Misplaced Pages

Hiodoshi Rikiya
緋縅 力弥
Hiodoshi II by Utagawa Kunisada I (c. 1827–1843)
Personal information
Born	Kōtarō Moriwaki 1799 Kyoto, Yamashiro Province, Japan
Died	August 15, 1836(1836-08-15) (aged 36–37)
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight	148 kg (326 lb)
Career
Stable	Tamagaki
Record	91-32-52-5 draws/12 holds
Debut	October, 1817
Highest rank	Ōzeki (November, 1833)
Championships	2 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of October 2023.

Hiodoshi Rikiya (Japanese: 緋縅 力弥, born Kōtarō Moriwaki (森脇 幸太郎, Moriwaki Kōtarō), 1799 – August 15, 1836) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kyoto. His highest rank was ōzeki, a rank he reached in November 1833, before dying while as an active wrestler in August 1836. As of November 1833, he is the only wrestler from Kyoto Prefecture to have been promoted to sumo's second highest rank.

Career

Hiodoshi began his career in 1817, benefiting from the shinjo system. When promoted in jūryō in 1823, he inherited the shikona, or ring name, of former ōzeki Hiodoshi I, a master in his stable, who was renowned for his longevity because he wrestled in makuuchi for 21 years. His master later adopted him, making Hiodoshi II his master's legitimate heir. In 1824, he was promoted to the makuuchi division and acquired the patronage of the Hirado Domain.

In his second tournament in sumo's highest division, he achieved a very good score, recording 8 victories and beating most of the opponents ranked above him in the rankings, placing him as tournament leader ex-aequo with the then-komusubi Inazuma. Nonetheless, as Inazuma was the highest-ranked of the two, the winner's honours were awarded to him, as was customary at the time. In 1828 he won back-to-back championships, also reaching the san'yaku ranks for the first time with a direct promotion to sekiwake in that year's final tournament. However, as the yūshō system was not introduced until 1909, his two championship victories are now considered unofficial. These two championships in a row would normally have seen him promoted to ōzeki for 1829, but as the ranking was already occupied by stable and successful wrestlers like Inazuma, his promotion was ruled out and he remained in the rank of sekiwake until 1833. During that year, he was promoted because of the absence of Inazuma, which left the rankings unbalanced. After Inazuma's return, he maintained the rank because he was trusted to be a wrestler able to live up to expectations. Promoted to the second-highest rank in sumo, his ōzeki career was marked by an injury that prevented him from competing at this rank, which led to his demotion back to sekiwake. Hiodoshi wrestled two more tournaments at the rank of sekiwake, achieving a majority win each time, but he died while still an active wrestler in August 1836.

As a wrestler he was known as one of the big names of this period along with Inazuma and Ōnomatsu, the public nicknaming this trio of wrestlers "The Three Greats of the Bunsei era's Kakukai" (文政角界の三傑). Although Hiodoshi was inferior to both of them in terms of ability and was never promoted to yokozuna, he had a childlike face and was very popular with the public.

He was renowned for his strength and his pushing and thrusting techniques (tsuki/oshi) so much that his technique later became an illegal move and he was forbidden to use it.

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 championships that are labelled "unofficial" are historically conferred. For more information see yūshō.

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of ōzeki

References

1. "Wrestlers from Kyoto Prefecture by rank". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
2. ^ "大関伝 106人目～118人目 - 106人目 緋縅 力彌". Atsuo Tsubota Database (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
3. "５・三都勧進相撲". Atsuo Tsubota Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
4. "デジタル版 日本人名大辞典 「緋縅力弥」の解説". Digital Edition Japanese Name Encyclopedia (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 October 2023 – via Kotobank Encyclopedia.
5. "Hiodoshi Rikiya Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference.

• 1799 births
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Ōzeki
• Sumo people from Kyoto Prefecture
• 1836 deaths
• Sumo wrestlers who died while active