Maedayama Eigoro (4 May 1914 – 17 August 1971) -
the 39th Yokozuna: November 1947 – October 1949
by Joe Kuroda
Of
the 68 yokozuna in ozumo history, only one rikishi (the 54th yokozuna,
Wajima Hiroshi) used his family name for his shikona. All the others
had a traditional sumo shikona given to them by their oyakata or others
connected with them, except one. The exception was the 39th
yokozuna, Maedayama, who adapted his shikona from his doctor’s name,
Dr. Maeda Wasaburo who operated on what was initially believed to be a
career-ending, life-threatening injury.
Maedayama was a typical “Soppu” -type rikishi – tall and lanky. He was 180 cm tall but weighed only 117 kg. He had such delicate features that you would almost be forgiven for mistaking him for a sensitive gentle soul; but Maedayama was far from it. He ate, drank and lived hard all of his early life. He started his active sumo career as a rebel and ended his sumo life as a rebel. He re-built the Takasago dynasty that continues to this day. He was intense and had as much, if not more, raw fighting spirit as another present day Takasago beya yokozuna, Asashoryu.
Even after becoming oyakata, he marched to a different drummer, as he often ignored Kyokai directives and proceeded to do things his own way. He actively tried to promote sumo abroad and even traveled to the United States to hold a jungyo tournament. During the Hawaiian jungyo, he convinced a muscular youth to accompany him to Japan by guaranteeing he would house, clothe and feed him for a period of five years. The young man was planning to become a policeman but decided to take up the offer despite some misgivings. It was such an unprecedented event that it caused a great sensation in Japan at the time. But Maedayama saw something in the young man and was proven correct as he overcame hardships and went on to become the first foreign-born sanyaku, sekiwake Takamiyama, the current Azumazeki Oyakata. No one realized at the time, but it was a turning point, heralding the new age of ozumo, opening up the floodgates of the national sport of Japan to the whole world.
Born Kanematsu Hagimori in what is now Yahatama-shi, Ehime Prefecture in western Japan on May 4, 1914, Maedayama was the youngest of 14 children. He grew up to become a village bully and terrorized everyone in his neighborhood. A chance encounter with the Ehime-born 3rd Takasago Oyakata, who was holding a heya jungyo tour in the area, changed his life forever. Maedayama subsequently went to Tokyo to see his older brother who worked there as a carpenter and then decided to join ozumo rather going back home.
Taking the shikona of Kikiyama, he made his debut at the 1929 January basho. The “Kiki” name was taken from his old home village, Kisuki-mura (also known as Kiki), but it was quickly changed to another more well-known Ehime landmark, Sadamisaki (Sada Peninsula) the following basho. Sadamisaki showed his rough character in his training sessions very early on. He did not suffer a defeat lightly or quietly, even in training bouts, and his training often became an all-out ruckus. Most heyamates quickly learned to avoid him on and off the dohyo.
He also started drinking excessively and his reputation for getting into violent fights became legendary in the sumo world, as did his extreme temper and violent nature. He was repeatedly reprimanded by his shisho, Takasago Oyakata, but he kept progressing in the banzuke ranking so he was tolerated more than most, although he struggled with drinking problems throughout his active career.
Sadamisaki was promoted to makushita in 1932, and in the spring of 1933 he was assured of juryo promotion. Normally this brought good wishes from the heya supporters and a celebration party would have been held in honor of his promotion; however, his past behavior had been so atrocious that there was not even one offer to present him with a kesho mawashi to wear for his sekitori dohyo-iri ceremony. They were all afraid of their own reputation being tarnished by Sadamisaki’s violent behavior and no supporter wanted to be associated with him or his career.
