was a Japanese professional

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler from

Inzai file:Inzai city hall.JPG, 260px, Inzai City Hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 105,463 in 42,388 households and a population density of 850 persons per km². The total are ...

, Chiba Prefecture. He was the sport's 24th '' yokozuna''.

Career

His real name was . He fought out of Miyagino stable and made his debut in the '' jonokuchi'' division in May 1903, with his '' shikona'' name spelled . In May 1908, he changed his ring name to Ōtori Tanigorō. He reached the top division in January 1909 and won his first tournament championship in his debut tournament at the rank of '' ōzeki'' in January 1913. He was undefeated in that tournament, recording seven wins, one draw and one no decision. His second championship in January 1915, which he took with ten straight wins, saw him promoted to ''yokozuna''. Okuma Shigenobu presented a '' tachi'', or long sword, to him. However, his record at sumo's highest rank was very patchy and he did not manage to win any further championships. He was known for his wide variety of

techniques Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s *Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by M ...

, but at that time the most popular ''yokozuna'' was Hitachiyama and so his fighting style was regarded as unacceptable. His record as ''yokozuna'' was 35 wins against 24 defeats, compared with 36 wins and only four defeats at ''ōzeki''. He retired in May 1920. In the top ''makuuchi'' division, he won 108 bouts and lost 49 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 68.8. He was head coach of Miyagino stable from 1916 until his death in 1956 (there was no mandatory retirement age for '' oyakata'' at that time). He had insisted that his successor had to be a ''yokozuna'', so it became inactive for a while. Eventually ''yokozuna'' Yoshibayama revived the stable and assumed the Miyagino name in 1960. On November 11, 2006, a monument to Ōtori was established in his home city of Inzai.

Career

Top Division Record

References

See also