Tachihikari Denemon (born 1963)

## Tachihikari Denemon

Tachihikari Denemon - 大刀光 電右エ門 (born September 12, 1963) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture. He made his debut in January 1982 and last wrestled for Tomozuna stable. He reached the makuuchi division in July 1992. His highest rank was maegashira 15 and he retired in January 1994.

## **Early Life**

Osamu Kawahara was born in Chiba and his mother ran a snack bar. In elementary school he was the pitcher for the school's baseball team. He switched to volleyball and soccer when he attended Hanazono Junior High School. He later attended Yasuda Gakuen High School where he was a member of the school's sumo club. Upon graduation he got a job in the livestock industry, but was persuaded to join professional sumo because his co-worker was an acquaintance to Tomozuna Oyakata. As a result he joined Tomozuna stable in January 1992.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

In his first tournament, Kawahara produced a 6-1 record and won the jonokuchi yusho after participating in a three-man playoff. He was promoted to sandanme in January 1983 and makushita in September 1983. In January 1985 he changed his shikona to "Tachihikari" (大刀光). In May 1988 he produced a 5-2 record at the rank of makushita 4 and was promoted to juryo in July 1988.

### **Juryo Career**

Tachihikari posted unspectacular records in his first juryo stint and climbed no higher than juryo 7. After eight tournaments in juryo he was demoted back down to makushita. He returned to makushita two years later in July 1991. He produced four consecutive winning records in his return and was promoted to makuuchi in July 1992.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In his lone makuuchi tournament, Tachihikari won seven matches. Six of the seven matches that he won, he employed the overarm throw (uwatenage). However, since Tachihikari was ranked at the bottom of makuuchi, his 7-8 regulated him back down to juryo.

### **Later Career**

After his demotion, Tachihikari continued to produce losing records and he fell back down to makushita after five consecutive losing records. He immediately returned to juryo, but he only managed to stay in juryo for one tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

In January 1994 he produced a winless record and was guaranteed to fall back to sandanme. As a result he announced his retirement after the tournament at the age of 30. After his pro-wrestling career, he ran a snack bar like his mother, and now he is engaged in the water plumbing industry.

### **Professional Wrestling Career**

After retiring he joined Wrestle Association R (WAR) and fought under the ring name Osamu Tachihikari. he made his debut in March 26th, 1994. He also wrestled for the promotion Big Japan Pro-Wrestling and Dramatic Dream Team (DDT). As of 2020 his last match wrestled was in 2017.

### **MMA Career**

Tachihikari also participated in mixed martial arts during his pro wrestling career. He made his MMA debut in the Pride FC - Pride Grand Prix 2000 event in Tokyo, Japan where he lost to Gary Goodridge in the first round by submission (forearm choke). He also fought for promotions DEEP and Seikendo. He finished with a 0-4-0 record.

## **Fighting Style**

Tachihikari preferred a migi-yotsu or right hand inside, left hand outside grip on his opponent's mawashi, and his speciality was uwatenage, or overarm throw, which was his most common winning kimarite. His favorite kimarite was the extremely rare harimanage, or backward belt throw, which he employed four times.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 340-316-7-1d/657 (73 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 7-8/15 (1 basho)
* **Juryo:** 134-151/285 (19 basho)
* **Makushita:** 124-107-7/231 (34 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 47-36-1d/84 (12 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 22-13/35 (5 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (March 1982)

## **Shikona History**

* Kawahara Osamu (1982.01 - 1984.11)
* Tachihikari Denemon (1985.01 - 1994.01)

## **Gallery**

Tachihikari poses with his kesho-mawashi (c. 1992)Tachihikari (c. 1993)Tachihikari's career as a professional wrestler (c. 2000)Tachihikari's signature
## **Sources**

* Tachihikari Denemon Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tachihikari Denemon Rikishi Information