Akashi Shiganosuke

Japanese: 明石志賀之助 - あかし・しがのすけ

Year of birth: Year of birth and death unknown. A sumo wrestler who is said to have been the first Yokozuna in the early Edo period. It is not certain whether he actually existed. He appears in "Kanto Yukyoden" as the sworn brother of the protagonist Yume no Ichirobei, and is said to have traveled to Kyoto, thrown Nioh Nidayu in a sumo match exhibited by the Emperor, and become the founder of Kusaka. "Kokin Sumo Taizen" (1763) records that Akashi held a six-day performance on clear days at Sasadera in Shiomachi, Yotsuya, Edo in 1624, and there is a monument at Sasadera that reads "The site where Edo Kanjin Sumo originated," but it is not possible to confirm whether the performance actually took place. In 1895, Jinmaku Kyugoro erected a Yokozuna monument at Fukagawa Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine, and on the back of the monument, Akashi's name was engraved as the first Yokozuna. However, since there is no historical record of Akashi, Ayakawa Goroji, and Maruyama Gontazaemon receiving their yokozuna licenses before the fourth yokozuna, Tanikaze Kajinosuke, some say Tanikaze was the first yokozuna.

(Naofumi Mizuno)

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

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
江戸前期の初代の横綱とされる力士。実在したかどうか定かでない。『関東遊侠伝』に主人公夢の市郎兵衛の義兄弟として登場し,京都に上って天覧相撲で仁王仁太夫を投げ飛ばし,日下開山になったとされている。『古今相撲大全』(1763)には寛永1(1624)年江戸四谷塩町の笹寺で明石が晴天6日間の興行を行ったと書かれており,笹寺には「江戸勧進相撲発祥之跡」の碑があるが,興行の有無は確認できない。明治28(1895)年陣幕久五郎が深川富岡八幡宮に建立した横綱碑の裏面に横綱初代として明石の名を刻んだ。しかし4代横綱谷風梶之助以前の明石,綾川五郎次,丸山権太左衛門の3人は横綱免許を受けた史実がないため,谷風を初代横綱とする説もある。

(水野尚文)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Japonica lutea

>>: Deficit finance - Akajizaisei