Ōzutsu Man'emon

Ōzutsu Man'emon
大砲 万右衛門
Personal information
Born	Manji Kakubari December 30, 1869 Miyagi, Japan
Died	May 27, 1918 (aged 48)
Height	1.97 m (6 ft 5 ^1⁄2 in)
Weight	131 kg (289 lb)
Career
Stable	Oguruma
Record	98-29-138-51draws-4holds (Makuuchi)
Debut	January, 1885
Highest rank	Yokozuna (April, 1901)
Retired	January, 1908
Championships	2 (Makuuchi, unofficial)
* Up to date as of October 2007.

Ōzutsu Man'emon (大砲 万右衛門, December 30, 1869 – May 27, 1918) was a sumo wrestler from Shiroishi, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. He was the sport's 18th yokozuna.

Career

Ōzutsu was a taller sumo wrestler compared with other wrestlers at that time. Although he was not very strong at first, he was rapidly promoted and reached sekiwake only three tournament after entering the top makuuchi division. He strength increased and he was promoted to ōzeki in May 1899.

He had never lost any bouts as ōzeki and was awarded a yokozuna licence by the house of Yoshida Tsukasa in April 1901. In May 1902, he won the tournament with no defeats. However, his strength rapidly declined after taking part in the Russo-Japanese War. He was absent for three tournaments due to the war. However, former yokozuna Umegatani Tōtarō I had taught him that yokozuna must not be defeated, so he recorded many draws late in his career. In the May 1907 tournament, he drew in all of his nine bouts.^[1] He retired in the next tournament. In the top makuuchi division, he won 98 bouts and lost 29 bouts, recording a winning percentage of 77.2. He also recorded 51 draws.

Ōzutsu (大砲) means "cannon" in Japanese but its reading is usually Taihō, and the name of yokozuna Taihō (大鵬) means "big phoenix".

Top division record

Ozutsu^[2]

-	Spring	Summer
1892	x	West Maegashira #6 3–6–1
1893	Sat out	West Maegashira #2 5–4–1
1894	West Sekiwake 2–2–6	West Maegashira #1 4–2–2 2d
1895	West Komusubi 2–1–7	West Komusubi 7–0–2 1d Unofficial
1896	West Sekiwake 3–1–5 1d	Sat out
1897	West Maegashira #1 6–2–1 1d	West Komusubi 4–3–1 2d
1898	West Komusubi 4–0–2 4d	West Sekiwake 6–0–2 2d
1899	West Sekiwake 4–1–1 4d	West Ōzeki 1–0–6 2d 1h
1900	Sat out due to injury 0–0–15	West Ōzeki 6–0–1 2d 1h
1901	West Ōzeki 7–0–2 1d	East Yokozuna 6–1–1 1draw 1h
1902	East Yokozuna 6–2–1 1d	East Yokozuna 8–0–1 1d Unofficial
1903	East Yokozuna 7–1–1 1d	Sat out for military service
1904	Sat out for military service	Sat out for military service
1905	East Yokozuna 3–1–5 1h	East Yokozuna 2–1–1 6d
1906	East Yokozuna 1–0–1 8d	Sat out
1907	East Yokozuna 1–1–6 2d	East Yokozuna 0–0–1 9d
1908	East Yokozuna Retired 0–0
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Key:d=Draw(s) (引分);   h=Hold(s) (預り) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — 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. 「横綱は決して負けてはいけないと聞かされていたもので…」（第18代横綱・大砲） (in Japanese). Japan Sumo Association. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
2. "Ozutsu Manemon Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 2007-10-03.