Noshirogata Kinsaku

Noshirogata Kinsaku - 能代潟 錦作 (born April 5, 1895 - June 5, 1973) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Fujisato, Akita. He made his debut in January 1915 and wrestled for Nishikijima stable. He reached the makuuchi division in May 1921 and has one kinboshi and one top division championship. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in January 1927.

## **Early Life**

Iwamatsu Ishida was born the second son of a farmer in the town of Fujisato in Akita prefecture. He was strong from an early age and worked at a local mine and his family's farm. In the spring of 1914, his local mine held a festival, and Ishida participated in amateur sumo wrestling at the festival. In the summer of the same year, he was scouted by sekiwake Orochigata who also came from Akita prefecture.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He subsequently joined Nishikijima stable and made his professional debut at the makushita division in January 1915 under the shikona "Tsukiyama" (突山).

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo in May 1919 he was given the shikona "Noshirogata" (能代潟) which was used temporarily by his recruiter Orochigata during his time in juryo as well. After four tournaments in juryo, Noshirogata was promoted to makuuchi in May 1921.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Shortly before his top division debut, Noshirogata developed a bout of appendicitis and completley missed the tournament. He was demoted back down to juryo, but he was immediatley promoted back to makuuchi in May 1922 after winning the juryo yusho in March 1922 with a 7-1 record. He was promoted to sekiwake in January 1925, and four tournaments later, he was promoted to ozeki in January 1927.

### **Ozeki Career**

In October 1927 Noshirogata finished with a 10-1 record and was runner-up to yokozuna Tsunenohana who also finished with a 10-1 record, however, since the playoff system was not established yet, the yusho was awarded to Tsunenohana. Two tournaments later in March 1928, Noshirogata went undefeated and claimed his first makuuchi championship. In October 1928, Noshirogata finished with a 9-2 record and was runner-up to yokozuna Miyagiyama who also finished with a 9-2 record, but as previosuley mentioned, the playoff system was not established yet. After three consecutive losing records, Noshirogata was demoted back down to sekiwake in May 1930, but he returned to ozeki two tournaments later in January 1931. However, after more lackluster results, he lost his ozeki rank again in January 1933.

### **Later Career**

In May 1933, Noshirogata defeated Tamanishiki to earn his first and only career kinboshi. He still mainly wrestled at the san'yaku level, but due to asthma and neuralgia, he retired from the sport in May 1936. His career spanned over 21 years and he was 41 years old at the time of retirement.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Upon retiring from sumo, he remained in the sumo world under the name Tatsutayama. He initially worked as a coach for Nishikijima stable before branching out and establishing Tatsutayama stable in January 1940. Among the wrestlers that transferred to his newly founded stable was komusubi Matsuragata. On March 10, 1945, Matsuragata was killed due to bombing of Tokyo and the stable closed shortly after with the staff transferring back to Nishikijima stable.

He reached the Japan Sumo Association's mandatoy retirement age in January 1961. He died on June 8, 1973, at the age of 78.

## **Fighting Style**

Noshirogata was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 256-184-43-9draws-1hold/449 (48 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 230-171-43-9draws-1hold/410 (43 basho)
* **Juryo:** 26-13/39 (5 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Tsukiyama (1915.01 - 1919.01)
* Noshirogata Kinsaku (1919.05 - 1936.05)

## **Gallery**

Noshirogata Kinsaku - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)
## **Sources**

* Noshirogata Kinsaku Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Noshirogata Kinsaku Rikishi Information