He was often criticised for his fighting style but was a mild-mannered, righteous man, and never became egoistic, which made him very popular among Edo people. His rivalry with 7th yokozuna Inazuma boosted the popularity of sumo during the Bunsei era and Tenpō era. His overall career record was quite far behind Inazuma, but his record over Inazuma was five wins (including two other than honbasho), four losses, five draws and one hold.

## Top division record

* The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.
Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke :
| - | Spring | Winter |
| 1822 | x | East Maegashira #7 6–3–1 1d |
| 1823 | East Maegashira #5 4–2 1nr | East Maegashira #2 7–2 1d |
| 1824 | East Maegashira #2 8–1–1 Unofficial | East Komusubi 6–2–2 |
| 1825 | East Komusubi 8–2 Unofficial | East Sekiwake 6–2–2 |
| 1826 | East Sekiwake 5–1–3 1h | East Ōzeki 8–0–1 1d Unofficial |
| 1827 | East Ōzeki 4–1–1 1h | East Ōzeki 6–0 Unofficial |
| 1828 | East Ōzeki 3–3–2 1d 1h | East Ōzeki 7–1–2 |
| 1829 | East Ōzeki 5–0–1 1d | East Ōzeki 6–0–1 2d 1h |
| 1830 | East Ōzeki 7–1–1 1h | East Ōzeki 3–1–4 2h |
| 1831 | East Ōzeki 4–0–4 2d | East Ōzeki 3–0–5 |
| 1832 | Not held | East Ōzeki 7–1–1 1d |
| 1833 | East Ōzeki 5–0–1 4d | East Ōzeki 2–2 3d 1h |
| 1834 | East Ōzeki 6–1–1 2d | East Ōzeki 5–3–1 1d |
| 1835 | East Ōzeki 7–0–1 2d Unofficial | East Ōzeki Retired 4–2–2 2d |
| 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 recognised or awarded before the 1909 summer tournament, and the unofficial championships above are historically conferred. For more information, see yūshō.