Nishinoumi Kajiro - 西ノ海 嘉治郎 (born November 2, 1890 - July 28, 1933) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Hayato, Kagoshima. He made his debut in January 1910 and wrestled for Izutsu stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1916 and has one kinboshi and one top division championship. He was the 30th yokozuna and he retired in October 1928.
Early Life[]
Isesuke Matsuyama was born on November 2, 1890, in the town of Hayato in Kagoshima. Ever since he was young, Matsuyama was very strong and he was subsequently recruited into professional sumo by future yokozuna Nishinoumi II. He moved to Tokyo and joined Izutsu stable which was home to many wrestlers from Kagoshima as well.
Career[]
Early Career[]
He made his professional debut in January 1910 and was given the shikona Genjiyama Isesuke (源氏山 伊セ介). He won the jonidan yusho in January 1912 with a perfect 5-0 record. He was promoted to sandanme in May 1912 and makushita in January 1913. In January 1914, he changed his shikona's given name to Daigoro (大五郎). After the shikona change, he immediately won the makushita yusho with a perfect 5-0 record and was promoted to juryo in January 1915.
Juryo Career[]
In his first tournament as a sekitori, Genjiyama finished with a solid 4-2 record. He followed by winning the juryo yusho with a 6-0-1draw record and was promoted to makuuchi in January 1916 after only two tournaments in juryo.
Makuuchi Career[]
Ozeki Genjiyama (c. 1923)
In his top division debut, Genjiyama finished runner-up to his stablemaster Nishinoumi II (back then active wrestlers could run stables) with a 9-1 record. He was promoted to sekiwake in May 1918, but he could only manage a 2-8 record. In May 1919, he defeated yokozuna Otori to earn his first kinboshi and also finished the tournament with 9-1 record runner-up performance. He was subsequently promoted back to the san'yaku level and was promoted to ozeki in January 1922.
Ozeki Career[]
After Onishiki Uichiro left the sumo world, there remained only one yokozuna, Tochigiyama, in Tokyo sumo at that time. The Tokyo Sumo Association wanted to promote one more yokozuna. Although he didn't record significantly superior results, he was awarded a yokozuna licence in April 1923.
He was promoted to that rank without winning any championships in the top makuuchi division. Therefore, his promotion was controversial, although championships (yusho) before January 1926 were officially awarded not by the Sumo Association but by a newspaper, the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun. To mark his promotion he changed his shikona to Nishinoumi Kajiro in January 1924, in honor of his stablemaster who was the 25th yokozuna Nishinoumi Kajiro II.
Yokozuna Career[]
Nishinoumi's yokozuna career was plagued with injuries. He pulled out on the seventh day in his yokozuna debut due to a contusion in his lumbar region. In January 1924, the Tokyo Sumo Association temporarily held their tournament in Nagoya due to an earthquake, and Nishinoumi was unable to compete.
Nishinoumi performs the yokozuna dohyo-iri (c. 1923)
He won his only championship with a 9-2 record in May 1925, but this was because Tochigiyama had retired and the other sole competing yokozuna Tsunenohana withdrew from the tournament. He was stricken by heart disease in November 1925 and was absent from the next tournament. He withdrew from the January 1927 tournament due to an ear infection. He completely missed the following March 1927 tournament due to neuralgia. He pulled out of the subsequent May and October 1927 tournaments due to rheumatism of the lower back and a jaw injury. Upon returning to action in January 1928, he withdrew on the tenth day due to a left ankle sprain. He sat out of the following three tournaments due to neuralgia and retired from sumo after the October 1928 tournament. He had not wrestled a full tournament since over two years ago in May 1926. In the top makuuchi division, he won 134 bouts and lost 60 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 69.1.
Retirement from Sumo[]
Upon his retirement he became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Asakayama, and in 1929 opened up his own Asakayama stable (unconnected to the stable of the same name established in 2014) which he ran until his death in 1933.
Death[]
He died on July 28, 1933, at the age of 42 due to peritonitis. His stable subsequently closed down with all its wrestlers transferring back to Izutsu stable. His wife died on March 10, 1945, due to the Great Tokyo Air Raid, and his remaining son later ran a small restaurant called "Asaka" (あさか).
Fighting Style[]
Nishinoumi was a very versatile sumo wrestler with a wide array of techniques. He was proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His favored grips on his opponent's mawashi was hidari-yotsu (a right hand outside, left hand inside position) and morozashi (double hand inside position). He was also fond of employing tsuppari (a series of rapid thrusts to the chest) and nodowa (thrusting an opponent's throat).
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 176-69-121-4d-2a/250 (42 basho)
- Makuuchi: 134-60-116-2d-2a/197 (30 basho)
- Juryo: 10-2-1d/13 (2 basho)
- Makushita: 13-1-5-1d/15 (4 basho)
- Sandanme: 5-0/5 (1 basho)
- Jonidan: 11-4/15 (3 basho)
- Jonokuchi: 3-2/5 (1 basho)
Championships[]
- 1 Makuuchi Championship (May 1925)
- 1 Juryo Championship (June 1916)
- 1 Makushita Championship (January 1914)
- 1 Jonidan Championship (January 1912)
Achievements[]
- Kinboshi: (1) Otori
Shikona History[]
- Genjiyama Isesuke (1910.01 - 1913.05)
- Genjiyama Daigoro (1914.01 - 1923.05)
- Nishinoumi Kajiro (1924.01 - 1928.10)
Gallery[]
