was a Japanese

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 th ...

wrestler from Uto,

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

. He was the sport's 8th ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'', and is the only ''yokozuna'' in history to have been demoted.

Early life

His real name was and his father was a government official. After his father's death he took over his position at age 15. He married early, at the age of 19, and had two sons. In 1823, he got into an argument with the head of his village. Forgetting his own strength, he pushed the village head too harshly. The village head fell to the floor and was knocked unconscious. Knowing the trouble this would cause him, he escaped from his hometown, leaving his family. He found refuge in

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

and became the pupil of a wrestler named who later bestowed his ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Muromachi period and established itself during the Edo period, where they were used as a means to hide the identities of the . Given by the master to his di ...

'', or ring name, to him. Another version makes him the apprentice of .

Professional sumo career

He entered Osaka-sumo and made his debut in May 1824 under the name but changed his ''shikona'' multiple times. He didn't find much success in Osaka-sumo and transferred to

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

-sumo in November 1830 where he became the pupil of a wrestler named and wrestled for the Unshu domain (雲州藩). In March, 1839 he began to wrestler for the

Kumamoto Domain The , which was in existence from 1600 to 1871, had a significant influence in the region. Initially, it controlled its vast territory of 520,000 koku, which later expanded to 540,000 koku after the division of the 8th generation territory and the e ...

in Higo and was promoted to '' ōzeki'' under the name . He won only one tournament in February 1840 with an 8-0-2 record. He wasn't a particularly strong wrestler, but around the end of the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

the promotion in the ranking had less to do with ability and more to do with the influence of one's backers and Shiranui had powerful patrons. His promotion to ''ōzeki'' is also said to be because of the repeated failure of ''ōzeki'' (''yokozuna'') Inazuma to appear.

''Yokozuna'' promotion

While being an ''ōzeki'', he was given a ''yokozuna'' license. The actual date he was awarded the title is obscure, but the date is officially recognized as being in November 1840. His name was not written on the '' banzuke'' for the next tournament in January 1841 and he was absent from the November 1841 tournament for unknown reasons. He was demoted to '' sekiwake'' in February 1842 and changed his ''shikona'' to . At that time, ''yokozuna'' was not a rank but a title. He is the only former ''yokozuna'' to be demoted from the ''ōzeki'' rank. In the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous ...

'' division, Shiranui won 48 bouts and lost 15 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 76.2.

Retirement from sumo

He retired from an active wrestler after the January 1844 tournament. He stayed in sumo as an elder after his retirement, under the name , and served as chairman of Osaka-sumo. The name of the Shiranui ''

yokozuna dohyō-iri , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'' (ring entering ceremony) came not from him, but from the 11th ''yokozuna''

Shiranui Kōemon was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kikuchi, Higo Province. He was the sport's 11th ''yokozuna''. He gives his name to one of the two styles for the ''yokozunas in-ring ceremony, although the question of whether he himself practiced ...

, whom he trained. Shiranui died in August, 1854 at 52. His grave is located on the hillside where he was born, in his hometown of Uto, Kumamoto. The place in considered a designated historic site and it's customary for Shiranui-style ''yokozuna'' to perform an in-ring ceremony when the

Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...

tours in the province.

Top division record

*''The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.'' ''*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 is the term for a championship in Japanese. This article focuses on championships in the sport of professional sumo. It is awarded in each of the six annual '' honbasho'' or official tournaments, to the wrestler who wins the most bouts. ''Yūs ...

.''

References