Tamanishiki Sanemon

Tamanishiki Sanemon - 玉錦 三右衛門 (born December 15, 1903 - December 4, 1938) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kochi City, Kochi Prefecture. He made his debut in January 1919 and last wrestled for Nishonoseki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1926 and has 1 kinboshi and 9 top division championships. He was the 32nd yokozuna and he died while as an active wrestler in December 1938.

## **Early Life**

Yasuki Nishinouchi was born the eldest son of farmers in Kochi, Japan. Ever since he was child, he liked sumo and was much stronger than many of his peers. After graduating from elementary school he was recruited into professional sumo by yokozuna Tachiyama.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He joined Nishonoseki stable, but was unable to make his debut immediately as he was only 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) tall and weighed 65 kg (143 Ib) which made him unable to meet the size requirement. As a result, he trained at the stable and put on weight for around three years before making his official debut in January 1919 under the shikona "Tamanishiki" (玉錦). His stable was extremely small and therefore, he often visited Dewanoumi stable and was trained by yokozuna Tochigiyama Moriya which proved beneficial as he steadily progressed up the rankings. He was promoted to sandanme in May 1921 and makushita in May 1923. After six years in the unsalaried ranks, he was promoted to juryo in January 1925.

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Tamanishiki finished with a strong 5-1 record. He followed with a 5-2 record and was promoted to makuuchi in January 1926 after only two tournaments in juryo.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Tamanishiki finished with a solid 8-3 record in his top division debut. In March 1927, he defeated yokozuna Miyagiyama to earn his first and only career kinboshi. He was promoted to komusubi in January 1928 and sekiwake in May 1928. In his sekiwake debut, Tamanishiki was runner-up to Tsunenohana with a 9-2 record. Two tournaments later in January 1929, Tamanishiki claimed his first top division championship with a 10-1 record. He followed with two 9-2 runner-up performances and was eventually promoted to ozeki in May 1930.

### **Ozeki Career**

Tamanishiki won three consecutive championships from October 1930 to March 1931, but he was not promoted to yokozuna. In 1931, his Nishonoseki stable closed down so he transferred to Kumegawa stable. He went on to re-establish Nishonoseki stable in 1935 while as an active wrestler (this practice is no longer allowed). In January 1932, the "Shunjuen Incident" (春秋園事件, Shunjuen-Jiken) broke out. The incident was the biggest walkout in sumo history. He was one of eleven top division wrestlers who remained in sumo and became the first head of Rikishikai (力士会), or the association of active sumo wrestlers. He won his fifth top division championship in May 1932 and was finally awarded a yokozuna licence in November 1932.

### **Yokozuna Career**

He was the first yokozuna in sumo since the retirement of Miyagiyama a year and a half earlier. His promotion was seen as a reward for staying with the Sumo Association and helping them through the Shunjuen Incident.

Tamanishiki often went to Tatsunami stable and trained wrestlers, such as later yokozuna Futabayama Sadaji. Tatsunami stable was small at that time, but the stable became stronger in the sumo world later on. Tamanishiki defeated Futabayama the first six times they met in competition, but he was never able to beat him again after Futabayama began his record winning run in 1936.

Tamanishiki was the first yokozuna to raise one leg high while performing yokozuna dohyo-iri (the yokozuna ring-entering ceremony). His style was said to have been beautiful and when Futabayama was promoted to yokozuna he emulated this style. This style is very popular now in yokozuna ceremonies.

Tamanishiki was still a very dominant yokozuna and was runner-up to Asashio in his first tournament as yokozuna. In his second tournament he won his sixth top division championship with a 10-1 record. From January 1935 to January 1936, he won three consecutive top division championships to bring his total up to nine. He wrestled his last tournament in May 1938, finishing with a 10-3 record.

## **Death**

In November 1938, while on a regional tour, Tamanishiki complained of abdominal pain and it was discovered that he had developed peritonitis. He was urgently recommend to visit a hospital, but Tamanishiki refused. In December of the same year, Tamanishiki later agreed to visit the hospital to have his appendix checked. While waiting for his ride to the hospital, Tamanishiki rubbed his stomach with a hot towel to alleviate his abdominal pain and it seemed to work. However, shortly after the pain resurfaced and he was in need of immediate surgery. When the surgeon opened up his abdomen, it was revealed that his appendix had ruptured and he died shortly after. He was 34 years old. The reason for the ruptured abdomen was because Tamanishiki had rubbed his stomach with a hot towel which was a surprise to many of the hospital staff.

## **Fighting Style**

Tamanishiki 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 yoritaoshi, or frontal crush out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

**Total:** 350-114-17-3d-1a/466 (53 basho)

* **Makuuchi:** 308-92-17-3d/401 (39 basho)
* **Juryo:** 10-3/13 (2 basho)
* **Makushita:** 11-6/17 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-7-1a/20 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 5-5/10 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-1/5 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 9 **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (January 1929)
	+ 2nd (October 1930)
	+ 3rd (January 1931)
	+ 4th (March 1931)
	+ 5th (May 1932)
	+ 6th (May 1933)
	+ 7th (January 1935)
	+ 8th (May 1935)
	+ 9th (January 1936)

## **Shikona History**

* Tamanishiki Sanemon (1919.01 - 1938.05)

## **Gallery**

Tamanishiki Sanemon - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Tamanishiki's tegata
## **Sources**

* Tamanishiki Sanemon Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Tamanishiki Sanemon Rikishi Information