Just as he was preparing for his juryo debut, during another of his brutal training sessions, this time against Shachinosato (later maegashira 3, who joined ozumo at the same time), Sadamisaki experienced an acute pain in his right arm. Not one to be seen as a weakling, he continued on and then went back to his room to collapse. The next morning he woke up with extreme pain in his arm, and he could not get up nor move. He was carried to Keio University Hospital where he had a fateful encounter with Dr. Maeda Wasaburo (1894-1979), an authority on bone marrow and one of the best surgeons in Japan at the time.
Dr. Maeda told Sadamisaki that he needed emergency surgery as it was not a simple broken bone or muscle tear he was suffering, but a serious bone infection known as osteomyelitis. The doctor told him he would need at least one year off from ozumo. By this time Sadamisaki felt that his world had gone totally dark and he broke down crying. He felt that he had nothing to live for as he suspected that it was not only a career-ending injury but a life-threatening one as well. He saw no hope of any sort of comeback; he was ready to give up on his life.
However, Dr. Maeda kept telling him quietly that it was a battle worth fighting just as he has been fighting all his life in ozumo. Sadamisaki felt the doctor’s compassion and kindness. He thought to himself, “a perfect stranger only one day ago, still this man is displaying such a concern for my well-being as if I were his son”. Sadamisaki was to be promoted to sekitori but not even those who had known him for years bothered or cared enough to arrange to get him a kesho mawashi for the dohyo-iri ceremony. He would have been a laughingstock in ozumo as the only sekitori without a kesho mawashi. Sadamisaki was no longer sure what he was crying about but he decided to trust this doctor so that one day he could make a spectacular comeback to reward him by wearing a kesho mawashi everyone could be proud of.
The first part of the surgery went well and Sadamisaki spent two months in hospital for recuperation and rehabilitation, although there was nothing harder than being cooped up in a hospital ward all day long. He wanted to get back to training as soon as possible. As he was progressing well, he was given permission to leave the hospital temporarily, with instructions of how to behave and to not consume any alcohol. But free at last, the old Sadamisaki re-surfaced immediately and he went out drinking. This time, he not only went on a drinking binge but he even got involved himself in a fight with a policeman. For his shisho Takasago Oyakata, who had seen enough of Sadamisaki’s brawls, it was the last straw. He had simply had enough of the shenanigans and told him to leave ozumo and never show his face again.
Sadamisaki left Tokyo to stay with an acquaintance in his home town. He knew it was the end of everything he had worked so hard for and that there was no chance of making a comeback. He spent every day doing absolutely nothing, only dreaming the impossible dream of stepping on the dohyo again. If there were a miracle, he promised himself he would change; he would become a new man.
Unbeknownst to Sadamisaki, help was arriving from an unlikely source. His name was Mitsuru Touyama (1855-1944), a well-known ultra-nationalist who founded a right-wing organization called Genyo-sha which actively assisted nationalists in other Asian countries trying to abolish colonialism. Touyama, having a deep interest in Japan’s traditional culture, was personally acquainted with influential Kyokai members, including Takasago Oyakata, and he convinced the oyakata to take Sadamisaki back.
Takasago Oyakata was the easy part, more difficult was his secondary surgery as the surgeon now had to painstakingly shave decayed bone fragments from his arm. It was major surgery, the scale of which one could hardly fathom even now, but miraculously Dr. Maeda succeeded in repairing Sadamisaki’s arm. Dr. Maeda was aware that by this time Sadamisaki was down to a sandanme ranking and had absolutely no money at all. Dr. Maeda personally absorbed all the expenses of Sadamisaki’s extended hospital stay.
Sadamisaki knew he could never pay the medical expenses but more than anything, he felt he could never repay the doctor for saving his life as he knew that without sumo there was no life for him to live. He knew that he had been given a second chance, the key to a new life. To symbolize his transformation, he decided to change his shikona to Maedayama Eigoro to honor the doctor’s work. The “Eigoro” part of the name comes from Eigoro Omaeda (1793-1874), a yakuza chief from Gunma Prefecture. He killed a man and was exiled to Sado Island but escaped and became the most powerful “godfather” in Tokyo and the Kanto region in the late Edo era.
