Quick Facts
Biography
Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke (阿武松 緑之助, 1794 – January 20, 1852) was a sumo wrestler from Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. He was the sport's 6th yokozuna. He trained ōzeki Tsurugizan Taniemon.
Early career
He was born in Shitsumi, Noto and went to Edo in 1815. His birth name remains ambiguous, but was claimed to be Sasaki Jokichi. He made his debut under the ring name Koyanagi in March 1815. He reached the top makuuchi division in October 1822. In January 1824, he was defeated by Inazuma, but defeated others at the maegashira #2 rank and was promoted to komusubi.
In the summer of 1825, he defeated Inazuma at the Hirakawa Tenjin Shrine. He was promoted to ōzeki in October 1826. He changed his ring name to Ōnomatsu in March 1827.
Yokozuna
Ōnomatsu was awarded a yokozuna license in February 1828. On March 25, 1829, Ienari Tokugawa saw that Ōnomatsu defeated Inazuma.
Because he grew up in a poor family, he attempted to win bouts by fair means or foul. To shake competitors' confidence, he would often do matta, or waiting, at the initial charge, or tachi-ai of his sumo bouts. He was often criticized for his fighting style. Even so, he was popular in Edo.
He retired in November 1835. In the top makuuchi division, he won 142 bouts and lost 31 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 82.1. The 7th yokozuna Inazuma was his rival. His overall career record was quite far behind Inazuma, but his record over Inazuma was five wins (including two other than honbasho), four losses, five draws and one hold.
Top division record
- The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.
| - | Spring | Winter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1822 | x | East Maegashira #7 6–3–1 1d | ||||
| 1823 | East Maegashira #5 4–2 1nr | East Maegashira #2 7–2 1d | ||||
| 1824 | East Maegashira #2 8–1–1 Unofficial | East Komusubi 6–2–2 | ||||
| 1825 | East Komusubi 8–2 Unofficial | East Sekiwake 6–2–2 | ||||
| 1826 | East Sekiwake 5–1–3 1h | East Ōzeki 8–0–1 1d Unofficial | ||||
| 1827 | East Ōzeki 4–1–1 1h | East Ōzeki 6–0 Unofficial | ||||
| 1828 | East Ōzeki 3–3–2 1d 1h | East Ōzeki 7–1–2 | ||||
| 1829 | East Ōzeki 5–0–1 1d | East Ōzeki 6–0–1 2d 1h | ||||
| 1830 | East Ōzeki 7–1–1 1h | East Ōzeki 3–1–4 2h | ||||
| 1831 | East Ōzeki 4–0–4 2d | East Ōzeki 3–0–5 | ||||
| 1832 | Not held | East Ōzeki 7–1–1 1d | ||||
| 1833 | East Ōzeki 5–0–1 4d | East Ōzeki 2–2 3d 1h | ||||
| 1834 | East Ōzeki 6–1–1 2d | East Ōzeki 5–3–1 1d | ||||
| 1835 | East Ōzeki 7–0–1 2d Unofficial | East Ōzeki Retired 4–2–2 2d | ||||
| 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 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 unofficial championships above are historically conferred. For more information, see yūshō.