Hitachiyama Taniemon

Hitachiyama Taniemon - 常陸山 谷右衞門 (born January 19, 1874 - June 19, 1922) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki. He made his debut in June 1892 and wrestled for Dewanoumi stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1899 and has eight top division championships. He was the 19th yokozuna and he retired in May 1914.

## **Early Life**

Hitachiyama was born as Ichige Tani (市毛 谷), on January 19, 1874, to a samurai family which belonged to the Mito Domain. His family was dismissed by the Meiji restoration authorities and was ruined financially. He moved to Tokyo and became dependent on his uncle. He attempted to enter Waseda University where his uncle was employed. At around this time, however, his uncle observed that he was able to lift a rock weighing 58 kan, or 217.5 kg (480 lb). His uncle advised him to become a sumo wrestler. At that time, sumo was not seen as a sport of much regard, so his father opposed the idea. Despite his father's protestation, he joined Dewanoumi stable in 1890.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in June 1892. However, he fell in love with his head coach's niece; and when he was refused permission to wed her, he ran away from Tokyo sumo in the summer of 1894. He moved to Nagoya sumo and then Osaka sumo. He returned to Tokyo sumo in the spring of 1896. He had become much stronger during his absence and won 32 consecutive bouts upon his return.

### **Makuuchi Career**

In his first top division tournament, Hitachiyama won the makuuchi yusho with an 8-0-1draw record. Three tournaments later, he was promoted to sekiwake in May 1900. In January 1901, he won his second championship with an 8-0-1-1draw record and was promoted to ozeki in May 1901.

### **Ozeki Career**

In his ozeki debut, Hitachiyama finished with a strong 7-2-1 record. He fought against fellow ozeki Umegatani Totaro II on the final day of May 1903 tournament. He defeated Umegatani and his own promotion to yokozuna was confirmed. Hitachiyama, however, insisted that his rival be promoted as well. Hitachiyama got his wish and he and Umegatani were promoted to yokozuna together in June 1903. With Ozutsu Manemon also holding the rank, it was the first occasion that three yokozuna were active at the same time.

### **Yokozuna Career**

Hitachiyama once won 27 bouts in a row, lost one to Araiwa Kamenosuke in his first tournament as yokozuna, then went on another winning streak of 32 bouts. However, he was determined to see sumo held in higher regard within Japanese society, a task he saw as more important than merely winning bouts. In August 1907, he went on a tour of the United States of America and Europe. He met President Theodore Roosevelt and performed the yokozuna dohyo-iri (the yokozuna ring-entering ceremony) in the White House. Although absent from the January 1908 tournament due to the journey, nobody criticized Hitachiyama as he was seen as a visionary and a pioneer for sumo. After his return from the long journey he was not quite as dominant as he had been before, although he still managed to win a title in the first Ryogoku Kokugikan, which opened in 1909 and which he had helped to build.

In the top makuuchi division, he won 150 bouts and lost only 15 bouts, achieving a winning percentage of 90.9. He is the last yokozuna to have a winning percentage over .900 in the top division. He started his powerful techniques only after his opponents' attack. His fighting style is now seen as a model of yokozuna.

He also introduced bushido into sumo, and raised the status of sumo wrestlers in society. He also performed the yokozuna dohyo-iri in an innovative way. Unlike yokozuna before him, he would at first hold out both arms after he made a clap, and after he did the sumo-style leg stomps, he would raise only his right arm. In the course of his career, he would have the best record in 8 tournaments, but only his last one is counted as an actual championship after the system was established in 1909. In addition, he finished with two official runner-up performances in June 1909 and January 1913.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After his retirement in May 1914, he became the stablemaster of Dewanoumi stable. It had been a minor heya when he had first joined it, but even while still an active wrestler Hitachiyama had trained many wrestlers, such as later yokozuna Tachiyama Mineemon, even though they were not members of his stable.

He was a masterful recruiter and coach. He had such charisma and personality that he was able to tempt many wrestlers away from the less successful Osaka and Kyoto based sumo associations, which caused friction between the rival organisations.

As head coach he produced many top division wrestlers, including no fewer than three yokozuna: Onishiki Uichiro, Tochigiyama Moriya and Tsunenohana Kanichi. At the stable's peak he was in charge of two hundred wrestlers. To feed them, he devised the chankonabe style of food preparation which still prevails in sumo today.

### **Death**

He died suddenly in 1922 at the age of 48 from sepsis. As a much respected figure in the sumo world, he was the first yokozuna for whom the Japan Sumo Association organised a formal funeral. His funeral procession was reportedly 6 kilometres long.

## **Fighting Style**

Hitachiyama was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He was fond of using a technique called Izumigawa – attained by squeezing his opponent’s arms tightly while attacking from his side. He also regularly used tsuri, or lifting techniques. His fighting is seen as the model for a yokozuna as he would always let his opponent perform their brand of sumo before employing his own strong techniques.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 159-15-131-23draws-2holds/199 (33 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 150-15-131-22draws-2holds/189 (32 basho)
* **Juryo:** 9-0-1draws/10 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makuuchi** Championship (January 1910)
* 7 Unofficial **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (January 1899)
	+ 2nd (January 1901)
	+ 3rd (January 1903)
	+ 4th (May 1903)
	+ 5th (January 1904)
	+ 6th (January 1906)
	+ 7th (May 1906)

## **Shikona History**

* Onishiyama (1892.06 - 1898.01)
* Hitachiyama Taniemon (1898.05 - 1914.05)

## **Gallery**

Hitachiyama Taniemon - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Hitachiyama's tegata
## **Sources**

* Hitachiyama Taniemon Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Hitachiyama Taniemon Rikishi Information