Jinmaku Kyūgorō

Jinmaku Kyūgorō
陣幕 久五郎
Personal information
Born	Shintaro Ishigura June 4, 1829 Shimane, Japan
Died	October 21, 1903 (aged 74)
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	138 kg (304 lb)
Career
Stable	Hidenoyama
Record	87-5-65-17draws-3holds (Makuuchi)
Debut	November, 1850
Highest rank	Yokozuna (July, 1867)
Retired	November, 1867
Championships	5 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of June 2013.

Jinmaku Kyūgorō (陣幕 久五郎, June 4, 1829 – October 21, 1903) was a sumo wrestler from what is now Shimane, Japan. He was the sport's 12th yokozuna.

Career

Woodblock print of Jinmaku

Jinmaku was born in Ou District, Izumo Province (modern Yatsuka District, Shimane). His real name may have been Shintaro Ishigura (石倉 槇太郎, Ishigura Shintarō). In 1847, he became a pupil of wrestler Hatsushio Kyūgorō in Onomichi, Hiroshima. When Hatsushio died in 1848 he moved to Osaka and became a pupil of Asahiyama Shirouemon, fighting his first bout in 1850. He worked under Tokushima Domain and moved to Matsue Domain and then Satsuma Domain.

In 1850 he moved to Edo (now modern day Tokyo) and became a pupil of Hidenoyama Raigorō, the 9th yokozuna. He entered the makuuchi division in January 1858. In January 1867, he was initially awarded a yokozuna licence by the House of Gojo and not the Tokyo-based House of Yoshida Tsukasa. He was awarded an official yokozuna licence in July 1867 but the November 1867 tournament became his last tournament. On December 25, 1867, he saw the beginnings of national strife and sent a letter to Saigo Takamori. He escaped from Edo and moved to Kyoto. The Boshin War began in January 1868 and he protected his master Shimazu Tadayoshi from harm.

Jinmaku won 87 bouts and lost only 5 bouts in the top makuuchi division. All his defeats came when he was ranked as a maegashira and sekiwake. He is the only wrestler to have never lost a bout as a yokozuna. His winning percentage reached 94.6.^[1]

Yokozuna monument

In 1900 Jinmaku erected the Yokozuna Rikishi Memorial Monument in the grounds of the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine in the Koto ward of Tokyo. It was the culmination of a lengthy personal project to properly acknowledge all his fellow yokozuna.^[2] For the first time, Akashi Shiganosuke, Ayagawa Goroji and Maruyama Gondazaemon were recognised as the first three yokozuna.^[2]

Top division record

• The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.

Jinmaku^[3]

-	Spring	Winter
1858	East Maegashira #6 5–0–2 3d	Called off due to fire
1859	East Maegashira #7 3–0–6 1d	East Maegashira #2 6–2–1 1h
1860	East Maegashira #2 4–1–3 2d	East Maegashira #2 5–0 2d
1861	East Maegashira #2 9–0–1 Unofficial	East Maegashira #2 5–0–4 1d
1862	East Maegashira #2 4–1–4 1d	East Maegashira #2 5–0–3 2d
1863	East Sekiwake 7–0–2 1d	Sat out
1864	Not enrolled	Sat out
1865	Sat out	East Sekiwake 6–0–1 1d 1h Unofficial
1866	East Sekiwake 6–1–2 1h	West Ōzeki 8–0–1 1d Unofficial
1867	West Ōzeki 7–0–1 2d Unofficial	West Ōzeki 7–0–3 Unofficial
1868	Retired –
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Key:   d=Draw(s) (引分);   h=Hold(s) (預り);   nr=no result recorded Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks:  Yokozuna (not ranked as such on banzuke until 1890) Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

*Championships for the best record in a tournament were not recognized or awarded before the 1909 summer tournament and the above unofficial championships are historically conferred. For more information see yūshō.

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of yokozuna

References

1. Kuroda, Joe (February 2006). "A Shot At the Impossible-Yokozuna Comparison Through The Ages". sumofanmag.com. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
2. Kuroda, Joe (April 2006). "The First Yokozuna (Akashi Shiganosuke) and the history of sumo's ultimate rank". Sumo Fan Magazine. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
3. "Jinmaku Kyugoro Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2007-09-26.

External links

• complete biography and basho results (Japanese)
• Article on Jinmaku's yokozuna list