Kisaburo Onogawa

Japanese: 小野川喜三郎 - おのがわ・きさぶろう

Year of death: Bunka 3.3.12 (1806.4.30)
Year of birth: 1758
A sumo wrestler from the mid-Edo period. The 5th Yokozuna. Born in Omi Province (Shiga Prefecture). Also said to have been born in 1761. His real name was Kawamura Kisaburo. Together with Tanikaze Kajinosuke and Raiden Tameemon, he built the heyday of Kansei Edo Kanjin Sumo. He rose to fame by defeating Tanikaze, who was on a 63-win streak, and in 1789 he was licensed as a Yokozuna at the same time as Tanikaze. In 1776 he competed in Osaka. In the same year he entered Edo, where he was ranked in the second division, and on the fifth day of the February tournament in 1782 he defeated Tanikaze in his fourth challenge. He stabbed and evaded Tanikaze, and Ota Nanpo wrote a kyoka about this great upset: "Tanikaze has lost, he has lost, Onogawa says, and the matter is decided with a high degree of respect." A sumo wrestler employed by the Arima family of Kurume Domain. With his agile speed and sumo skills, he won the championship seven times, and his winning percentage of 91.7% was proof that he was a super strong wrestler. He retired in 1799.

(Naofumi Mizuno)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：文化3.3.12(1806.4.30)
生年：宝暦8(1758)
江戸中期の力士。5代横綱。近江国(滋賀県)生まれ。宝暦11(1761)年生まれともいう。本名川村喜三郎。谷風梶之助,雷電為右衛門と共に寛政江戸勧進相撲全盛期を築く。63連勝を続ける谷風を倒して一躍名を挙げ,寛政1(1789)年谷風と同時に横綱を免許された。安永5(1776)年大坂で出場。同8年江戸に出て二段目で取り,天明2(1782)年2月場所5日目,4度目の挑戦で谷風に土を付けた。突いていなしたのち渡し込みで破ったもので,この大番狂わせを大田南畝は「谷風はまけたまけたと小野川がかつをよりねの高い取り沙汰」と狂歌に詠んでいる。久留米藩有馬家お抱え力士。機敏なスピード相撲で,優勝相当成績7回,勝率9割1分7厘は超強豪力士の証である。寛政9年引退。

(水野尚文)

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