Araiwa Kamenosuke (born 1871)

## Araiwa Kamenosuke

Araiwa Kamenosuke - 荒岩 亀之助 (born February 29, 1871 - September 3, 1920) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Daisen, Tottori. He made his debut in January 1894 and wrestled for Oguruma stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1897 and has three kinboshi and six top division championships. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in January 1909.

## **Early Life**

Tokusaburo Yamazaki was born the second son of a lumberjack in the town of Daisen in Tottori prefecture. Since he was child, he helped out with the family business which naturally made him stronger and he also participated in local amateur sumo tournaments. In 1891 he was recruited by a person involved with Osaka sumo and subsequently joined Kitajin stable.

## **Career**

### **Osaka Sumo Career**

He made his Osaka sumo debut in 1891 under the shikona "Shinryu" (真竜) and gradually climbed up the ranks. However, one time when he was cleaning his senior stablemate's back at a public bath, he was angry that the stablemate had beaten him since he was "bad" and immediatley quit Osaka sumo.

### **Early Career**

He immediatley moved to Tokyo and was recruited by future ozeki Otohira to join Oguruma stable. He made his debut for Tokyo sumo in January 1894 at the sandanme division. Upon promotion to juryo in May 1896, he was given the shikona "Araiwa Kamenosuke" (荒岩 亀之助). He was immediatley promoted to makuuchi in January 1897 after only one tournament in juryo.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In his first top division tournament tournament, Araiwa defeated yokozuna Konishiki, however, kinboshi were not officially recorded until 1930. Furthermore, he finished with a 7-1-1-1draw record which was equivalent of his first yusho, however, championships were not recorded until 1906. He had the best record in six tournaments before the modern yushi system awarding a championship to the wrestler with the best record was established. In two of these runs he did not suffer a single defeat or draw. In May 1900, he had the best record as sekiwake without a single defeat or draw but was not promoted to ozeki. The reason is said to be that he was small compared to other ozeki.

### **Ozeki Career**

In May 1905, he managed to reach ozeki, and had a perfect tournament without a single defeat or draw. However, in the end, he was never promoted to yokozuna. Toward his later career, his sumo declined due to rheumatism and he ultimatley retired from sumo in January 1909.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring from sumo, Araiwa remained in the sumo world as an elder under the name Hanakago. He died on September 3, 1920, at the age of 49 after returning from a continental tour.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 128-30-88-11draws-3holds/172 (26 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 120-29-88-10draws-3holds/162 (25 basho)
* **Juryo:** 8-1-1draw/10 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 6 Unofficial **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (January 1897)
	+ 2nd (May 1897)
	+ 3rd (May 1899)
	+ 4th (May 1900)
	+ 5th (May 1901)
	+ 6th (May 1905)

### **Achievements**

* **Kinboshi:** 3: (2) Konishiki I, (1) Hitachiyama

## **Shikona History**

* Shinryu
* Hakuoyama
* Shinryu
* Araiwa Kamenosuke (1896.05 - 1909.01)

## **Gallery**

Araiwa Kamenosuke poses with his kesho-mawashi
## **Sources**

* Araiwa Kamenosuke Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Araiwa Kamenosuke Rikishi Information