Tachiyama
| Tachiyama Mineemon | |
|---|---|
| 太刀山 峯右衞門 | |
 |
|
| Personal information | |
| Born | Kyuhachi Makise August 15, 1877 Toyama, Japan |
| Died | March 4, 1941 (aged 63) |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 150 kg (330 lb) |
| Career | |
| Stable | Tomozuna |
| Record | 211-30-73(11 draws) |
| Debut | May, 1900 |
| Highest rank | Yokozuna (February, 1911) |
| Retired | January, 1918 |
| Championships | 9 (Makuuchi, official) 2 (Makuuchi, unofficial) |
| * Up to date as of July 2007. | |
Tachiyama Mineemon (太刀山 峯右衞門?, August 15, 1877 - April 3, 1941) was a sumo wrestler from Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, Japan. He was the sport's 22nd yokozuna. He was well known for his extreme strength and skill. He won 99 out of 100 matches from 1909 to 1916 (not counting draws), and also won eleven top division tournament championships (two of them unofficial).
Tachiyama joined Tomozuna stable at the insistence of Taisuke Itagaki and Tsugumichi Saigo. However, he was so strong that most of the wrestlers in the stable were unable to practice with him. Therefore, Hitachiyama Taniemon became his practical coach. He was promoted to yokozuna in February 1911.
His most feared skill was tsuki, or pushing. On the 3rd day of June 1910 tournament, Tachiyama's thrusts caused komusubi Kohitachi Yoshitaro to fly over spectators where he fell in the fourth row of seats. Kohitachi was wounded and left the tournament. Tachiyama is reported to have waved a shell weighing 400 kg (880 lb) with one arm. He was, however, good on the mawashi as well.
Much taller and stronger than his contemporaries, Tachiyama never had a losing record (make-koshi) in his eighteen-year career, and whilst at the yokozuna rank lost only three bouts. He once won 43 bouts in a row, lost one to Nishinoumi Kajirō II, then won another 56 in a row. If he had not lost that match (which he later admitted was deliberate, to help out his rival yokozuna who was struggling at the time), he would have set an all-time record of 100 consecutive wins. As it stands, his second streak of 56 bouts, which began on the 9th day of the January 1912 tournament, is the fifth best in history after Futabayama, Tanikaze, Hakuho and Umegatani I.
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