After one year’s absence, Maedayama returned to the dohyo for the 1935 January basho, easily winning five bouts while losing one. He learned to channel all his raw emotion and aggression into his sumo. Soon his ferocious tsuppari and harite became so well known that his opponents started expressing their fear of facing him. However, what his opponents dreaded the most was his killer instinct, as once on the dohyo Maedayama approached each bout as if he was prepared to kill his opponent or be killed. They were literally overwhelmed by his menacing intensity.
Within two basho, he was promoted to komusubi and proceeded to defeat yokozuna Tamanishiki after a mono-ii. The following basho he went on to finish with 11 wins and 2 losses and was promoted to ozeki from komusubi, jumping over sekiwake rank. It took him only four basho to reach ozeki from his makuuchi debut, the quickest promotion since Onishiki at the time.
Maedayama had a credible record as an ozeki but these years coincided with Japan’s involvement in World War II and the subsequent defeat, so despite coming close to yokozuna promotion, it didn’t happen. In fact, from when he became ozeki at the May 1938 basho to when he was finally promoted to yokozuna at the November 1947 basho, 10 years had gone by (during these years there were only two basho a year). Ozumo fans had accepted him as the “eternal ozeki” and never considered him to be a future yokozuna. During this 10-year span, he was overtaken by Haguroyama, Terukuni and Akinoumi as they were promoted to yokozuna ahead of him.
In his later ozeki years he was not as effective as previously. Obviously he was older but he had mainly stopped utilizing his best weapons of tsuppari and harite. The change happened after the January 1941 basho when he unleashed his trademark vicious harite and pummeled all three stars of Tatsunami beya, Haguroyama, Futabayama and Nayoriiwa. Maedayama simply beat them to pulp. After their bout, they looked as if they had been hit by a runaway train.
Even the fans accustomed to seeing Maedayama using harite were aghast at witnessing the great yokozuna Futabayama enduring repeated savage slaps from Maedayama. Maedayama was accused of disgraceful conduct undeserving of an ozeki by the media and public as they labeled him the master of dirty tricks. The vehement reaction hurt the normally cocky Maedayama and he appeared to make a conscious effort to tone down his sumo style soon after this basho. The only rikishi to come to Maedayama’s defense was the great yokozuna Futabayama who dismissed the uproar by saying “harite” was a legitimate sumo technique.
Another factor that may have contributed to lessening his ferociousness was his becoming a heya-owning oyakata. His shisho passed away and he inherited the heya while still active, known as “Nimai-Kansatsu” (this is no longer practiced; now a rikishi must retire from active rank before he can take over a heya as happened when Kotonowaka took over Sadogatake beya when his father-in-law retired at the 2005 Kyushu basho).
At the November 1946 basho Maedayama finished with 11 wins and 5 losses and at the following June basho, he had 9 wins and 1 loss, good enough for a yusho-equivalent result. After the basho, at the age of 33, Maedayama was finally promoted to yokozuna with a pre-set condition. It was the first and last time that such a special clause was inserted into the yokozuna license by the purveyor of ozumo at the time, the House of Yoshida Tsukasa, which was the sole body permitted to issue an yokozuna license. The clause stated, “in case of rude and violent conduct the license shall be void”.
Maedayama spent his most productive years as ozeki so it was naturally expected that he would not leave any outstanding records as yokozuna. In fact, his yokozuna record turned out to be nothing but dismal. At his yokozuna debut basho, he had 6 wins and 5 losses, just barely managing to get kachikoshi. He followed this with 1 loss-10 kyujo, 3 wins-6 losses-2 kyujo, and 5 wins-3 losses-5 kyujo records. His kyujo days were mostly due to intestine-related problems but he failed to show up at the October 1948 basho altogether because of a sprained thumb.
At the October 1949 basho held in Osaka, he won against Rikidozan on day 1 by yorikiri but lost the next five bouts. On day 7 he submitted his kyujo report to the Kyokai, describing his illness as an inflammation of the intestine.
