Yusho of an outsider

[aderechelsea]

i was wondering who is the lowest ranked rikishi to win a basho in makuuchi division ?

i remember in 2000 takatoriki (m14 i think back then) grabbed a yusho but i am not sure that he is the one..........

(Clapping wildly...)

[Yubiquitoyama]

i was wondering who is the lowest ranked rikishi to win a basho in makuuchi division ?

That would be Dewaminato in January 1939 ranked as M17w. :-P

Second lowest are Takatoriki (2000.03), Tamanoumi (1957.11) and Ryogoku (1914.05), all ranked as M14e. (Clapping wildly...)

Edited March 20, 2004 by Yubiquitoyama

[aderechelsea]

thanks Yobiquito-san for the info....

i believe (i am not certain though) that when takatoriki won the yusho he was at the bottom of the banzuke at M14 because there where a lot of Yokozunas and Ozekis back then.......

but i can be wrong about that....... (Clapping wildly...)

[Asashosakari]

thanks Yobiquito-san for the info....

i believe (i am not certain though) that when takatoriki won the yusho he was at the bottom of the banzuke at M14 because there where a lot of Yokozunas and Ozekis back then.......

You'll have to keep in mind that the number of rikishi hasn't always been the same; there were a few more on the banzuke in 1939. Anyway, even in absolute terms Dewaminato was lower-ranked. He was the 43rd rikishi, while Takatoriki was the 39th.

However, there is one way to look at it in which 'riki holds the record, namely as the rikishi closest to the bottom of the banzuke who ever won a yusho. He was 2nd from the bottom, Dewaminato "only" 3rd. :-P

Anyway, I think the real answer should be Asashio III / Minanogawa in January 1933...he wasn't even on the main banzuke when he won the yusho. (Clapping wildly...)

Edited March 20, 2004 by Asashosakari

[aderechelsea]

Anyway, I think the real answer should be Asashio III / Minanogawa in January 1933...he wasn't even on the main banzuke when he won the yusho. :-)

(Clapping wildly...) :-P

and thanks.............by the way.

[Asashosakari]

Anyway, I think the real answer should be Asashio III / Minanogawa in January 1933...he wasn't even on the main banzuke when he won the yusho. B-)

(Clapping wildly...) :-P

I was only half-serious.

Somebody who's better than me with the historical stuff can probably fill in some background, but what basically happened:

There was a large walk-out of Makuuchi rikishi during the January 1932 tournament (see the banzuke from the basho), who pretty much quit the Kyokai over something or other. When most of them finally returned a year later for the January 1933 basho, they couldn't be properly ranked at first since they had not participated in the previous 4 basho. So a special, separate banzuke was drawn up for them (see here) giving all of them a special rank of "besseki" (can anybody tell what exactly that means?), outside of the Yokozuna-to-Maegashira rankings.

Minanogawa was one of them, and he won the yusho. So he wasn't even a Maegashira, which means he was ranked as low as could possibly be. :-)

[aderechelsea]

interesting story.Thanks a lot for the links....

although i think Dewaminato is better qualified to hold that record....... B-)

[Yoavoshimaru]

I would also go with Dewanimoto on that one (In a state of confusion...)

This page says "Tamanishiki's name is written in haridashi form on the banzuke." Why would that be done?

[Naganoyama]

I would also go with Dewanimoto on that one  (In a state of confusion...)

This page says "Tamanishiki's name is written in haridashi form on the banzuke."  Why would that be done?

This was sometimes done for the man on the top of the banzuke to indicate that he was streets ahead of the next man. (I will try and find a reference)

Odd really for two reasons:

- because later, a haridashi entry usually indicated that someone was a bit lower than you would expect from his level in the banzuke

- because he is yokozuna anyway and you would expect him to be the best.

Edit: If you look at the May 1924 Banzuke you will see that Yokozuna Tochigiyama is written in haridashi form and the rubric says "In this case, Tochigiyama's haridashi status is meaning he is a yokozuna who is much more excellent than the other Yokozunas." There are quite a few examples of this.

Edited March 20, 2004 by Naganoyama

[Yoavoshimaru]

Very interesting -- thanks! I notice on the same 1924 banzuke (link above) a Haridashi designation between the two Komusubi and the first maegashira. What does that indicate?

[Asashosakari]

Very interesting -- thanks!  I notice on the same 1924 banzuke (link above) a Haridashi designation between the two Komusubi and the first maegashira.  What does that indicate?

That's just a regular ol' third Komusubi, back in the day when haridashi was still (primarily) used to denote excess sanyaku.

Edited March 20, 2004 by Asashosakari

[Zenjimoto]

Wow, can you imagine a walkout of rikishi for a whole year? *shudder* (Blushing...)