Umegatani Totaro (born 1878)

## Umegatani Totaro

Umegatani Totaro - 梅ヶ谷 藤太郎 (born March 11, 1878 - September 2, 1927) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Toyama City, Toyoma Prefecture. He made his debut in June 1892 and wrestled for Ikazuchi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1898 and has three top division championships. He was the 20th yokozuna and he retired in June 1915.

## **Early Life**

He was born Oshida Otojiro (押田 音次郎), but later changed his name to Koe Otomatsu (小江 音松). He was adopted by the 15th yokozuna Umegatani Totaro I and joined his Ikazuchi stable in June 1892 at the age of 14. His father was initially reluctant to let him join at such a young age but Umegatani Totaro I personally guaranteed his well-being.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in 1892 and initially wrestled under the shikona "Umenotani Otomatsu" (梅ノ谷 音松). In the stable, he was trained by Onigatani. He rose through the ranks quickly, making his juryo debut in January 1897 and reaching the top makuuchi division in January 1898.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In the summer 1898 tournament, his second top division tournament, he tied ozeki Asashio Taro I with a 7-1-1-1draw record. Back then there was no championship system (not established until 1909) or a playoff system. After three tournaments ranked at san'yaku, he was promoted to ozeki in May 1900.

### **Ozeki Career**

He officially took on the Umegatani Totaro name before his fourth tournament as an ozeki in January 1902. He met Hitachiyama in May 1903 when both ozeki were undefeated. The clash caused great excitement throughout Japan. Although Umegatani lost the match, after the tournament both he and Hitachiyama were promoted to yokozuna, Umegatani's promotion being awarded at Hitachiyama's insistence.

### **Yokozuna Career**

Umegatani had reached sumo's highest rank at the age of 25 years and 3 months, making him the youngest ever yokozuna at that time. The record stood until the promotion of Terukuni in 1942.

He had the best record in at least three championships before June 1909, when the yusho system was established by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper (the Japan Sumo Association officially recognised the system in 1926). There were two other instances where Umegatani achieved championship level performances not recorded as such by all sources. In the first, in the summer 1898 tournament, Umegatani tied ozeki Asashio Taro I with a 7-1-1-1draw record. Also, in the spring 1904 tournament, Umegatani finished with a record of 7-1-1 and 1 hold, slightly better than west yokozuna Hitachiyama Taniemon's 7-1-2 record, and a number of sources include this as an unofficial championship. Umegatani had the best record in the 1909 spring tournament, the last tournament before the yusho system began in June 1909. Although he did not win any championships officially, he was given a prize frame in honor of his contribution when he retired in June 1915. This was his prize frame for his career from between the June 1909 tournament and the January 1910 tournament. His bouts were more masterly than his record because his techniques were orthodox methods. Although he was extremely heavy for his short height, he showed great skill.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He missed many bouts in his later career due to illness, retiring at the age of 37. In the top *makuuchi* division, he won 168 bouts and lost 27 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 86.2. So many people wished to attend his retirement ceremony that it was held over three days. He died at the age of 49 due to a heart attack whilst still active in sumo as a judge and head of Ikazuchi stable. The stable folded upon his death.

## **Fighting Style**

Umegatani was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. He was also fond of employing tsuri, or lifting techniques.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 183-31-116-48d-2a/264 (39 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 168-27-116-47d-2a/244 (36 basho)
* **Juryo:** 15-4-1d/20 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 3 Unofficial **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (January 1902)
	+ 2nd (January 1908)
	+ 3rd (January 1909)

## **Shikona History**

* Umenotani Otomatsu (1892.06 - 1901.05)
* Umegatani Totaro (1902.01 - 1912.05)
* Umegatani Mineemon (1913.01 - 1913.01)
* Umegatani Totaro (1913.05 - 1915.06)

## **Gallery**

Umegatani Totaro - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Umegatani's tegata
## **Sources**

* Umegatani Totaro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Umegatani Totaro Rikishi Information