About this time there was a tour of Japan by the San Francisco Seals, a 3-A Pacific Coast League baseball team, headed by a well-known former major leaguer, Lefty O’Doul. Being a huge baseball fan, Maedayama snuck out of Osaka and went to Tokyo’s Koraku-en Park to see them play the Japanese All-Star team. He was promptly discovered by a sportswriter covering the game and he even agreed to be photographed shaking hands with Lefty O’Doul, the manager of the Seals. Although no longer active, O’Doul was the most popular baseball player in Japan and Maedayama simply could not contain himself.
As expected, the next day the picture of him standing next to O’Doul appeared in newspapers all across Japan. The Kyokai executives were caught off-guard and had no explanation as they believed he was in Osaka recuperating from his illness. The oyakata were infuriated to discover that a yokozuna who was supposed to be on kyujo had left town to go watch a baseball game. They became more incensed when they were told that he left secretly without telling any of his recruits where he was going. His fellow heya-owning oyakata could not forgive him for abandoning his recruits solely for his own pleasure.
Maedayama realized that he was in a serious predicament and proposed to re-enter the basho on senshuraku but the idea was immediately nixed by the Kyokai directors. He realized that he had not even one sympathizer or defender within the Kyokai. To preserve the honor and dignity of ozumo, there was only one course of action left for him short of committing suicide. Maedayama Eigoro, the 39th yokozuna, was forced to make his retirement announcement on senshuraku at the October 1949 basho.
Maedayama’s brief yokozuna record was 24 wins, 27 losses (including 4 fusen), 25 kyujo. After his retirement, he inherited the Toshiyori name of the 4th Takasago Uragoro and was subsequently elected as a Kyokai director. He rebuilt the Takasago dynasty by developing yokozuna Asashio, ozeki Maenoyama, and sanyaku Kuninobori, Miyanishiki, Wakamaeda, Fujinishiki and Maedagawa.
However, even as a Kyokai director, he continued his unorthodox ways. He went to the United States, taking Fujitayama and Ounoumi, and even did a dohyo-iri in a professional wrestling ring. He told the Kyokai executives that the group would be back by the beginning of the next basho but once he got to the U.S. he continued the tour around the country and extended the visit without the Kyokai directors’ permission or authorization. His love of baseball was legendary but he also loved dancing and was an avid Go player, and during jungyo tours, he never forgot to take his favorite golf bag.
It’s been said that the legendary Lefty O’Doul was the father of modern-day baseball in Japan as he tirelessly traveled around Japan to hold clinics to popularize the sport. Without him, there may have been no Ichiro or Hideki Matsui playing baseball in the United States today. Maedayama perhaps wanted to do the same for ozumo when he became an oyakata.
In retrospect we can possibly say that without Maedayama, we would have had no Akebono, the first foreign-born yokozuna, or Asashoryu, one of the most successful yokozuna of all time. Maedayama did not leave significant records as a yokozuna but his legacy continues to shine brightly. As we head into the Hatsu 2007 basho, there will be 17 foreign-born sekitori on the banzuke.
Toshiyori Takasago Uragoro / yokozuna Maedayama Eigoro died of cirrhosis of the liver on August 17, 1971. He was 57 years old. Almost one year later at the July 1972 basho, Takamiyama, the recruit he brought from Hawaii, won his first (and only) makuuchi yusho. Maedayama’s namesake, Dr. Maeda Wasaburo, passed away in 1979 on exactly the same day, August 17. Even in death, they shared a bond.
Sumo Fan Magazine Home
Maedayama was a typical “Soppu” -type rikishi – tall and lanky. He was 180 cm tall but weighed only 117 kg. He had such delicate features that you would almost be forgiven for mistaking him for a sensitive gentle soul; but Maedayama was far from it. He ate, drank and lived hard all of his early life. He started his active sumo career as a rebel and ended his sumo life as a rebel. He re-built the Takasago dynasty that continues to this day. He was intense and had as much, if not more, raw fighting spirit as another present day Takasago beya yokozuna, Asashoryu.
