Inazuma Raigorō

Inazuma Raigorō (Japanese: 稲妻 雷五郎, 1802 – March 29, 1877) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Awazaki, Hitachi Province. He was the sport's 7th yokozuna.

Inazuma Raigorō
稲妻 雷五郎
19th century print of Inazuma
Personal information
Born	Nemoto Saisuke 1802 Awazaki, Hitachi Province, Japan
Died	March 29, 1877 (aged 75) Tokyo Prefecture, Empire of Japan
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	142 kg (313 lb)
Career
Stable	Sadogatake
Record	130-13-73 14draws-3holds-1no result (Makuuchi)
Debut	February 1821
Highest rank	Yokozuna (September 1830)
Retired	November 1839
Championships	10 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of October 2007.

Career

Born Nemoto Saisuke (根本 才助), his birth date is ambiguous. According to a strong theory, he was born in 1802. Another claimed that he was born in 1795. If the former is correct, he was the youngest yokozuna until the promotion of Umegatani Tōtarō II in 1903. If the latter is correct, he died at the age of 82.

He worked under the Matsudaira clan in Izumo, where legendary sumo wrestler Raiden worked.[1] Inazuma entered Edo sumo in February 1821 and was promoted to the top makuuchi division in October 1824. He reached the highest rank of ōzeki on ability alone, after only 6 tournaments (some ōzeki of the period were merely given the rank because of their size or status). Ōnomatsu was his rival. They differed in that Inazuma hated false starts at the tachi-ai, or the initial phase of sumo bouts.

As an Osaka based wrestler, Inazuma was awarded a yokozuna licence by the Gojo family in July 1828. This licence was disputed, but, in September 1830, he was also awarded a yokozuna licence by the house of Yoshida Tsukasa in Edo, and thus has been accepted as an official yokozuna.

In the top makuuchi division, he won 130 bouts and lost only 13 bouts, achieving a winning percentage of 90.9.[2] After his retirement, he moved to Matsue but he returned to Tokyo in the Meiji period.

Top division record

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

Inazuma[3]

-	Spring	Winter
1824	x	West Maegashira #5 7–0–2 1h Unofficial
1825	West Komusubi 5–2–3	West Komusubi 8–1–1 Unofficial
1826	West Sekiwake 6–1–2 1d	West Sekiwake 7–0–1 1d 1h
1827	West Sekiwake 5–0–2 Unofficial	Not enrolled
1828	Not enrolled	West Ōzeki 4–1–5
1829	West Ōzeki 6–0–1 Unofficial	West Ōzeki 8–0–1 1d Unofficial
1830	West Ōzeki 8–0–2 Unofficial	West Ōzeki 6–1–2 1h
1831	West Ōzeki 3–1–6	West Ōzeki 8–0 Unofficial
1832	Not held	West Ōzeki 8–0–1 1d Unofficial
1833	West Ōzeki 9–0 1d Unofficial	Not enrolled
1834	Not enrolled	Not enrolled
1835	West Ōzeki 5–0–3 2d	West Ōzeki 6–2–2
1836	Sat out	West Ōzeki 3–0–7
1837	West Ōzeki 5–0–4 1d Unofficial	West Ōzeki 5–1–1 2d 1nr
1838	West Ōzeki 3–0–3	Sat out
1839	West Ōzeki 1–3–5 1d	West Ōzeki Retired 4–0–3 3d
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 above unofficial championships are historically conferred. For more information see yūshō.

See also

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

References

1. 稲妻雷五郎の像 (in Japanese). Joyo Living. 2007-08-17. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
2. Kuroda, Joe (February 2006). "A Shot At the Impossible-Yokozuna Comparison Through The Ages". sumofanmag.com. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
3. "Inazuma Raigoro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2007-09-26.