Background
Onogawa Kisaburo was born in 1758 in Omi Proviince (Shiga Prefecture).
小野川喜三郎
Onogawa Kisaburo was born in 1758 in Omi Proviince (Shiga Prefecture).
Onogawa was promoted to the top makuuchi division in March 1781. He defeated ozeki Tanikaze Kajinosuke in February 1782. The victory surprised people in Edo as it brought to an end Tanikaze's run of 63 consecutive victories. Onogawa became a rival of Tanikaze and was popular with the public, although in reality he was quite far behind his rival and won only seven tournament titles to Tanikaze's 21. Onogawa was much shorter than Tanikaze at only 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) but he had a speedy, crowd pleasing sumo style which helped him overcome his small physique.
Yoshida Oikaze certified both Onogawa and Tanikaze Kajinosuke as holders of the yokozuna rank in November 1789, in a ceremony which was also featured the introduction of the dohyō-iri display and the first appearance of the yokozuna's traditional ornaments: a thick girdle of white rope, supporting white paper gohei.
Onogawa retired in 1798 to become a coach in Osaka sumo, but the next yokozuna, Onomatsu Midorinosuke, was not appointed for another thirty years. Fortunately for sumo's popularity, during that time the immensely powerful wrestler Raiden emerged.
Physical Characteristics: Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in), Weight 116 kg (256 lb)