Even after becoming oyakata, he marched to a different drummer, as he often ignored Kyokai directives and proceeded to do things his own way. He actively tried to promote sumo abroad and even traveled to the United States to hold a jungyo tournament. During the Hawaiian jungyo, he convinced a muscular youth to accompany him to Japan by guaranteeing he would house, clothe and feed him for a period of five years. The young man was planning to become a policeman but decided to take up the offer despite some misgivings. It was such an unprecedented event that it caused a great sensation in Japan at the time. But Maedayama saw something in the young man and was proven correct as he overcame hardships and went on to become the first foreign-born sanyaku, sekiwake Takamiyama, the current Azumazeki Oyakata. No one realized at the time, but it was a turning point, heralding the new age of ozumo, opening up the floodgates of the national sport of Japan to the whole world.
Born Kanematsu Hagimori in what is now Yahatama-shi, Ehime Prefecture in western Japan on May 4, 1914, Maedayama was the youngest of 14 children. He grew up to become a village bully and terrorized everyone in his neighborhood. A chance encounter with the Ehime-born 3rd Takasago Oyakata, who was holding a heya jungyo tour in the area, changed his life forever. Maedayama subsequently went to Tokyo to see his older brother who worked there as a carpenter and then decided to join ozumo rather going back home.
Taking the shikona of Kikiyama, he made his debut at the 1929 January basho. The “Kiki” name was taken from his old home village, Kisuki-mura (also known as Kiki), but it was quickly changed to another more well-known Ehime landmark, Sadamisaki (Sada Peninsula) the following basho. Sadamisaki showed his rough character in his training sessions very early on. He did not suffer a defeat lightly or quietly, even in training bouts, and his training often became an all-out ruckus. Most heyamates quickly learned to avoid him on and off the dohyo.
He also started drinking excessively and his reputation for getting into violent fights became legendary in the sumo world, as did his extreme temper and violent nature. He was repeatedly reprimanded by his shisho, Takasago Oyakata, but he kept progressing in the banzuke ranking so he was tolerated more than most, although he struggled with drinking problems throughout his active career.
Sadamisaki was promoted to makushita in 1932, and in the spring of 1933 he was assured of juryo promotion. Normally this brought good wishes from the heya supporters and a celebration party would have been held in honor of his promotion; however, his past behavior had been so atrocious that there was not even one offer to present him with a kesho mawashi to wear for his sekitori dohyo-iri ceremony. They were all afraid of their own reputation being tarnished by Sadamisaki’s violent behavior and no supporter wanted to be associated with him or his career.
Just as he was preparing for his juryo debut, during another of his brutal training sessions, this time against Shachinosato (later maegashira 3, who joined ozumo at the same time), Sadamisaki experienced an acute pain in his right arm. Not one to be seen as a weakling, he continued on and then went back to his room to collapse. The next morning he woke up with extreme pain in his arm, and he could not get up nor move. He was carried to Keio University Hospital where he had a fateful encounter with Dr. Maeda Wasaburo (1894-1979), an authority on bone marrow and one of the best surgeons in Japan at the time.
Dr. Maeda told Sadamisaki that he needed emergency surgery as it was not a simple broken bone or muscle tear he was suffering, but a serious bone infection known as osteomyelitis. The doctor told him he would need at least one year off from ozumo. By this time Sadamisaki felt that his world had gone totally dark and he broke down crying. He felt that he had nothing to live for as he suspected that it was not only a career-ending injury but a life-threatening one as well. He saw no hope of any sort of comeback; he was ready to give up on his life.
