Otori Tanigoro

Otori Tanigoro - 鳳 谷五郎 (born April 3, 1887 - November 16, 1956) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Omori, Chiba. He made his debut in May 1903 and last wrestled for Miyagino stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1909 and has two championships. He was the 24th yokozuna and he retired in May 1920.

## **Early Life**

Akira Takida was born in the village of Omori (currently Inzai city) in Chiba Prefecture. His father was former professional sumo wrestler who belonged to Isenoumi stable and made it up to sandanme before retiring to take over his family's rice shop. Due to his close relationship to his father, Takida became fond of sumo and wanted to pursue it as well. He was then recruited into Miyagino stable by ozeki Hoo.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in May 1903 and was given the shikona "Otori" (大鳥) .After five years in the unsalaried ranks, he was promoted to juryo in May 1908 and subsequently changed the spelling of his shikona to "Otori Tanigoro" (鳳 谷五郎) which was used by an ozeki in the Edo period. In his first tournament as a sekitori, he posted a strong 6-0-1draw-1-hold record and was promoted straight to makuuchi for the following January 1909 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

After two tournaments in the maegashira ranks, Otori was promoted to sekiwake in January 1910, but was unable to maintain the rank. He returned to sekiwake in May 1912 and finished runner-up to yokozuna Tachiyama with a 7-1-2draw record. He was promoted to ozeki for the following January 1913 tournament.

### **Ozeki Career**

He won his first tournament championship in his debut tournament at the rank of ozeki in January 1913. He was undefeated in that tournament, recording seven wins, one draw and one no decision. His second championship in January 1915, which he took with ten straight wins, saw him promoted to yokozuna.

### **Yokozuna Career**

Okuma Shigenobu presented a tachi, or long sword, to him. However, his record at sumo's highest rank was very patchy and he did not manage to win any further championships. He was known for his wide variety of techniques, but at that time the most popular yokozuna was Hitachiyama and so his fighting style was regarded as unacceptable. His record as yokozuna was 35 wins against 24 defeats, compared with 36 wins and only four defeats at ozeki. He retired in May 1920. In the top makuuchi division, he won 108 bouts and lost 49 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 68.8.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He was head coach of Miyagino stable from 1916 until his death in 1956 (there was no mandatory retirement age for oyakata at that time). He had insisted that his successor had to be a yokozuna, so it became inactive for a while. Eventually yokozuna Yoshibayama revived the stable and assumed the Miyagino name in 1960.

### **Death**

He died at his home in Chiba city on November 16, 1956 due to a stroke. He was 69 years old.

## **Personal Life**

His son-in-law was a professional sumo wrestler who wrestled for Miyagino stable under the ring name Fukunosato. His great grandson, Akira Tanaka, was a professional baseball player.

On November 11, 2006, a monument to Otori was established in his home city of Inzai.

## **Fighting Style**

Otori was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a hidari-yotsu (right hand outside, left hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). He employed many types of throws such as kakenage (hooking inner thigh throw), sukuinage (beltless arm throw), and kotenage (armlock throw).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 113-49-68-7draws-11holds/180 (25 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 107-49-68-6draws-10holds/172 (24 basho)
* **Juryo:** 6-0-1draw-1hold/8 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (January 1913)
	+ 2nd (January 1915)

## **Shikona History**

* Otori (1903.05 - 1908.01)
* Otori Tanigoro (1908.05 - 1920.05)

## **Gallery**

Otori Tanigoro - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)
## **Sources**

* Otori Tanigoro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Otori Tanigoro Rikishi Information