Araiwa Kamenosuke - 荒岩 亀之助 (born September 24, 1949 - October 27, 2021) was an American professional sumo wrestler from Oceanside, California. He made his debut in November 1968 and last wrestled for Hanakago stable. His highest rank was makushita 33 and he retired in September 1971.
Early Life[]
Carroll "Cal" Lee Martin was born on September 24, 1949, in San Diego, California. He was a high school American football player and since his father was a marine, he moved around a lot and attended four different schools.
When his father left the marines, he was employed at Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Westinghouse manufactures many equipments for the U.S. military, so Cal Martin and his father were transferred to Ellis Air-force Base in Las Vegas, however, Martin's father was shortly transferred to Japan. There was no football in the high school that Cal Martin attended in Las Vegas, so he moved to his mother's home in California to complete his education and play football. He was a graduate of Westminster High School.
After graduation, Cal Martin attended a round trip with his grandmother to Japan. Cal Martin had a Japanese stepmom at the time and his father was an avid sumo fan. After watching the NHK sumo digest for the first time, Cal Martin told his stepmom that sumo did not look too hard and as a result she "dared" him to try it. Cal Martin agreed as he had the whole summer in Japan. Cal Martin was able to get introduced and invited to Hanakago stable, because his stepmom knew the secretary of a prominent lawyer that knew Hanakago-oyakata. He made his professional debut in November 1968 under the prestigious shikona, "Araiwa Kamenosuke" (荒岩 亀之助). He was the first Caucasian to join professional sumo.
Career[]
Even though Araiwa made his debut in November 1968, he did not wrestle his first match until November 1969. In his jonokuchi debut, Araiwa produced a strong 6-1 record and was placed in a playoff against Mineoyama, however, he lost by izori. The following tournament, Araiwa produced another 6-1 record and participated in a playoff involving nine wrestlers, which was a record at the time. Araiwa continued to impress as he won the playoff to claim the jonidan yusho. He continued to dominate and produced two more consecutive 6-1 records which propelled him up to the makushita division in July 1970. Araiwa wrestled in makushita for four tournaments where he reached a career-high rank of makushita 33 in September 1970.
Retirement from Sumo[]
Araiwa withdrew from the March 1971 tournament and continued to sit out for the next three tournaments. As a result he fell back down to jonidan and his retirement was announced after the September 1971 tournament.
After leaving Japan, Martin went on to have an eventful 40-year motorsport career in drag racing and crackerbox boat competitions. He was employed previously at TRW Automotive and worked as a trainer at CRP Automotive prior to his death. He resided in Kingman, Arizona.
He resurfaced on the internet after starting a popular thread on sumoforum.net.
Araiwa died on October 27, 2021, at the age of 72.
Personal Life[]
- While in sumo, Araiwa was known for his "bad boy" moniker, but his stablemaster loved the publicity that it brought to his stable. During his time in Japan, Araiwa was involved with the Yakuza. This started when Araiwa got into a confrontation with a couple of Yakuza members who disrespected him. As a result, he had a sit-down meeting with the Yakuza boss and they became good acquaintances.
- Araiwa got his draft notice for the Vietnam war and had to attend a physical checkup at Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, however, this was not a factor in his early retirement.
- Araiwa was close friends with stablemate and future chairman of the Japan Sumo Association, Kaiketsu.
- Cal Martin was married.
Fighting Style[]
Araiwa defeats an unknown lower division opponent by tsukitaoshi (front thrust down)
Araiwa's signature move was 'nodowa' ('喉輪' - thrusting at an opponents throat). His Oyakata said if you kill the head, the body will follow. Araiwa was in sumo before kimarite for lower division matches were recorded so it is unknown what his most common kimarite was.
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 39-17-35/56 (15 basho)
- Makushita: 15-13-7/28 (5 basho)
- Sandanme: 12-2-14/14 (4 basho)
- Jonidan: 6-1-7/7 (2 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 6-1-7/7 (2 basho)
Championships[]
- 1 Jonidan Championship (January 1970)
Achievements[]
- 1st Caucasian sumo wrestler
Shikona History[]
- Araiwa Kamenosuke (1968.11 - 1971.09)
Gallery[]