However, Dr. Maeda kept telling him quietly that it was a battle worth fighting just as he has been fighting all his life in ozumo. Sadamisaki felt the doctor’s compassion and kindness. He thought to himself, “a perfect stranger only one day ago, still this man is displaying such a concern for my well-being as if I were his son”. Sadamisaki was to be promoted to sekitori but not even those who had known him for years bothered or cared enough to arrange to get him a kesho mawashi for the dohyo-iri ceremony. He would have been a laughingstock in ozumo as the only sekitori without a kesho mawashi. Sadamisaki was no longer sure what he was crying about but he decided to trust this doctor so that one day he could make a spectacular comeback to reward him by wearing a kesho mawashi everyone could be proud of.
The first part of the surgery went well and Sadamisaki spent two months in hospital for recuperation and rehabilitation, although there was nothing harder than being cooped up in a hospital ward all day long. He wanted to get back to training as soon as possible. As he was progressing well, he was given permission to leave the hospital temporarily, with instructions of how to behave and to not consume any alcohol. But free at last, the old Sadamisaki re-surfaced immediately and he went out drinking. This time, he not only went on a drinking binge but he even got involved himself in a fight with a policeman. For his shisho Takasago Oyakata, who had seen enough of Sadamisaki’s brawls, it was the last straw. He had simply had enough of the shenanigans and told him to leave ozumo and never show his face again.
Sadamisaki left Tokyo to stay with an acquaintance in his home town. He knew it was the end of everything he had worked so hard for and that there was no chance of making a comeback. He spent every day doing absolutely nothing, only dreaming the impossible dream of stepping on the dohyo again. If there were a miracle, he promised himself he would change; he would become a new man.
Unbeknownst to Sadamisaki, help was arriving from an unlikely source. His name was Mitsuru Touyama (1855-1944), a well-known ultra-nationalist who founded a right-wing organization called Genyo-sha which actively assisted nationalists in other Asian countries trying to abolish colonialism. Touyama, having a deep interest in Japan’s traditional culture, was personally acquainted with influential Kyokai members, including Takasago Oyakata, and he convinced the oyakata to take Sadamisaki back.
Takasago Oyakata was the easy part, more difficult was his secondary surgery as the surgeon now had to painstakingly shave decayed bone fragments from his arm. It was major surgery, the scale of which one could hardly fathom even now, but miraculously Dr. Maeda succeeded in repairing Sadamisaki’s arm. Dr. Maeda was aware that by this time Sadamisaki was down to a sandanme ranking and had absolutely no money at all. Dr. Maeda personally absorbed all the expenses of Sadamisaki’s extended hospital stay.
Sadamisaki knew he could never pay the medical expenses but more than anything, he felt he could never repay the doctor for saving his life as he knew that without sumo there was no life for him to live. He knew that he had been given a second chance, the key to a new life. To symbolize his transformation, he decided to change his shikona to Maedayama Eigoro to honor the doctor’s work. The “Eigoro” part of the name comes from Eigoro Omaeda (1793-1874), a yakuza chief from Gunma Prefecture. He killed a man and was exiled to Sado Island but escaped and became the most powerful “godfather” in Tokyo and the Kanto region in the late Edo era.
After one year’s absence, Maedayama returned to the dohyo for the 1935 January basho, easily winning five bouts while losing one. He learned to channel all his raw emotion and aggression into his sumo. Soon his ferocious tsuppari and harite became so well known that his opponents started expressing their fear of facing him. However, what his opponents dreaded the most was his killer instinct, as once on the dohyo Maedayama approached each bout as if he was prepared to kill his opponent or be killed. They were literally overwhelmed by his menacing intensity.
Within two basho, he was promoted to komusubi and proceeded to defeat yokozuna Tamanishiki after a mono-ii. The following basho he went on to finish with 11 wins and 2 losses and was promoted to ozeki from komusubi, jumping over sekiwake rank. It took him only four basho to reach ozeki from his makuuchi debut, the quickest promotion since Onishiki at the time.
