Ononishiki Kisaburo

Ononishiki Kisaburo - 小野錦 喜三郎 (born March 20, 1922 - November 24, 1990) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. He made his debut in May 1938 and wrestled for Onogawa stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1957. His highest rank was maegashira 16 and he retired in March 1960.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Ikegawa joined Onogawa stable and made his professional debut in May 1938. Initially wrestling under the shikona "Jinnohana" (陣ノ花), he was promoted to sandanme in May 1940 and makushita in January 1943. However, after his makushita debut he was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army for military service in World War II and he did not return to sumo until after the war in November 1946. He changed his shikona to "Ononishiki" (小野錦) in January 1950. He was promoted to juryo in January 1955 and by this time, he was already 32 years old.

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Ononishiki finished with a 7-8 record. He produced rather unspectacular results during his juryo run, but after two years he was eventually promoted to makuuchi in March 1957.

### **Makuuchi Career**

At the time of his makuuchi promotion, Ononishiki was 34 years and 11 months and was by far the oldest rikishi promoted to the top division. The record has since not been broken with Yoshiazuma (34 years and 3 months) being a close second. He finished with a 5-10 record in his top division debut and was demoted back down to juryo. He returned to makuuchi in September 1957 and managed an 8-7 record. This made him also the oldest wrestler to produce his first makuuchi kachi-koshi (winning record) at the age of 35 years, 6 months and 9 days. Akiseyama, who was promoted back to makuuchi in January 2021, produced his first kachi-koshi at the age of 35 years, 6 months, and 4 days, which is only 5 days short of Ononishiki's record. Ononishiki was ranked in makuuchi for a total of five tournaments and he remained in juryo for the majority of his later career. He faced off against future Yokozuna Taiho in juryo in 1959 and was 18 years his senior and Taiho was not even born when Ononishiki made his professional debut. They fought a total of 3 times with Ononishiki leading 2-1.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Upon falling down to makushita in March 1960, he retired from sumo. He was 38 years old at the time of his retirement. After retiring, he opened up a chanko restaurant in Osaka called "Ononishiki" (小野錦).

### **Death**

He died on November 24, 1990, at the age of 68 due to kidney cancer.

## **Fighting Style**

Ononishiki was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite was oshidashi (push out), followed by yorikiri (force out). He was also fond of employing tsuppari, or a series of rapid thrusts to the chest.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 356-367-20/723 (62 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 31-44/75 (5 basho)
* **Juryo:** 154-161/315 (21 basho)
* **Makushita:** 124-128-20/252 (25 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 36-26/62 (7 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 5-3/8 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-3/8 (1 basho)
* **Shinjo:** 1-2/3 (1 basho)

## **Achievements**

* Jinnohana (1938.05 - 1949.10)
* Ononishiki Kisaburo (1950.01 - 1960.03)

## **Gallery**

Ononishiki with his kesho-mawashiThe entrance to Ononishiki's restaurant: Ononishiki (小野錦)Ononishiki is the oldest wrestler promoted to makuuchi at 34
## **Sources**

* Ononishiki Kisaburo Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Ononishiki Kisaburo Rikishi Information