Tsunenohana Kanichi

Tsunenohana Kanichi - 常ノ花 寛市 (born November 23, 1896 - November 28, 1960) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Okayama City, Okayama. He made his debut in January 1910 and wrestled for Dewanoumi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1917 and has and 10 top division championships. He was the 31st yokozuna and he retired in October 1930.

## **Early Life**

He was born Yamanobe Kanichi (山野辺 寛一) in Okayama, Japan. Kanichi was a smart child and when he was 12, a large fire broke out in Osaka, and he planned and held a children-sumo tournament and donated the profits to victims of the fire. He was later recruited into Dewanoumi stable at the age of 13.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in January 1910 and was given the shikona "Tsunenohana" (常ノ花). He was promoted to sandanme in January 1913 and makushita in January 1914. After three tournaments in makushita, he was promoted to juryo in June 1915.

### **Juryo Career**

At the time of his juryo promotion, Tsunenohana was only 18 years old and was the youngest sekitori. In January 1917 he won the juryo yusho with a 7-2 record and was promoted to makuuchi in May 1917.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In his third top division tournament, Tsunenohana finished runner-up to Tochigiyama with an 8-1-1 record. He was subsequently promoted straight to sekiwake for the following January 1919 tournament. He produced three consecutive winning records and was promoted to ozeki in May 1920.

### **Ozeki Career**

Tsunenohana sat out of his ozeki debut due to a thigh injury which he suffered during training. One year later in May 1921, he won his first top division championship with a perfect 10-0 record. In May 1923, he won his second championship 9-0-1draw-1hold record. He followed with an 8-2 record runner-up performance and his Yokozuna promotion was confirmed after the January 1924 tournament.

### **Yokozuna Career**

In January 1926, Tsunenohana won his third championship with a perfect 11-0 record. From March to October 1927, Tsunenohana won three consecutive championships, all with 10–1 records. In May 1928, he won his seventh championship with a perfect 11-0 record. He won his eighth and ninth championships successively in May and September 1929. His tenth and final championship came in March 1930 where he finished with a 10-1 record. He was much stronger than his opponents and had no serious rivals. As a result, turnout at tournaments tended to be quite poor. He fought his last bouts in May of that year and officially retired in October. His retirement came very suddenly, as he was at the height of his powers, and it left Miyagiyama as the only yokozuna.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring from active competition in 1930 he became the head of the Dewanoumi stable, initially on an acting basis only, and was known as Fukushima Oyakata. In 1949 he became the official head coach and the seventh Dewanoumi Oyakata. From 1944 to 1957 was also the chairman of the Sumo Association. During his tenure as chairman, in 1956, he performed his kanreki dohyo-iri or '60th year ring entrance ceremony' to commemorate his years as yokozuna. Later on in his tenure, he began to be blamed for the Sumo Association's problems and attempted to commit suicide by a sword and gas in May 1957. He was rescued, but retired as chairman. He remained the head of Dewanoumi stable until his death in November 1960 at the age of 64.

### **Death**

He died suddenly on November 28, 1960, at an inn in Fukuoka due to a peptic ulcer. He was 64 years old.

## **Fighting Style**

Tsunenohana was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). However, his most common kimarite was tsukidashi, or thrust out as he was fond of employing tsuppari, a series of rapid thrusts to the chest. He regularly won by uwatenage (overarm throw) and yaguranage (inner thigh throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 263-81-66-8d-10a/361 (49 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 221-58-66-8d-6a/292 (34 basho)
* **Juryo:** 14-8-2a/24 (4 basho)
* **Makushita:** 11-4/15 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 6-3-1a/10 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 9-5-1a/15 (3 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 2-3/5 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 10 **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (May 1921)
	+ 2nd (May 1923)
	+ 3rd (January 1926)
	+ 4th (March 1927)
	+ 5th (May 1927)
	+ 6th (October 1927)
	+ 7th (May 1928)
	+ 8th (May 1929)
	+ 9th (September 1929)
	+ 10th (March 1930)
* 1 **Juryo** Championship (January 1917)

## **Shikona History**

* Tsunenohana Kanichi (1910.01 - 1930.10)

## **Gallery**

Tsunenohana Kanichi - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Tsunenohana's tegata
## **Sources**

* Tsunenohana Kanichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tsunenohana Kanichi Rikishi Information