Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke

Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke (Japanese: 阿武松 緑之助, 1794 – January 20, 1852) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Noto Province. He was the sport's 6th yokozuna. He trained ōzeki Tsurugizan Taniemon.

阿武松 緑之助 Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke
1840s woodblock print of Ōnomatsu by Kunisada
Personal information
Born	Sasaki Jokichi 1794 Shitsumi, Noto, Japan
Died	January 20, 1852
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	135 kg (298 lb)
Career
Stable	Takekuma
Record	142-31-37 24draws-8holds-1no result (Makuuchi)
Debut	March, 1815
Highest rank	Yokozuna (February, 1828)
Retired	November, 1835
Championships	5 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of October 2007.

Early career

He was born in Shitsumi, Noto and went to Edo in 1815. His birth name remains ambiguous, but was claimed to be Sasaki Jokichi (佐々木 長吉). He made his debut under the shikona Koyanagi Jokichi (小柳 長吉) in March 1815. He reached the top makuuchi division in October 1822. In January 1824, he was defeated by Inazuma, but defeated others at the maegashira #2 rank and was promoted to komusubi.

In the summer of 1825, he defeated Inazuma at the Hirakawa Tenjin Shrine.[1] He was promoted to ōzeki in October 1826. He changed his ring name to Ōnomatsu in March 1827.

Yokozuna

Ōnomatsu was awarded a yokozuna license in February 1828. On March 25, 1829, Ienari Tokugawa saw that Ōnomatsu defeated Inazuma.[1]

Because he grew up in a poor family, he attempted to win bouts by fair means or foul.[2] To shake competitors' confidence, he would often do matta, or waiting, at the initial charge, or tachi-ai of his sumo bouts. He was often criticized for his fighting style. Even so, he was popular in Edo.

He retired in November 1835. In the top makuuchi division, he won 142 bouts and lost 31 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 82.1. The 7th yokozuna Inazuma was his rival. His overall career record was quite far behind Inazuma, but his record over Inazuma was five wins (including two other than honbasho), four losses, five draws and one hold.

Top division record

• The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.

Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke[3]

-	Spring	Winter
1822	x	East Maegashira #7 6–3–1 1d
1823	East Maegashira #5 4–2 1nr	East Maegashira #2 7–2 1d
1824	East Maegashira #2 8–1–1 Unofficial	East Komusubi 6–2–2
1825	East Komusubi 8–2 Unofficial	East Sekiwake 6–2–2
1826	East Sekiwake 5–1–3 1h	East Ōzeki 8–0–1 1d Unofficial
1827	East Ōzeki 4–1–1 1h	East Ōzeki 6–0 Unofficial
1828	East Ōzeki 3–3–2 1d 1h	East Ōzeki 7–1–2
1829	East Ōzeki 5–0–1 1d	East Ōzeki 6–0–1 2d 1h
1830	East Ōzeki 7–1–1 1h	East Ōzeki 3–1–4 2h
1831	East Ōzeki 4–0–4 2d	East Ōzeki 3–0–5
1832	Not held	East Ōzeki 7–1–1 1d
1833	East Ōzeki 5–0–1 4d	East Ōzeki 2–2 3d 1h
1834	East Ōzeki 6–1–1 2d	East Ōzeki 5–3–1 1d
1835	East Ōzeki 7–0–1 2d Unofficial	East Ōzeki Retired 4–2–2 2d
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Key:   d=Draw(s) (引分);   h=Hold(s) (預り);   nr=no result recorded Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks:  Yokozuna (not ranked as such on banzuke until 1890) Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

*Championships for the best record in a tournament were not recognized or awarded before the 1909 summer tournament, and the unofficial championships above are historically conferred. For more information, see yūshō.

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of yokozuna

References

1. 阿武松緑之助 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-07-15.
2. 稲妻雷五郎の像 (in Japanese). Joyo Living. 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
3. "Onomatsu Midorinosuke Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference.

External links

• (in Japanese) Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke Tournament results