Minanogawa Tōzō
| Minanogawa Tōzō | |
|---|---|
| 男女ノ川 登三 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Tomojiro Sakata September 17, 1903 Ibaraki, Japan |
| Died | January 20, 1971 (aged 67) |
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Weight | 146 kg (322 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Takasago, Sadogatake |
| Record | 294-155-34-1draw |
| Debut | January 1924 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (January 1936) |
| Retired | January 1942 |
| Championships | 2 (Makuuchi) 1 (Sandanme) |
| Gold Stars | 2 (Tsunenohana, Tamanishiki) |
| * Up to date as of October 2012. | |
Minanogawa Tōzō (男女ノ川 登三, September 17, 1903 – January 20, 1971) was a sumo wrestler from Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. He was the sport's 34th yokozuna.
He had lost his father in the Russo-Japanese War at the age of two, and worked as a labourer to support his mother. Already 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) tall at the age of 15, very large for Japanese youths in his time, he was spotted by Takasago stable's Akutsugawa. He made his debut in January 1924 and reached the second highest jūryō division after only six tournaments in January 1927. He initially relied on pushing techniques, or oshi-sumo, but began to develop a more rounded technique after being given instruction by former sekiwake Kiyosegawa.
He was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 1928. In 1929 Akutsugawa, the wrestler who had discovered him, retired and encouraged him to join his newly established Sadogatake stable. However Takasago's stablemaster did not want his promising rikishi to leave and even changed Minanogawa's shikona to the prestigious Asashio Tarō to obligate him to stay. Eventually a compromise was worked out and Minanogawa divided his time between the two stables.
He made komusubi in January 1930, and had two consecutive runner-up scores in October 1930 and January 1931, the second from the third highest sekiwake rank. Along with the lean and handsome Musashiyama he was one of the most popular men in sumo in this time. However, in 1931 he suffered a series of knee injuries, and in 1932 was caught up in the so-called "Shunjūen Incident", when a number of top division wrestlers went on strike. Minanogawa was out of the Japan Sumo Association for four tournaments and he and his followers held a number of their own rival tournaments with knockout rounds.
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