Hidenoyama Raigorō

Hidenoyama Raigorō (秀ノ山 雷五郎, 1808 – June 16, 1862) was a Japanese sumo wrestler from Kesennuma, Mutsu Province. He was the sport's 9th yokozuna. He was also known as Amatsukaze Kumoemon (天津風 雲右衞門), Tatsugami Kumoemon (立神 雲右衞門) and Iwamigata Jōemon (岩見潟 丈右衞門).

Hidenoyama Raigorō
秀ノ山 雷五郎
Woodblock print of Hidenoyama by Kunisada, circa 1850
Personal information
Born	Kikuta Tatsugorō 1808 Kesennuma, Mutsu, Japan
Died	June 16, 1862 (aged 54)
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	135 kg (298 lb)
Career
Stable	Hidenoyama
Record	112-21-96 33draws-2holds(Makuuchi)
Debut	March, 1828
Highest rank	Yokozuna (September 1847)
Retired	March, 1850
Championships	6 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of October 2007.

Career

Born Kikuta Tatsugorō (菊田 辰五郎), he later took the surname Hashimoto (橋本). In 1823, he attempted to make his debut, but he was completely ignored at first due to his short height of only 1.51 m (4 ft 11 ¹⁄₂ in). He joined Hidenoyama stable in 1827 and made his debut in March 1828. He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 1837. He recorded 30 consecutive wins and won the equivalent of six championships before the modern yūshō system was established. In the top makuuchi division, he won 112 bouts and lost 21 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 84.2.

Hidenoyama was awarded a yokozuna licence in November 1847. His height of 1.64 m (5 ft 4 ¹⁄₂ in) is lowest among all yokozuna in sumo's long history. He was not one of the greatest wrestlers of his time, but received the licence because he had influential backers.[1] Ōzeki Tsurugizan Taniemon reportedly handed over the yokozuna licence to Hidenoyama.[2]

Retirement from sumo

After his retirement, he was an elder known as Hidenoyama and produced later yokozuna Jinmaku. He served as a judge (naka-aratame, modern shimpan) but this gave him many opportunities to give favourable decisions to his own pupils. At that time, there were many lower division wrestlers and they were sometimes forced to be absent from sumo bouts. They attempted to have their number of sumo bouts increased. He had the right of deciding their attendances and rejected this, excluding his own pupils. The other lower ranking wrestlers were angry, accusing him of bias, and went on strike because of his practices in 1851.[3] It was the first walkout in sumo history. He eventually apologized to them.

Top division record

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

Hidenoyama[4][5]

-	Spring	Winter
1837	West Maegashira #7 4–1–5	West Maegashira #4 0–3–5 2d
1838	West Maegashira #4 3–0–3	West Maegashira #4 8–0–1 1h Unofficial
1839	West Maegashira #1 7–0–2 1d Unofficial	West Komusubi 6–0–2 2d Unofficial
1840	West Sekiwake 7–1–1 1d	West Sekiwake 5–1–2 2d
1841	West Ōzeki 6–1–2 1d	West Ōzeki 5–2 1d
1842	West Ōzeki 3–2–1 4d	West Sekiwake 5–1–1 3d
1843	West Sekiwake 5–0–4 1d Unofficial	West Sekiwake 5–1–3 1d
1844	West Sekiwake 5–1–2 2d	West Ōzeki 8–0–2 Unofficial
1845	West Ōzeki 6–0–2 2d Unofficial	West Ōzeki 6–1–2 1d
1846	West Ōzeki 2–0–7 1d	Sat out
1847	West Ōzeki 3–3–1 3d	West Ōzeki 4–0–3 3d
1848	West Ōzeki 4–2–3 1d	West Ōzeki 5–1–2 1d 1h
1849	Sat out	Sat out
1850	West Ōzeki Retired 0–0–10	x
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. Newton, Clyde (1994). Dynamic Sumo. Kodansha. p. 51. ISBN 4-7700-1802-9.
2. 「得意手のないのが名人！」（大関・剣山谷右衛門） (in Japanese). Japan Sumo Association. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
3. "Archived copy" 秀の山 雷五郎 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2001-01-17. Retrieved 2008-05-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Hidenoyama Raigoro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
5. ja:大相撲優勝力士, Retrieved 2007-10-04