Hidenoyama Raigoro

Hidenoyama Raigoro - 秀ノ山 雷五郎 (born 1808 - June 16, 1862) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Motoyoshi District, Mutsu. He made his debut in November 1850 and wrestled for Hidenoyama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1828 and has six top division championships. He was the 9th yokozuna and he retired in March 1850.

## **Early Life**

Tatsugoro Kikuta was born the eldest son of parents involved in the maritime transport industry. He was raised in Motoyoshi District in Mutsu Province (modern Kesennuma, Miyagi). Since his parents were involved in the maritime transport industry, many unloaders would come in and out of his house. Among the unloaders was a former sumo wrestler who introduced Kikuta to the sport. In 1823, he attempted to make his debut, but he was completely ignored at first due to his short height of only 1.51 m (4 ft 11.5 in). He returned four years later and was admitted into Hidenoyama stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He joined Hidenoyama stable in 1827 and made his debut in March 1828 at the shinjo division under the shikona "Kitayama Tatsugoro" (北山 辰五郎). Upon promotion to juryo in January 1835, he was given the shikona "Amatsukaze Kumoemon" (天津風 雲右エ門). In November 1836, he finished with a 5-2-1draw record at the rank of juryo 3 and was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 1837.

### **Makuuchi Career**

From October 1838 to November 1839, he won 30 consecutive matches and the equivalent of three consecutive championships (though this was before the championship system was established). Upon promotion to sekiwake in February 1840, he was given the shikona "Tatsugami Kumoemon" (立神 雲右エ門). Two tournaments later, he was promoted to ozeki in January 1841.

### **Ozeki Career**

He could only manage to retain his ozeki rank for three tournaments and was demoted back down to sekiwake in October 1842. After losing his ozeki rank, he changed his shikona to "Iwamigata Joemon" (岩見潟 丈右エ門) and was promoted back to ozeki in October 1844. He was given the shikona "Hidenoyama Raigoro" (秀ノ山 雷五郎) in 1845.

### **Yokozuna Career**

Hidenoyama was awarded a yokozuna licence in November 1847. His height of 1.64 m (5 ft 4.5 in) is lowest among all yokozuna in sumo's long history. He was not one of the greatest wrestlers of his time, but received the license because he had influential backers. Ozeki Tsurugizan Taniemon reportedly handed over the yokozuna license to Hidenoyama. At the time of his yokozuna promotion, he had already won the equivalent of six top division championships. In the top makuuchi division, he won 112 bouts and lost 21 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 84.2.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After his retirement in March 1850, he was an elder known as Hidenoyama and produced later yokozuna Jinmaku. He served as a judge (naka-aratame, modern shimpan) but this gave him many opportunities to give favourable decisions to his own pupils. At that time, there were many lower division wrestlers and they were sometimes forced to be absent from sumo bouts. They attempted to have their number of sumo bouts increased. He had the right of deciding their attendances and rejected this, excluding his own pupils. The other lower ranking wrestlers were angry, accusing him of bias, and went on strike because of his practices in 1851. It was the first walkout in sumo history. He eventually apologized to them.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 123-30-96-38draws-2holds/193 (31 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 112-21-96-33draws-2holds/168 (27 basho)
* **Juryo:** 11-9-5draws/25 (4 basho)

### **Championships**

* 6 Unofficial **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (October 1838)
	+ 2nd (March 1839)
	+ 3rd (November 1839)
	+ 4th (January 1843)
	+ 5th (October 1844)
	+ 6th (March 1845)

## **Shikona History**

* Kitayama Tatsugoro (1828.03 - 1834.11)
* Amatsukaze Kumoemon (1835.01 - 1839.11)
* Tatsugami Kumoemon (1840.02 - 1842.02)
* Iwamigata Joemon (1842.10 - 1844.10)
* Hidenoyama Raigoro (1845.03 - 1850.03)

## **Sources**

* Hidenoyama Raigoro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hidenoyama Raigoro Rikishi Information