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 th ...

wrestler from Tsushima in the

Nagasaki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan, mainly located on the island of Kyūshū, although it also includes a number of islands off Kyūshū's northwest coast - including Tsushima and Iki. Nagasaki Prefecture has a population of 1,246,4 ...

. As of May 1962, he is one of six wrestlers in that prefecture to have reached or surpassed the rank of '' ōzeki'', and the first to have achieved this feat since the fourth Tamagaki Gakunosuke, 107 years earlier.

History

Yakichi Kawakami enlisted in the Tsushima Fortress Artillery Battalion, at the age of 20, for military service. However, the division commander at the time recommended that he become a sumo wrestler because of his good physique, so he was discharged and joined the

Dewanoumi stable is a heya (sumo), stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ''Glossary of sumo terms#ichimon, ichimon'' or group of stables. It has a long, prestigious history. Its current head coach is former ''maegashira'' Oginohana Akikazu, Oginohana. ...

in 1908. Yakichi chose Tsushimanada as his ring name, or ''

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 ...

'', to pay homage to his home island. In his stable, he became the protege of ''yokozuna''

Hitachiyama was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture. He was the sport's 19th ''yokozuna'' from 1903 till 1914. His great rivalry with Umegatani Tōtarō II created the "Ume-Hitachi Era" and did much to popularise sumo. He ...

. His first tournament was delayed until 1910 as he suffered from

thiamine deficiency Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The name beriberi was possibly borrowed in the 18th century from the Sinhala language, Sinhalese phrase (bæri ...

. At the age of 25, he was promoted from ''makushita'' to ''jūryō''. In 1915, he entered the top division, where he was the tallest wrestler at the time. During his ''makuuchi'' years, he dislocated his shoulder after a bout against ''yokozuna''

Ōtori , also transliterated Ootori and Ohtori is a Japanese word meaning "large bird," "a key performer," or a Japanese name. Written forms Ōtori can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *大鳥, "large bird" or "big bird" *� ...

. He was however promoted to ''ōzeki'' the following tournament, at the age of 31. At the time of his promotion, a banquet was held at the invitation of , a famous writer from Tsushima. Tsushimanada, however, did not kept his rank after he injured his left arm during training. He retired in 1922, at the age of 34, and did not remained in his stable as an elder.
Upon coming back to Tsushima, he became the mayor of his village. In 2017,

Sakaigawa stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi group of stables. It was established in its modern form on 25 May 1998 by former ''komusubi'' Ryōgoku Kajinosuke IV, who branched off from Dewanoumi stable. It was originally called Nakadachi ...

wrestler Masamitsu Umeno, whose family is from Tsushima, was given the Tsushimanada ''

'', or ring name, because he comes from a family originally from the island of Tsushima, and being himself from Nagasaki Prefecture. In 2018, his 1919's

keshō-mawashi In sumo, a is the loincloth that (sumo wrestlers) wear during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a as part of the ring entry ceremony or . ''Mawashi'' ''Sekitori'' During competition For top ranked professi ...

was retrieved in the Nagasaki Prefectural Tsushima High School as part of the city's survey of cultural assets. The keshō-mawashi was decorated with light blue waves and golden rocky mountains, portraying a classical Tsushima landscape. The lining is decorated with red brocade such as dragons and phoenixes.

Top Division Record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsushimanada, Yakishi 1887 births Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Nagasaki Prefecture Ōzeki 1933 deaths

History

Top Division Record

See also

References