Onogawa Kisaburo - 小野川 喜三郎 (born 1758 - April 30, 1806) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Otsu, Omi. He made his debut in October 1779 and last wrestled for Tamagaki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1781 and has 7 top division championships. He was the 5th yokozuna and he retired in October 1797.
Early Life[]
Kisaburo Kawamaru was born in the town of Otsu in Omi province. He was adopted by the sumo wrestler Onogawa Saisuke I in 1776 and subsequently joined professional sumo (Kawamaru took the Onogawa Saisuke shikona in November 1790 in honor of his father).
Career[]
Early Career[]
He joined Osaka Sumo, but later left and joined Edo Sumo in October 1779. He made his debut at the juryo division under the shikona "Onogawa Kisaburo" (小野川 喜三郎) and was promoted to makuuchi in March 1781.
Makuuchi Career[]
He defeated ozeki Tanikaze in February 1782. The victory surprised people in Edo as it brought to an end Tanikaze's run of 63 consecutive victories. He won the equivalent of his first tournament championship in November 1784 from the sekiwake ranks, emerging undefeated with nine wins (though this was before the championship system established in 1909). He would go on to win the equivalent of three more championships before he was awarded the yokozuna license.
Yokozuna Career[]
19th century woodblock print of Yokozuna Onogawa
Yoshida Oikaze certified both Onogawa and Tanikaze as holders of the yokozuna rank in November 1789, in a ceremony which was also featured the introduction of the dohyo-iri display and the first appearance of the yokozuna's traditional ornaments: a thick girdle of white rope, supporting white paper shide. Onogawa became a rival of Tanikaze and was popular with the public, although in reality he was quite far behind his rival and won only seven tournament titles to Tanikaze's 21. Onogawa was much shorter than Tanikaze at only 1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) but he had a speedy, crowd pleasing sumo style which helped him overcome his small physique. He won 91.7% of his bouts, winning 144 times and losing only 13 times.
Retirement from Sumo[]
Onogawa retired in 1798 to become a coach in Osaka sumo, but the next yokozuna, Onomatsu, was not appointed for another thirty years. Fortunately for sumo's popularity, during that time the immensely powerful wrestler Raiden emerged.
A popular story holds that Onogawa studied jujutsu with renowned Kyushin Ryu Soke Inugami Gunbei after being thrown down twice in a casual match with that master outside a teahouse.
Record[]
Division Results[]
- Total: 163-18-41-4draws-9holds-3no results/197 (28 basho)
- Makuuchi: 144-13-41-4draws-9holds-3no results/173 (23 basho)
- Juryo: 19-5/24 (5 basho)
Championships[]
- 7 Unofficial Makuuchi Championships
- 1st (November 1784)
- 2nd (November 1786)
- 3rd (March 1789)
- 4th (November 1789)
- 5th (March 1790)
- 6th (April 1791)
- 7th (November 1791)
Achievements[]
- Record: 5th best top division win ratios all time (91.7%)
Shikona History[]
- Onogawa Kisaburo (1779.10 - 1790.03)
- Onogawa Saisuke (1790.11 - 1797.10)
Gallery[]
