Takadagawa Stable

Takadagawa stable (高田川部屋, Takadagawa-beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Nishonoseki ichimon or group of stables. It was formed in 1974 by former ozeki Maenoyama, and was originally in the Takasago group of stables, but was excommunicated from that group in 1998 due to disagreement over group nominations to the Japan Sumo Association's board of directors. Maenoyama handed over control to former sekiwake Akinoshima in 2009, as he was approaching the mandatory retirement age.

As of January 2023 it has 19 active sumo wrestlers.

## **History**

Takadagawa stable was established by former ozeki Maenoyama in 1974, as part of the Takasago group of stables, but was excommunicated from that group in 1998 due to disagreement over group nominations to the Japan Sumo Association's board of directors. The stable produced their first sekitori when Maenoshin was promoted to juryo in 1984.

A series of wrestlers from Taiwan were recruited from 1986 to 1990, presumably from inspiration off the success of Taiwanese sekitori, Tochinohana. Later a Mongolian, Maenoyu, was at the stable from 2004 until 2007, but there have been no foreigners recruited since Maenoyu's retirement and the current stablemaster has indicated there are no plans to do in the immediate future.

The stable did not have any sekitori between Dairaidō′s last appearance in jūryō in July 2006 and the promotion of Ryūden in September 2012, where he lasted for only one tournament. In September 2014 Kagayaki reached jūryō, ending Takadagawa's *sekitori* drought. Kagayaki went on to reach the top makuuchi division in January 2016, the first Takadagawa wrestler to do so since Kenkō in 1992, and Ryūden returned to jūryō in November 2016, reaching the top division himself in January 2018.

Maenoyama handed over control to former sekiwake Akinoshima in 2009, as he was approaching the mandatory retirement age. The new Takadagawa head ended the stable's nearly thirteen years of non-alignment with an ichimon in January 2011 when he was accepted into the Nishonoseki group. As of January 2021, it had 22 wrestlers.

On 10 April 2020, the Sumo Association announced that an undisclosed wrestler had tested positive for the coronavirus. It was later confirmed to be Shobushi of Takadagawa Stable, a sandanme wrestler who died from coronavirus complications on 13 May 2020. It had also been announced in late April 2020 that seven individuals, including Takadagawa's stablemaster and jūryō wrestler Hakuyozan, were hospitalized after testing positive for the virus. The stable was only one of the 45 stables in sumo not included in the "all-clear" antibody test results issued by the Sumo Association on 6 July 2020. The tate-gyōji at the stable, Shikimori Inosuke, missed the July 2020 tournament with an unspecified illness.

## **Ring Name Conventions**

Some wrestlers at this stable have taken ring names or shikona that begin with the characters 安芸 (read: aki), in deference to their coach and the stable's owner, the former Akinoshima. Examples as of 2017 include Akinohana and Akinoyama.

## **Owners**

* 2009–present: 9th Takadagawa Katsumi (iin, former sekiwake Akinoshima)
* 1974-2009: 8th Takadagawa Kazuichi (former ozeki Maenoyama)

## **Coaches**

* Hanakago Tadaaki (riji, former sekiwake Daijuyama)

## **Notable Active Wrestlers**

* Ryuden (best rank komusubi)
* Kagayaki (best rank maegashira)
* Shonannoumi (best rank maegashira)
* Hakuyozan (best rank juryo)
* Dairaido (best rank juryo)
* Otsuji (best rank makushita)
* Akinoyama (best rank makushita)

## **Notable Former Wrestlers**

### **Makuuchi**

* Kenko (former komusubi)
* Maenoshin (former komusubi)
* Kiraiho (former maegashira)

### **Juryo**

* Zenshinyama (former juryo)
* Takuetsuyama (former juryo)

### **Lower Divisions**

* Setonoumi (former makushita)
* Maenoyu (former makushita)
* Eigayama (former makushita)
* Tatsunohana (former makushita)
* Ohayama (former makushita)
* Shobushi (former sandanme)
* Maedaiko (former sandanme)
* Maenoumi (former sandanme)
* Nioyama (former sandanme)
* Tominohana (former jonidan)
* Kaho (former jonidan)
* Rakoten (former jonidan)

## **Referee**

* Kimura Shonosuke (tate-gyoji)
* Kimura Mitsunosuke (juryo gyoji) - *Transferred from Minezaki stable*
* Shikimori Tatsunosuke (sandanme gyoji)

## **Other personnel**

* Zenshinyama Ryota (wakaimonogashira, former juryo)

## **Website**

* Takadagawa stable's website [1]
* Takadagawa stable's Facebook [2]
* Takadagawa stable's Twitter [3]