Ōtori Tanigorō


Ōtori Tanigorō was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Inzai, Chiba Prefecture. He was the sport's 24th yokozuna.

Career

His real name was Takida Akira. He fought out of Miyagino stable and made his debut in the jonokuchi division in May 1903, with his shikona name spelled Ōtori. 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, 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. 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.

Top Division Record