Maedayama had a credible record as an ozeki but these years coincided with Japan’s involvement in World War II and the subsequent defeat, so despite coming close to yokozuna promotion, it didn’t happen. In fact, from when he became ozeki at the May 1938 basho to when he was finally promoted to yokozuna at the November 1947 basho, 10 years had gone by (during these years there were only two basho a year). Ozumo fans had accepted him as the “eternal ozeki” and never considered him to be a future yokozuna. During this 10-year span, he was overtaken by Haguroyama, Terukuni and Akinoumi as they were promoted to yokozuna ahead of him.
In his later ozeki years he was not as effective as previously. Obviously he was older but he had mainly stopped utilizing his best weapons of tsuppari and harite. The change happened after the January 1941 basho when he unleashed his trademark vicious harite and pummeled all three stars of Tatsunami beya, Haguroyama, Futabayama and Nayoriiwa. Maedayama simply beat them to pulp. After their bout, they looked as if they had been hit by a runaway train.
Even the fans accustomed to seeing Maedayama using harite were aghast at witnessing the great yokozuna Futabayama enduring repeated savage slaps from Maedayama. Maedayama was accused of disgraceful conduct undeserving of an ozeki by the media and public as they labeled him the master of dirty tricks. The vehement reaction hurt the normally cocky Maedayama and he appeared to make a conscious effort to tone down his sumo style soon after this basho. The only rikishi to come to Maedayama’s defense was the great yokozuna Futabayama who dismissed the uproar by saying “harite” was a legitimate sumo technique.
Another factor that may have contributed to lessening his ferociousness was his becoming a heya-owning oyakata. His shisho passed away and he inherited the heya while still active, known as “Nimai-Kansatsu” (this is no longer practiced; now a rikishi must retire from active rank before he can take over a heya as happened when Kotonowaka took over Sadogatake beya when his father-in-law retired at the 2005 Kyushu basho).
At the November 1946 basho Maedayama finished with 11 wins and 5 losses and at the following June basho, he had 9 wins and 1 loss, good enough for a yusho-equivalent result. After the basho, at the age of 33, Maedayama was finally promoted to yokozuna with a pre-set condition. It was the first and last time that such a special clause was inserted into the yokozuna license by the purveyor of ozumo at the time, the House of Yoshida Tsukasa, which was the sole body permitted to issue an yokozuna license. The clause stated, “in case of rude and violent conduct the license shall be void”.
Maedayama spent his most productive years as ozeki so it was naturally expected that he would not leave any outstanding records as yokozuna. In fact, his yokozuna record turned out to be nothing but dismal. At his yokozuna debut basho, he had 6 wins and 5 losses, just barely managing to get kachikoshi. He followed this with 1 loss-10 kyujo, 3 wins-6 losses-2 kyujo, and 5 wins-3 losses-5 kyujo records. His kyujo days were mostly due to intestine-related problems but he failed to show up at the October 1948 basho altogether because of a sprained thumb.
At the October 1949 basho held in Osaka, he won against Rikidozan on day 1 by yorikiri but lost the next five bouts. On day 7 he submitted his kyujo report to the Kyokai, describing his illness as an inflammation of the intestine.
About this time there was a tour of Japan by the San Francisco Seals, a 3-A Pacific Coast League baseball team, headed by a well-known former major leaguer, Lefty O’Doul. Being a huge baseball fan, Maedayama snuck out of Osaka and went to Tokyo’s Koraku-en Park to see them play the Japanese All-Star team. He was promptly discovered by a sportswriter covering the game and he even agreed to be photographed shaking hands with Lefty O’Doul, the manager of the Seals. Although no longer active, O’Doul was the most popular baseball player in Japan and Maedayama simply could not contain himself.
