Konishiki Yasokichi (born 1866)

## Konishiki Yasokichi

Konishiki Yasokichi - 小錦 八十吉 (born October 15, 1866 - October 22, 1914) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Musha District, Kazusa. He made his debut in May 1883 and last wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1888 and has seven top division championships. He was the 17th yokozuna and he retired in January 1901.

## **Early Life**

Iwai was born in Musha District in Kazusa Province (modern day Yokoshibahikari, Chiba) to restaurant owners. His father was a sumo wrestler who rose to the rank of ozeki and wrestled under the shikona "Iwakigawa" (岩城川). Because of this, Iwai was eager to join sumo and he subsequently met sekiwake Takamiyama in 1881 who recruited him into Takasago stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Initially Iwai struggled due to the rigorous training and fled back to his hometown on many separate occasions. With the encouragement of his father, he returned to the stable and made his official debut in May 1883 under the shikona "Konishiki Yasokichi" (小錦 八十吉). Upon promotion to sandanme, he became increasingly dominant on the dohyo due to his immense training regimen. He was promoted to juryo in January 1888 and posted a strong 8-2 record to earn a direct promotion to makuuchi in May 1888.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In his first top division tournament, Konishiki won his first championship with a 8-0-1-1hold record, however, since the championship-system was not established until 1909 all of Konishiki's championships are not recognized. He followed by winning his second championship in January 1889. He subsequently won 39 consecutive matches from his makuuchi debut and was promoted to ozeki in May 1890.

### **Ozeki Career**

Konishiki was ranked as ozeki for six years, winning four more championships along the way. After winning a total of seven championships, he was awarded a yokozuna licence by the house of Yoshida Tsukasa in March 1896. He became the first person in his 20s to earn such a license.

### **Yokozuna Career**

Around the time of his promotion to yokozuna, his stablemaster Takasago Uragoro suffered an illness, and so Konishiki took care of him. In spite of his amazing debut, he did not have the best record in any tournaments as yokozuna. He never managed to win a championship during his time as yokozuna. On April 8, 1900, his stablemaster died. Konishiki was absent from the next tournament and retired in January 1901. In the top makuuchi division, he won 119 bouts and lost 24 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 83.2.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring, Konishiki remained in the Japan Sumo Association as an elder under the name Hatachiyama. He later branched out of Takasago stable and established his own Hatachiyama stable. As an oyakata (coach), he produced multiple top division wrestlers, including komusubi Konishiki II and ozeki Chibagasaki. When Takasago Oyakata (former Sekiwake Takamiyama) died in July 1914, he was appointed the successor, but he died shortly after in October 1914 at the age of 48 and never inherited the stable.

## **Personal Life**

Film of Konishiki dating back to 1900 was discovered in a house belonging to a descendant of a missionary in Japan. This made him the oldest yokozuna with surviving footage of his dohyo-iri, or ring entering ceremony. Some aspects of the ceremony such as the Shiko (leg stamps) are a bit different, but the overall performance is relatively the same as its present form.

The Hawaiian born ozeki Konishiki Yasokichi was named after him. Ozeki Konishiki was actually the 6th Konishiki, and three wrestlers named Konishiki have been promoted to the top makuuchi division.

## **Fighting Style**

Konishiki was a tsuki/oshi specialist, who prefers pushing and thrusting at his opponents rather than fighting on the mawashi or belt. He was fond of employing tsuppari, a series of rapid thrusts to the chest. He was somewhat weak on technical skills, but had great speed.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 127-26-101-9d-7a/169 (27 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 119-24-101-9d-7a/159 (26 basho)
* **Juryo:** 8-2/10 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 7 Unofficial **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (May 1888)
	+ 2nd (January 1889)
	+ 3rd (January 1890)
	+ 4th (January 1891)
	+ 5th (June 1892)
	+ 6th (May 1893)
	+ 7th (Janaury 1895)

## **Shikona History**

* Konishiki Yasokichi (1888.01 - 1901.01)

## **Sources**

* Konishiki Yasokichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Konishiki Yasokichi Rikishi Information