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Tamanishiki San'emon
玉錦 三右衛門
Tamanishiki holding the Emperor's Cup
Personal information
Born	Nishinouchi Yasuki (1903-12-15)December 15, 1903 Kōchi, Japan
Died	December 4, 1938(1938-12-04) (aged 34)
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Weight	140 kg (309 lb)
Career
Stable	Nishonoseki
Record	308-92-17-3draws (Makuuchi)
Debut	January 1919
Highest rank	Yokozuna (November 1932)
Elder name	Nishonoseki
Championships	9 (Makuuchi)
* Up to date as of June 2020.

Tamanishiki San'emon (Japanese: 玉錦 三右衛門, December 15, 1903 – December 4, 1938) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Kōchi. He was the sport's 32nd yokozuna. He won a total of nine top division yūshō or tournament championships from 1929 to 1936, and was the dominant wrestler in sumo until the emergence of Futabayama. He died whilst still an active wrestler.

Career

He was born Nishinouchi Yasuki (西ノ内 彌寿喜). He joined Nishonoseki stable but the stable was very small at that time. Therefore, he often visited Dewanoumi stable and was trained by yokozuna Tochigiyama Moriya. He later became head coach of Nishonoseki stable whilst still active in the ring, and under his leadership the stable enjoyed one of its most successful periods in its history.

Tamanishiki was promoted to the rank of ōzeki in May 1930. At the time, he was the first wrestler from Kōchi Prefecture to be promoted to ōzeki since Kunimiyama, 25 years earlier. From October 1930 to March 1931, he won three consecutive championships but was not promoted to yokozuna. In January 1932, the "Shunjuen Incident" (春秋園事件, Shunjuen-Jiken) broke out. The incident was the biggest walkout in sumo history, but Tamanishiki was one of the eleven top division wrestlers who remained in the Sumo Association. After the incident, he became the first head of the Rikishi-kai (力士会), or the association of active sumo wrestlers. He won his fifth top division championship in May 1932 and was finally awarded a yokozuna licence in November 1932. He was the first yokozuna in sumo since the retirement of Miyagiyama a year and a half earlier. His promotion was seen as a reward for staying with the Sumo Association and helping them through the Shunjuen Incident.

Tamanishiki often went to Tatsunami stable and trained wrestlers, such as later yokozuna Futabayama Sadaji. Tatsunami stable was small at that time, but the stable became stronger in the sumo world later on. Tamanishiki defeated Futabayama the first six times they met in competition, but he was never able to beat him again after Futabayama began his record winning run in 1936.

Tamanishiki was the first yokozuna to raise one leg high while performing yokozuna dohyō-iri (the yokozuna ring-entering ceremony). His style was said to have been beautiful and when Futabayama was promoted to yokozuna he emulated this style. This style is very popular now in yokozuna ceremonies.

In 1938, Tamanishiki died while an active sumo wrestler, following a delayed appendectomy.

Career Record

• In 1927 Tokyo and Osaka sumo merged and four tournaments a year in Tokyo and other locations began to be held.

References

1. "Wrestlers from Kochi Prefecture by rank". Sumo Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
2. "Rikishi of old: Tenryu Saburo and Shunjuen Incident". Sumo Fan Magazine. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
3. "Banzuke". Sumo Fan Magazine. Retrieved October 11, 2007.
4. Kuroda, Joe (October 2006). "Rikishi of Old:Minanogawa Tozo". Sumo Fan Magazine. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
5. Sharnoff, Lora (1993). Grand Sumo. Weatherhill. ISBN 0-8348-0283-X.
6. "Tamanishiki Sanemon". Sumo Reference. Retrieved September 26, 2007.

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of sumo tournament top division champions
• List of yokozuna

• 1903 births
• 1938 deaths
• Japanese sumo wrestlers
• Yokozuna
• Sumo people from Kōchi Prefecture
• Sumo wrestlers who died while active
• Sportspeople from Kōchi, Kōchi