As expected, the next day the picture of him standing next to O’Doul appeared in newspapers all across Japan. The Kyokai executives were caught off-guard and had no explanation as they believed he was in Osaka recuperating from his illness. The oyakata were infuriated to discover that a yokozuna who was supposed to be on kyujo had left town to go watch a baseball game. They became more incensed when they were told that he left secretly without telling any of his recruits where he was going. His fellow heya-owning oyakata could not forgive him for abandoning his recruits solely for his own pleasure.
Maedayama realized that he was in a serious predicament and proposed to re-enter the basho on senshuraku but the idea was immediately nixed by the Kyokai directors. He realized that he had not even one sympathizer or defender within the Kyokai. To preserve the honor and dignity of ozumo, there was only one course of action left for him short of committing suicide. Maedayama Eigoro, the 39th yokozuna, was forced to make his retirement announcement on senshuraku at the October 1949 basho.
Maedayama’s brief yokozuna record was 24 wins, 27 losses (including 4 fusen), 25 kyujo. After his retirement, he inherited the Toshiyori name of the 4th Takasago Uragoro and was subsequently elected as a Kyokai director. He rebuilt the Takasago dynasty by developing yokozuna Asashio, ozeki Maenoyama, and sanyaku Kuninobori, Miyanishiki, Wakamaeda, Fujinishiki and Maedagawa.
However, even as a Kyokai director, he continued his unorthodox ways. He went to the United States, taking Fujitayama and Ounoumi, and even did a dohyo-iri in a professional wrestling ring. He told the Kyokai executives that the group would be back by the beginning of the next basho but once he got to the U.S. he continued the tour around the country and extended the visit without the Kyokai directors’ permission or authorization. His love of baseball was legendary but he also loved dancing and was an avid Go player, and during jungyo tours, he never forgot to take his favorite golf bag.
It’s been said that the legendary Lefty O’Doul was the father of modern-day baseball in Japan as he tirelessly traveled around Japan to hold clinics to popularize the sport. Without him, there may have been no Ichiro or Hideki Matsui playing baseball in the United States today. Maedayama perhaps wanted to do the same for ozumo when he became an oyakata.
In retrospect we can possibly say that without Maedayama, we would have had no Akebono, the first foreign-born yokozuna, or Asashoryu, one of the most successful yokozuna of all time. Maedayama did not leave significant records as a yokozuna but his legacy continues to shine brightly. As we head into the Hatsu 2007 basho, there will be 17 foreign-born sekitori on the banzuke.
Toshiyori Takasago Uragoro / yokozuna Maedayama Eigoro died of cirrhosis of the liver on August 17, 1971. He was 57 years old. Almost one year later at the July 1972 basho, Takamiyama, the recruit he brought from Hawaii, won his first (and only) makuuchi yusho. Maedayama’s namesake, Dr. Maeda Wasaburo, passed away in 1979 on exactly the same day, August 17. Even in death, they shared a bond.
Maedayama Eigoro
| Born on: |
4 May 1914 |
| Born at: | Kisuki-mura, Nishiuwa-gun (now Yahatama-shi, Honai-cho, Kiki), Ehime Prefecture |
| Real Name: | Kanematsu Hagimori |
| Shikona: | Kigiyama => Sadamisaki => Maedayama |
| Heya: |
Takasago |
| Dohyo debut: |
January 1929 |
| Juryo debut: | January 1934 |
| Makuuchi debut: | January 1937 |
| Yokozuna debut: | November 1947 |
| Last basho: | October 1949 |
| Highest rank: | Yokozuna |
| Makuuchi basho: | 27 |
| Makuuchi record: | 206 wins, 104 losses, 39 kyujo |
| Winning percentage: | 0.66 |
| Yusho: |
1 (Makuuchi equivalent) |
| Height: | 180 cm |
| Weight: | 117 kg |
| Favorite techniques: | Tsuppari, hidari-yotsu, tsuri, yori |
| Died: |
17 August 1971 |
| The Kyokai’s Maedayama page with bout video: |
http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/kiroku_daicho/eng/ mei_yokozuna/maedayama.html |
Sumo Fan Magazine Home