Nishinoumi Kajiro (born 1855)

## Nishinoumi Kajiro

Nishinoumi Kajiro - 西ノ海 嘉治郎 (born January 3, 1855 - November 30, 1908) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Satsumasendai, Satsuma. He made his debut in September 1874 and last wrestled for Takasago stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1882 and has two top division championships. He was the 16th yokozuna and he retired in January 1896.

## **Early Life**

Kajiro Kozono was born the oldest son of farmers in a village in Satsuma Province (modern day Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture). He was a strong child, tending to his parent's farm and dominating local sumo tournaments as well. Initially wanting to join Asahiyama stable of Osaka sumo, he was unable to meet with the stable as they had all left for regional tours, and he subsequently joined Kyoto sumo's Tokinokoe stable in 1873.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in September 1874 and was given the shikona "Nishinoumi" (西ノ海), meaning "Western Ocean." In August 1975 He was promoted to Makushita Nidanme which is equivalent to today's juryo. He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in 1879, and made sekiwake in September 1879, a tournament which was held under the joint auspices of the Kyoto and Osaka sumo organizations. He was persuaded by Uragoro Takasago, formerly of Osaka sumo, to join Tokyo sumo in his newly founded Takasago stable.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He made his debut in a special makuuchi division rank in January 1882. He had a rapid rise, making ozeki just seven tournaments later in January 1885. His rivals included stablemates Odate, Ichinoya and Konishiki. Nishinoumi fell to sekiwake in January 1886, despite recording a kachi-koshi winning score, as at the time a sekiwake on the east side of the banzuke with a better record could overtake an ozeki on the same side. After winning a yusho equivalent with an unbeaten 9–0 score in May 1889 he returned to ozeki, and after another good 7–2 score in the next tournament he was awarded a yokozuna license in March 1890.

### **Yokozuna Career**

However, Nishinoumi's promotion caused a problem. Although he had been made a yokozuna, his rank was listed as haridashi ozeki, below his rival ozeki Konishiki Yasokichi I on the banzuke (the sumo wrestlers' hierarchy) for the May 1890 tournament. This was because of Konishiki's 8–0 unbeaten score in the previous tournament. Nishinoumi's name was literally shunted out to the side on the banzuke, and he complained about this to those in authority. To placate him, yokozuna was written on the banzuke for the first time in sumo history. It was a compromise specifically for him, but because of this the name yokozuna became an official rank for the first time after this dispute. In the top makuuchi division, he won 127 bouts and lost 37 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 77.4.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Nishinoumi became an elder known as Izutsu after his retirement in January 1896, and became head coach of Izutsu stable. He produced several top wrestlers from Kagoshima Prefecture, amongst them the 25th yokozuna Nishinoumi Kajiro II (the great-grandfather of the most recent Izutsu head Sakahoko) who succeeded him upon his death from heart failure in 1908.

## **Fighting Style**

Nishinoumi 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. The move is no longer recognized by the Japan Sumo Association and it is similar to kimedashi, or the arm barring force out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Makuuchi (Tokyo Sumo):** 127-37-97-25d-4a/193 (29 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 Unofficial **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (May 1889)
	+ 2nd (January 1894)

## **Sources**

* Nishinoumi Kajiro Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Nishinoumi Kajiro Rikishi Information