In the courtyard of Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine in Tokyo’s Koto-ward stands the well-known Yokozuna Memorial monument erected by the 12th yokozuna Jinmaku Kyugoro (1829-1903).  Jinmaku etched all known yokozuna names from Akashi Shiganosuke to his time and currently it has the names up to the 45th yokozuna Wakanohana Kanji (there is also a new stone starting with the 46th yokozuna the third Asashio Taro).

There are other monuments surrounding the yokozuna stone – an Ozeki monument, a Tegata monument and then there is a Giant Rikishi monument.  On the monument, legendary tall rikishi names are etched.  One is Shakadake Kumouemon (1749-1775) who stood 226 cm tall.  Another was Ikezuki Geitazaemon (1828-1850), who was reputed to be 230 cm tall (give or take several centimeters).

Among a group of giant rikishi over 200 cm tall, there is the name of one Showa Era (1926-1989) rikishi commemorated.  His name is Dewagatake Bunjiro; a man who stood 206 cm tall and weighed 200 kg at one time.  In Japan at the time there was no one as tall and as heavy as Dewagatake and his size eventually determined his fate.  Fortunately for Ozumo he came along just at the time when the popularity of Ozumo was at an all time low.  He became its savior as this gentle giant caught the imagination of the public throughout Japan.  But unfortunately for Dewagatake, he had no choice but to follow a path laid out for him by others.  He was a giant but too gentle to be truly successful in combative sports such as sumo.

Bunjiro Sato was born in what is now Kaminoyama City, Yamagata Prefecture on December 20, 1902 (some attribute his birth year to be 1901).  As a child he was sent as an apprentice to various places but he was always sent back home as he was considered to be too tall to be of any use.  He was finally taken in by a brain surgeon, Kiichi Saito, who operated a hospital in Tokyo.  Kiichi also adopted a well-known poet, Mokichi Saito, who went on to inherit the hospital.

Bunjiro excelled in academic work at the exclusive Aoyama Gakuin Middle School and he had a dream of becoming a pediatrician and working for his adopted father.  By this time Bunjiro was already over 180 cm tall and weighed 100 kg.  As one can easily imagine he was soon discovered by the sumo world.  Indeed the then Dewanoumi oyakata (the 19th yokozuna Hitachiyama Taniemon) was so passionate about Bunjiro joining his heya that Bunjiro finally relented and quit the school.

Unlike many other boys who joined a sumo beya, Bunjiro had never really performed heavy physical labor so he was not as strong as the other recruits.  Initially Bunjiro crumbled easily at the tachiai after getting hit by new recruits much smaller than himself but soon he learned to use his large frame to his advantage.  He used to wrap his long arms around their body and squeeze them before throwing them out by kote-nage.  He also learned to use saba-ori, by putting his upper body weight on top of them until his opponent’s knees gave up.  The move was extremely dangerous, as smaller opponents could have easily broken their back.  In no time he became one of the most feared opponents to be matched against during a basho or in training sessions.

At the 1925 January basho he was finally promoted to makuuchi.  It took him eight long years to make the highest division since starting out as Dewagatake at the 1917 May basho but once in makuuchi he quickly climbed up the banzuke. Within three basho he was promoted to sekiwake at the 1926 January basho.

The following 1926 May basho, he defeated ozeki Tachihikari by abisetaoshi at the dohyo edge on Day 4.  Tachihikari was pressed down by Dewagatake’s full upper body weight with so much force that he became totally incapacitated and was carried out on a stretcher.  It was the last time Tachihikari competed on the dohyo, as he severely injured his back and legs, and he was never able to fully recover.

The following day Dewagatake faced yokozuna Nishinoumi, who was fully aware of what had transpired on the previous day.  If the yokozuna had a fear he did not seem to show it as the bout became spirited when Dewagatake unleashed his favorite saba-ori and repeatedly swung the yokozuna with kote-nage.  Dewagatake again finished the bout by using his own body weight and won by abisetaoshi.  Even though Dewagatake was komusubi, sumo fans became ecstatic as they thought they were seeing the birth of a new ozeki, as Dewagatake had defeated ozeki and yokozuna consecutively.

On Day 6 his opponent was sekiwake Noshirogata (promoted to ozeki after this basho).  Noshirogata quickly went into moro-zashi while Dewagatake countered with tsuri and his favorite kote-nage.  Putting his body close to Dewagatake, Noshirogata hooked his foot around Dewagatake and Dewagatake lost his balance, falling down hard on the dohyo, hitting his knees and lower back on the ground. The injuries turned out to be severe enough that Dewagatake had to withdraw from the basho.  This injury signaled the beginning of the end for Dewagatake even though he came back from this injury the following basho.

