Shimizugawa Motokichi

Shimizugawa Motokichi - 清水川 元吉 (born January 3, 1900 - July 5, 1967) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Miyoshi, Aomori. He made his debut in January 1917 and wrestled for Hatachiyama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1923 and has one kinboshi and three top division championships. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in May 1937.

## **Early Life**

Yonesaku Nagao was born the eldest son of a farmer in the village of Miyoshi (currently Goshogawara) in Aomori prefecture. Due to the harsh labor he endured on his farm, he gained a strong physique from an early age and was dominant in the local sumo scene. In 1916 he was recruited by former komusubi Konishiki II into Hatachiyama stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He moved to Tokyo in 1917 and made his professional debut in January 1917 under the shikona "Shimizugawa" (清水川). He was promoted to sandanme in May 1919 and makushita in May 1920. He was promoted to juryo in January 1922 and two tournaments later, he was promoted to makuuchi in January 1923.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Shimizugawa initally was unable to establish himself in the top division. He gradually worked his way up the rankings and in May 1925, he defeated yokozuna Tsunenohana to earn his first and only kinboshi. He was promoted to komusubi for the following tournament, but sat out of the whole tournament.

Prior to the May 1927 tournament, Shimizugawa was involved in an incident with the yakuza and subsequently withdrew from the tournament. He continue to sit out of the following tournaments, and in March 1928 he was excommunicated from his stable. During his time out of sumo, he travelled around Kagoshima prefecture, Kobe city, Hyogo prefecture, and even Manchuria. In October 1928 he requested that the Japan Sumo Association reinstated him which they ultimatley did.

Upon returning to sumo, Shimizugawa was placed at the bottom of juryo, but after winning two consecutive juryo championships in March and May 1929, he was promoted back to makuuchi in January 1930. In October 1930 he finished with a 9-2 record and was runner-up to ozeki Tamanishiki. In May 1931, Shimizugawa finished with a 10-1 record and was runner-up to komusubi Musashiyama who also finished with a 10-1 record, but since the playoff system was not established, the yusho was awarded to Musahsiyama who was ranked higher at the time.

Shimizugawa was promoted to sekiwake in January 1932 which also coincided with the Shujuen Incident where many wrestlers went on strike, demanding reform from the Sumo Association. Shimizugawa ultimatley did not wrestle this tournament, but also sided with the Sumo Association as they allowed him to return four years prior. One month later, in the following February 1932 tournament, Shimizugawa won his first makuuchi yusho with a perfect 8-0 record. He followed with his third runner-up performance in March 1932 and was promoted to ozeki in May 1932.

### **Ozeki Career**

In his ozeki debut, Shimizugawa finished with a 10-1 record and was runner-up to yokozuna Tamanishiki who also finished with a 10-1 record. In fact Shimizugawa defeated yokozuna Tamnishiki, handing him his only loss, but since the playoff system was not established, the yusho was handed to Tamanishiki instead. In the following October 1932 tournament, Shimizugawa won his second championship with a 9-2 record. He won his third championship in May 1934 with a perfect 11-0 record. Depsite winning three championships in the span of two years, he was overlooked for promotion to yokozuna while two men with inferior records to him, Musashiyama and Minanogawa, were both promoted to yokozuna instead. It has been suggested that this was because Shimizugawa belonged to a small stable, Hatachiyama, whereas Musashiyama and Minanogawa were both members of much larger and more influential stables (Dewanoumi and Takasago, respectively).

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After finishing as runner-up in the May 1937 tournament, his fifth runner-up performance, Shimizugawa announced his retirement. He remained in the sumo world as an elder under the name Oitekaze Oyakata, and was head coach of the Oitekaze stable. Among the wrestlers he produced was a komusubi to whom he gave his old shikona or fighting name, Shimizugawa Akio.

## **Fighting Style**

Shimizugawa 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 uwatenage (overarm throw) followed by yoritaoshi (crush out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 272-157-48-1draws-8holds/438 (53 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 193-130-44-1draws-2holds/326 (35 basho)
* **Juryo:** 53-17-4-2holds/72 (8 basho)
* **Makushita:** 8-4-3holds/15 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 8-2/10 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 7-2-1hold/10 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 3-2/5 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 3 **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (February 1932)
	+ 2nd (October 1932)
	+ 3rd (May 1934)
* 2 **Juryo** Championships
	+ 1st (March 1929)
	+ 2nd (May 1929)

## **Shikona History**

* Shimizugawa Yonesaku (1917.01 - 1926.05)
* Shimizugawa Kiyoyuki (1927.01 - 1927.03)
* Shimizugawa Yonesaku (1927.05 - 1931.03)
* Shimizugawa Motokichi (1931.05 - 1937.05)

## **Gallery**

Shimizugawa Motokichi - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)
## **Sources**

* Shimizugawa Motokichi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Shimizugawa Motokichi Rikishi Information