Onogawa Kisaburo (小野川喜三郎)
Kisaburo ONOGAWA (1758 to April 30, 1806) was an Edo sumo wrestler of the Grand Sumo Tournament. He was the fifth Yokozuna (grand champion sumo wrestler). He came from Kyomachi of Omi Province (Otsu City). His real name was Kisaburo KAWAMURA. In November, 1789, he was licensed as the first Yokozuna along with Kajinosuke TANIKAZE (the second) from Oikaze YOSHIDA of Tsukasa YOSHIDA family. He helped to sumo to flourish during Kansei Period by holding the joranzumo (sumo match held in front of the Emperor) with Kajinosuke Tanikaze (the second) for the Barbarian Subduing General Ienari TOKUGAWA on June 11, 1791.
He became Onogawa the first's (a retired wrestler who was a trustee of the Japan Sumo) adopted son, and joined the Edo sumo wrestling after entering the sumo ring for the first time in the Osaka sumo wrestling. In Edo, he was employed by the Kurume domain.
During the seventh day in the sumo tournament held in March, 1782, ONOGAWA who was in the lowest division stopped Ozeki (a sumo wrestler of the second highest rank) Tanikaze from wining who had won 63 matches in a raw. The match between Tanikaze and Onogawa is handed down as a famous competition in the Grand Sumo Tournament history.
While Tanikaze had a well-built figure with great physical strength, Onokawa competed with carefully planned strategy and techniques. For that reason, there were many strategic tachiai (the initial charge), and it was not as popular among the commoners in Edo. However, even though he was being followed by two powerful wrestlers Kajinosuke TANIKAZE and Tameemon RAIDEN, he still left the top-ranking record in history. He was named as "the Strongest No.2 (meaning Ozeki) in the history of Grand Sumo Tournament". The match with RAIDEN was held when Onogawa had passed his peak and was unable to win even once in Edo.
His total records were: first-grade wrestler, 23 tournaments with 144 victories, 13 defeats, 4 evens, 10 was undecided, three matches not held, 40 absences, and the winning percentage being 91.7 percent. The number of times he won the tournament was 7.
It is said that his height was 176 cm and his weight was 135 kg.
After he was awarded the Yokozuna license, the most frequently used sumo wrestler's name was Kisaburo ONOGAWA. However, when he was Ozeki (at that time, Yokozuna license and the ranking were irrelevant), his name was written as Saisuke ONOGAWA.
At present, "ONOGAWA (sumo stable-master name system)" is one of sumo stable-master name systems of Japan Sumo Association. As of May, 2009, the former tenth maegashira (sumo wrestlers in the senior-grade division whose rank is below the komusubi) Motoyasu USHIOMARU succeeded the name. The current owner of this name is Toshimitsu KITANOUMI (the former administrative director of Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Japan Sumo Association).