Maenoyama Tarō

Maenoyama Tarō
前の山 太郎
Personal information
Born	Kazuichi Kaneshima (1945-03-09) March 9, 1945 Osaka, Japan
Height
Weight	130 kg (290 lb)
Career
Stable	Takasago
Record	487-397-48
Debut	March, 1961
Highest rank	Ōzeki (September, 1970)
Retired	March, 1974
Championships	1 (Jūryō)
Special Prizes	Fighting Spirit (2) Outstanding Performance (3)
Gold Stars	1 (Kashiwado)
* Up to date as of July 2007.

Maenoyama Tarō (born 9 March 1945 as Kazuichi Kaneshima) is a former sumo wrestler from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He began his career in 1961, reaching the top makuuchi division in 1966. His highest rank was ōzeki which he held from 1970 until 1972. He retired in 1974 and became head coach of the Takadagawa stable. He left the Sumo Association in 2010 upon turning 65.

Career

He was born in Moriguchi, of Korean descent. He entered Takasago stable and made his professional debut in March 1961. He reached sekitori status in November 1965 upon promotion to the jūryō division and reached the top makuuchi division in September 1966. He made his san'yaku debut in March 1968 at sekiwake. In May 1969 he defeated yokozuna Kashiwado on opening day and went on to win 11 bouts, receiving his first sanshō or special prize, for Fighting Spirit. He was promoted to sumo's second highest rank of ōzeki in July 1970 after two consecutive runner-up performances to yokozuna Kitanofuji, the second coming in a play-off. His ōzeki debut was inauspicious as he missed the entire tournament through injury. He was unable to win more than nine bouts in any of his ten tournaments at ōzeki rank, and was demoted from ōzeki in March 1972 after injury problems meant he had two consecutive losing scores. He continued to compete in the lower ranks until March 1974 when he announced his retirement from active competition at the age of 29.

Retirement from sumo

He became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Takadagawa and established the Takadagawa stable in April 1974. He produced such top division wrestlers as komusubi Maenoshin and Kenko, and maegashira Kiraiho. It was once part of the Takasago ichimon (group of stables). However, the stable became a pariah after Takadagawa ran for the leadership of the Sumo Association in 1998 against the wishes of the Takasago ichimon. As a result, he was forced to leave the Takasago camp. There was some belief that he would join the Dewanoumi group but instead the stable went independent and is not attached to any ichimon. In December 2008 it was announced that former sekiwake Akinoshima would be his successor. Takadagawa stood down in August 2009 to ease the transition. The two swapped elder names, and he became Sendagawa Oyakata. He left the Japan Sumo Association in March 2010 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.

Fighting style

Maenoyama's favourite techniques were tsukidashi (thrust out), hidari-yotsu (a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent's mawashi) and yorikiri (force out).

Career record

Maenoyama Tarō

Year in sumo	January Hatsu basho, Tokyo	March Haru basho, Osaka	May Natsu basho, Tokyo	July Nagoya basho, Nagoya	September Aki basho, Tokyo	November Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
1961	x	(Maezumo)	West Jonokuchi #26 Sat out due to injury 0–0–7	(Maezumo)	East Jonokuchi #21 Sat out due to injury 0–0–7	(Maezumo)
1962	West Jonokuchi #25 5–2	West Jonidan #62 5–2	West Jonidan #25 6–1	West Sandanme #63 2–5	East Sandanme #83 5–2	West Sandanme #52 2–5
1963	East Sandanme #71 5–2	East Sandanme #28 4–3	East Sandanme #18 3–4	East Sandanme #27 3–4	West Sandanme #40 5–2	East Sandanme #11 5–2
1964	West Makushita #83 5–2	East Makushita #62 4–3	East Makushita #57 5–2	East Makushita #43 3–4	East Makushita #49 3–4	East Makushita #53 6–1
1965	East Makushita #30 4–3	West Makushita #22 4–3	East Makushita #17 4–3	East Makushita #14 5–2	East Makushita #5 5–2	West Jūryō #18 10–5
1966	East Jūryō #10 6–9	West Jūryō #14 8–7	East Jūryō #12 9–6	East Jūryō #6 13–2–P Champion	West Maegashira #14 8–7	East Maegashira #9 11–4
1967	West Maegashira #1 4–11	East Maegashira #8 9–6	West Maegashira #3 4–11	East Maegashira #5 9–6	East Maegashira #2 4–11	East Maegashira #8 10–5
1968	East Maegashira #2 9–6	West Sekiwake #1 7–8	West Maegashira #1 9–6	East Komusubi #2 8–7	West Komusubi #1 9–6	West Sekiwake #1 8–7
1969	East Sekiwake #1 5–10	West Maegashira #2 8–7	West Maegashira #1 11–4 F★	West Sekiwake #1 10–5 O	West Sekiwake #1 8–7	West Sekiwake #2 8–7
1970	West Sekiwake #2 8–7	West Sekiwake #2 9–6 O	East Sekiwake #1 12–3 O	East Sekiwake #1 13–2–P F	West Ōzeki #2 Sat out due to injury 0–0–15	West Ōzeki #2 9–6
1971	West Ōzeki #2 9–6	East Ōzeki #2 8–7	West Ōzeki #2 8–7	East Ōzeki #2 8–7	West Ōzeki #2 8–7	West Ōzeki #2 8–7
1972	East Ōzeki #2 3–2–10	East Ōzeki #2 6–7–2	East Sekiwake #2 7–8	West Komusubi #1 8–7	West Komusubi #1 5–10	West Maegashira #3 5–4–6
1973	East Maegashira #9 10–5	West Maegashira #2 7–8	West Maegashira #3 4–11	West Maegashira #11 9–6	East Maegashira #6 8–7	East Maegashira #4 8–7
1974	East Maegashira #1 4–11	West Maegashira #8 Retired 0–6
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s); P=Playoff(s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of sumo tournament second division champions
• List of past sumo wrestlers
• List of ōzeki