Dewagatake kept a sanyaku ranking for 10 basho from 1926 to 1928 but due to knee joint problems he fell down to hiramaku and was never able to achieve a sanyaku ranking again.

During this period, despite his relatively low makuuchi ranking, Dewagatake was the most popular rikishi in Ozumo, single handedly saving the sumo association as the fans came to see him and loved to call him by his nickname, “Bun-chan”.  At an age when the average height of Japanese men was less than 160 cm, Dewagatake stood out from the crowd but it was seeing his awkwardness on the dohyo that gave the crowd as much enjoyment.  It may be somewhat similar to seeing Takamisakari’s movement today.

In the Shujuen Incident in January 1932, when Dewanoumi-beya rikishi headed by Tenryu walked out of the Kyokai in a dispute over compensation and improved living conditions, Dewagatake was forced to join as he was a member of the heya. But his commitment to the cause was halfhearted and he refused to cut his mage as a symbolic gesture, as all the other departed rikishi had done.  Dewagatake became the first rikishi among the renegades to come back to the fold of the Kyokai a few months later.  Though most of the rikishi eventually returned to the Kyokai within a year, many attributed Dewagatake’s early return to the collapse of newly established sumo enterprises founded by Tenryu and others.  Dewagatake ended up losing peer support after the incident and it caused additional grief in his later years when he was all but down and out.

Dewagatake essentially lacked the skills and sharp execution required to be ozeki.  He was not mentally competitive and was never intense enough.  In fact the only thing going for him was his large frame and stopping his opponent with his long arms.  But even with this advantage he was no match against more powerful and technically proficient opponents.  And once he started experiencing a disc degenerative disease, he was simply no match for anyone.    
   
His last makuuchi basho was in January 1935 and for the next four years until he made his official retirement at the 1939 May basho, his dohyo life was nothing but misery as he fell down to sandanme.  He became a former sekiwake who could no longer even beat a sandanme rikishi.  By the 1938 May basho, his banzuke ranking fell down to sandanme east 11 and he was assigned to be a tsukebito for maegashira 9 Dewaminato.

“Hey why do I have to work as a tsukebito of Dewaminato?  Why?”  Dewagatake complained loudly to everyone but they all knew the rules of the sumo world where banzuke ranking determined one’s life in the heya.  In fact, all were tired of his whining and petty nagging.  When Dewaminato joined the heya, Dewagatake was a sanyaku but Dewagatake could not face the new reality.

By this time Dewagatake’s heya life had become unbearable.  Even low ranking rikishi were asking loudly when Dewagatake would eventually quit.  There was even one washroom in the heya with a notice of ‘No Admittance by Dewagatake.’ Despite his large frame, Dewagatake was a sensitive man with a variety of hobbies such as billiards, photography and fishing.  He also loved flowers and birds.  He even had a small bird he was raising in a cage.  One day he came back to find that the bird along with the cage had been thrown into the nearby Sumida River. 

At the heya he was treated as if he was nothing more than excessive baggage and a stowaway they rather wanted to do without.  The only person at the heya who cared for him was a woman named Otoyo, who was helping to run the heya.  “You know, even a man like him has pride.  He wants to get back up to juryo and then leave.  I really feel sorry for rikishi when their banzuke rank goes down,” Otoyo once said. 

Dewagatake had a six win two loss record that basho.  Then at the next 1939 January basho as makushita 25, he finished with a 4-3 record.  He climbed up to makushita 10 the next basho (1939 May) but then he completely collapsed as he had a 1-5-1 record.  He finally realized he was totally spent physically and mentally.  He announced his retirement and inherited the Tagonoura toshiyori share.  Dewagatake was already 36 years old.  He soon married the only person who still cared for him, the lady from Dewanoumi beya, Otoyo.

In 1948 after leaving the Kyokai he opened a BBQ Chicken restaurant and flower shop near Tokyo’s Koiwa train station where there is a statute of yokozuna Tochinishiki.  It was an all too brief respite for Dewagatake as he passed away within two years on June 9, 1950.  He was only 47 years old.
 

Legendary Tall Rikishi

1.    Ikezuki Geitazaemon (1827 -1850); Haridashi Maegashira; Tamagaki beya;  230 cm, 169 kg
2.    Ozora Takezaemon (1827 - ?); No sumo record left; 227 cm, 146 kg
3.    Shakadake Kumouemon (1749 - 1775); Ozeki (23 wins - 3 losses - 1 draw - 1 hold); 226 cm, 172 kg
4.    Ryumon Kougoro (1820? - ?); Haridashi Maegashira; Jinmaku-beya; 226 cm 169 kg
5.    Mitsuo Fudoiwa (1924-1964); Sekiwake; Tokitsukaze-beya; 214 cm 126 kg

(The first yokozuna Akashi Shiganosuke was said to be 252 cm tall and 184 kg but his existence is in dispute).