Totaro UMEGATANI the first (梅ヶ谷藤太郎 (初代))
Totaro UMEGATANI (March 16, 1845 - June 15, 1928) is the fifteenth yokozuna (sumo grand champion) of the grand sumo tournament.
Career and Personal Profile
He was born in Umegatani, Shiwa Village, Kamiza District, Chikuzen Province (present Asakura City, Fukuoka Prefecture). His real name was Totaro OE. He was 176 centimeters tall. Although his recorded weight varies from 105 kilograms, 113 kilograms, 120 kilograms to 124 kilograms, he had a muscular body and did not look fat in his pictures.
It sounds far-fetched but it is said that he was strong enough to even drag a stone mill as a baby. He is said to have preferred sake to milk or sweets and have been fed sake. At the age of seven, he was accepted by Osaka zumo and called himself Umegae. Afterwards, he entered the Minato stable of Osaka zumo and got his sumo wrestler's professional name Umegatani which is said to be named after his hometown. After he became Osaka ozeki (a sumo wrestler of the second highest rank), he joined Tokyo zumo (the Tamagaki stable) at the end of 1870. Then surprisingly, he was assigned to Honchu (present pre-sumo class, the lowest rank on the sumo wrestlers' list) which ranked below Jonokuchi.
One reason behind this was that sumo wrestlers who came from Osaka were disliked because Kyugoro JINMAKU was in Osaka. As a matter of course, he carried all before him in his division and was promoted to the top Makuuchi division, where he set a champion-like record of eight wins and one tie in the December 1874 tournament. In 1876 during the Fukuoka tournament, he faced Akizuki-no-ran War (turmoil of Akizuki) where sumo wrestlers fought against rebellious clans, and he played an active role in the suppression of the war. In 1877, he became komusubi (a sumo wrestler of the fourth highest rank) in the June tournament and then became sekiwake (a sumo wrestler of the third highest rank) in the December tournament where he won all his bouts. In 1879, he was newly promoted to ozeki (a sumo wrestler of the second highest rank) in the January tournament. In 1880, he also won all his bouts in the May tournament. Between 1876 and 1881, he won 58 consecutive bouts (except Hikiwake [draws], Azukari [undecided bouts] and absences). After being defeated by ozeki Kyuzaburo WAKASHIMA, he had a 35-bout winning streak up until the May 1884 tournament.
In February in the same year, he was awarded a yokozuna license. In fact, he was approached and given yokozuna licenses by both Yoshida Tsukasake family and the Gojo family, but he preferred the license awarded by Yoshida Tsukasake family. It is said that this determined the outcome of the battles among various Tsukasake. In tenranzumo (sumo wrestling performed in imperial presence) in March, he exhibited dohyoiri (an entrance procession of a sumo wrestler into the ring) with mawashi (a sumo wrestler's belt) which Hirobumi ITO prepared for him (it is said his own mawashi was not in time for the bout). A bout was scheduled between him and Uzaemon ODATE at the request of the Emperor Meiji, and they put up a hard fight which ended in a draw. This bout gave the Emperor a great deal of pleasure and reversed the declining popularity of sumo. In 1885, he retired from sumo in the May tournament and succeeded to the name of toshiyori (a retired wrestler who is a trustee of the Japan Sumo Association), Ikazuchi. According to his career statistics, he had 116 wins, 6 losses, 18 Hikiwake, 2 Azukari and 78 absences in 22 tournaments of the Makuuchi division with a winning percentage of 95.1.
He set champion-like records nine times. In 1904, when Ozumo-josetsukan (later the Kokugikan Sumo Hall) was planned to be constructed, Yasuatsu IIJIMA, the manager of the headquarters of Yasuda Zaibatsu, granted Ikazuchi a loan of 400 thousand yen (equivalent to 10 billion yen at today's prices) without collateral, which shows how much Ikazuchi was respected and trusted by others.
Since then, the Japan Sumo Association has brought sekihan (auspicious white rice with red beans) to the Iijima family as a token of gratitude on the first day of every tournament.
For a long time, Ikazuchi served as the director of the Japan Sumo Association (the then Tokyo Ozumo Association), the association's top position. After his disciple Totaro UMEGATANI the second retired from sumo in the June 1915 tournament, Ikazuchi handed over control of his stable to him, transmitted his professional name to him and retired from business, but the Japan Sumo Association bestowed the honorific title of "Oikazuchi" on Ikazuchi and welcomed him as an adviser. On June 15, 1928, he died at the age of 83. It was 9 months after Umegatani the second died. Considering the standard for longevity was Kanreki (one's 60th birthday) at that time, he lived a long life as a sumo wrestler and set a record as a longest-lived yokozuna.
Of course, this record remains unbroken today. Although he is said to have had a gigantic body, he was actually small for yokozuna. It is said that he had a solid fighting style in which he pushed his opponent while holding his belt to draw his right upper arm a little closer and keeping the left arm a little apart from his body. As mentioned above, he set a record of 58 consecutive wins which are still the third highest record ever, as of 2008, following Sadaji FUTABAYAMA with 69 wins and Kajinosuke TANIKAZE with 63 wins. Because people at that time were not much interested in records, they did not pay enough attention to his distinguished record.
He was so strong that the anecdote about his babyhood may have been made up in later ages.
On November 24, 1959, "the monument in memory of UMEGATANI the first" was unveiled at Harazuru-onsen Hot Spring resort in Fukuoka Prefecture.
Episodes
He was a hard drinker who could drink 18 liters of sake at a bout of drinking and had such Herculean strength that he could lift a 72-liter sake barrel with one hand. It is said that he was such a dedicated sumo wrestler that he always pressed his upper arms against his sides even in his sleep and gripped Geta (Japanese wooden sandals) tightly with his big toes in walking, which made big dents in his Geta.