Tachihikari Denemon (born 1897)

## Tachihikari Denemon

Tachihikari Denemon - 太刀光 電右エ門 (born March 29, 1897 - May 15, 1952) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mikasa, Hokkaido. He made his debut in January 1913 and wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1921 and has one kinboshi. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in October 1927.

## **Early Life**

He was born Masaharu Hatta (八田 政次) in Mikasa, Sorachi District, Hokkaido, the second son of a miner. In the summer of 1912 in Sapporo he met yokozuna Tachiyama, who recruited him to Tomozuna stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Despite his short height he was extremely flexible, able to throw his opponents with both his right hand grip and left hand grip. He was transferred to Takasago stable in May 1919 when his stablemaster Tachiyama (by then going by the elder name Azumazeki) abruptly quit the sumo world. He was diligent about training and reached the top makuuchi division in January 1921.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In May 1922 he won his first (and only) kinboshi by defeating Onishiki Uichiro, who had not lost a bout in two years and had also defeated Tachiyama in the latter's last ever bout in January 1917. This in fact turned out to be Onishiki's last bout as well, as he quit sumo in the wake of the strike against the Tokyo Sumo Association known as the Mikawajima-Incident. Following this performance Tachihikari was promoted to sekiwake in January 1923 and to ozeki in May 1923, ahead of the more favored Kuragatake.

### **Ozeki Career**

He was the first ozeki of the newly established Japan Sumo Association, formed from a merger of the Tokyo and Osaka associations. Although he did not win any championships at the ozeki rank he continued to have good results until he hurt his right leg in a match against Dewagatake in May 1926. In the four tournaments following that injury he only took part in three bouts, and he finally retired in October 1927 having lost his ozeki rank.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He became a toshiyori or elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Naruto Oyakata, affiliated to Takasago stable. In 1937 he took part the kanreki dohyo-iri ceremony to mark Tachiyama's 60th birthday, in the role of sword-bearer. In May 1951 he quit the Sumo Association following disagreements with Takasago's stablemaster, ex-Maedayama, that saw him transfer briefly to Tatsunami stable. He returned to his hometown to start full-time operations of a restaurant that he had begun in Otaru. He died in May 1952 at the age of 55. His shikona was subsequently used by two other sekitori, Tachihikari Akihiro, a university graduate who was in juryo in 1970, and Tachihikari Denemon II, a maegashira in the 1990s.

## **Fighting Style**

Tachihikari was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). He was also fond of employing tsuppari, a series of rapid thrusts to the chest, as well as nage techniques.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 114-53-71-8draws-6holds/181 (32 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 67-26-69-6draws-2holds/101 (16 basho)
* **Juryo:** 19-11-1draw-1hold/32 (5 basho)
* **Makushita:** 9-3-2-1hold/13 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 6-2-1draw-1hold/10 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 10-10/20 (4 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 3-1-1hold/5 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Tachihikari Denemon (1913.01 - 1927.10)

## **Sources**

* Tachihikari Denemon Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tachihikari Denemon Rikishi Information