Dewagatake Bunjiro

Dewagatake Bunjiro - 出羽ヶ嶽 文治郎 (born December 20, 1902 - June 9, 1950) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kaminoyama, Yamagata. He made his debut in May 1917 and wrestled for Dewanoumi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1925. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in May 1939.

## **Early Life**

Bunjiro Sato was born in Kaminoyama, Yamagata, on December 20, 1902. When he was a child, he apprenticed at many different places, but was always rejected due to his height. He was finally accepted by brain surgeon, Kiichiro Saito, who worked at a hospital in Tokyo. Sato excelled at academics and attended Aoyama Gakuin Junior High School where he aspired to become a pediatrician. However, due to his size, he was soon discovered by the sumo world and Dewanoumi Oyakata (the 19th Yokozuna Hitachiyama) was eager to recruit him. He initially did not want to join professional sumo, but later relented and entered Dewanoumi stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in May 1917 and was given the shikona "Dewagatake" (出羽ヶ嶽). Already standing at 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) and weighing 140 kg (309 lb), he was one of the biggest wrestlers, but he was not as strong as the other recruits since he did not perform any heavy physical labor prior to joining sumo. Nevertheless, he made use of his big body and reached the juryo division by January 2022. After three years in juryo, he was promoted to makuuchi in January 1925.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Dewagatake finished with a strong 8-3 record in his top division debut. He followed with an even stronger 9-2 record and was runner-up to Yokozuna Nishinoumi who finished with a 9-2 record as well, however, the playoff system was not established at the time. Nevertheless, he was promoted to sekiwake for the following January 1926 tournament after only two tournaments in makuuchi. Dewagatake was ranked in the san'yaku ranks for 10 consecutive tournaments, from January 1926 to October 1928. However, due to knee injuries he was unable to return back to the sanyaku ranks.

In January 1932, he left the Japan Sumo Association as he was part of the unprecedented strike for sumo reform known as the Shunjuen Incident. However, his commitment was halfhearted as he did not cut his top knot like the wrestlers and returned to back to the Japan Sumo Association shortly in May 1932.

His last top division tournament was in January 1935 and he eventually missed the following five tournaments which sent him back down to sandanme in May 1938. He returned to makushita by January 1939, but eventually retired from the sport all together in May 1939.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After retiring, Dewagatake remained in the Japan Sumo Association where he worked as a coach in Dewanoumi stable under the name of Tagonoura Oyakata. He later left the sumo world all together in 1948 and opened up a yakitori restaurant and a flower shop near Tokyo’s Koiwa train station.

### **Death**

On June 4, 1950, Dewagatake suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and he died a few days later on June 9, 1950, at the age of 47. His body was to be dissected for research into gigantism, but out of respect for the deceased, a simple pathological autopsy was conducted instead. His body was stored for a long time at the University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine. In 1984, 34 years after his death, research into gigantism began and his body was fully dissected. A part of his body is still kept as a specimen at the The University of Tokyo Hospital.

## **Personal Life**

* After retiring from sumo, Dewagatake married a woman named Otoyo.
* Dewagatake's height was caused by a condition known as gigantism. He is the the first sumo wrestler to exceed both 200 cm and 200 kg.
* Dewagatake's hobbies were billiards, photography and fishing. He also loved flowers and birds.

## **Fighting Style**

Dewagatake was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most often used winning kimarite was kotenage (arm lock throw), followed by tsukidashi (thrust out). He made use of his huge frame and regularly won by the extremely dangerous sabaori (forward force down) move.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 209-179-114-2a/390 (56 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 150-138-53/288 (32 basho)
* **Juryo:** 23-21-11-1hold/45 (7 basho)
* **Makushita:** 16-12-50/28 (9 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-4-1hold/17 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 5-0/5 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 3-2/5 (1 basho)
* **Shinjo:** 0-2/2 (1 basho)

## **See Also**

* List of Tallest Sumo Wrestlers
* List of Heaviest Sumo Wrestlers

## **Sources**

* Dewagatake Bunjiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Dewagatake Bunjiro Rikishi Information