| Yokozuna Comparisons Joe Kuroda |
 |
| Amateur Sumo's Global Aspirations Courtesy: International Sumo Federation |
|
| Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda |
|
| Heya Peek Barbara Ann Klein |
|
| SFM Interview Mark Buckton |
|
| Sumo 101 Barbara Ann Klein |
|
| Photo Bonanza See the Haru |
|
| Haru Basho Review Lon Howard |
|
| Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila |
|
| Natsu Basho Forecast Mark Buckton |
|
| Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila |
|
| Sumo in Print Mark Buckton |
|
| Kokugi Connections Todd Lambert |
|
| Fan Debate Facilitator – Lon Howard |
|
| SFM Cartoons Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson |
|
| Let’s Hear From You What was it that |
|
| Readers’ Letters See what some |
|
Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.
The House of Yoshida Tsukasa issued the first two yokozuna licenses to Tanikaze Kajinosuke and Onogawa Kisaburo in November 1789. In fact, this act heralded the house's dominance of ceremonial matters in the world of sumo. In 1789, the 19th head of the house, Oikaze Yoshida, devised a plan to grant a license to the most powerful rikishi so they could perform one man dohyo-iri ceremonies on the dohyo in order to promote sumo tournaments and to advance their own presence in the sumo world. Their family history says that the Emperor Gotoba (1183-1198) assigned the title of Oikaze to the first Yoshida in 1186. Indeed, the family line was preserved to this day – the time of the current 25th Oikaze.
At the time of the issuance of the first yokozuna title by the House of Yoshida Tsukasa, such ceremonies and publicly held events were strictly regulated. The 19th Oikaze requested permission from the local authorities to perform an official “dohyo-iri” ceremony by citing a previous case in which Ayagawa and Maruyama had performed a similar event although, due to a fire, records
Overcoming bureaucratic problems, Oikaze successfully arranged to have sekiwake Tanikaze Kajinosuke and Onogawa Kisaburo perform the ceremony with a hemp rope around their kesho mawashi. Neither were ozeki at the time as in this period, ozeki- ranked rikishi were not real competitive rikishi but were more ‘physically large with striking looks’ used solely to bring in more paying customers; as an “attraction” more than anything else. In essence then, the sekiwake rikishi, despite being outranked by ozeki, were generally far superior and the more capable of the rikishi during tournaments.
The main reason Oikaze Yoshida selected Tanikaze and Onogawa to be the first officially-sanctioned yokozuna centered on their rising popularity and the numbers of people eagerly awaiting a tournament in which they would go head-to-head. They became good rivals and were well known
Earlier in history, a ceremonial sumo tournament was said to have been staged for an Emperor, and then, in the era of Nobunaga Oda, the first Shogun to attempt to unite Japan, the actual balance of national power shifted to the Shogun from the Imperial House, meaning that subsequent tournaments were to be held on behalf of the Shoguns. In fact, during the Edo era, all rikishi belonged to their local ‘daimyo’ (samurai lords) and were then invited to appear at a tournament by the hosting daimyo. Throughout this time, non-sanctioned sumo tournaments were organized by peasants and amateur rikishi in different regions, but were never able to turn the corner into becoming going concerns.
About the same time, a few
Next