Genjiyama Tsunagorō

Genjiyama Tsunagorō (源氏山 綱五郎) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Higashimurayama District, Dewa Province (now Tendō, Yamagata Prefecture). His highest rank was ōzeki. He is the third wrestler from Yamagata Prefecture to have been promoted to this rank, the first since Ichinokami Asaemon in 1802, 23 years earlier, and the last until the promotion of Asahidake in 1877, 52 years later.

Career
Genjiyama was born the second son of his family. He made his professional debut within Hidenoyama stable under the tutelage of former komusubi Hidenoyama Denjirō (秀ノ山伝治郎) in November 1807. He was given the shikona, or ring name, Nawabari Tsunaemon (縄張 綱右エ門) and reached sumo's highest division, makuuchi, in November 1814. Upon promotion, he received the patronage of the Hirosaki Domain. He made his san'yaku debut as a komusubi in February 1818. Upon promotion to sekiwake in 1819 he was given the ring name Genjiyama Kichidayū (源氏山 吉太夫) by his patron because this name is associated with them.

Genjiyama remained in the junior san'yaku ranks for seven years, although he won the equivalent of a tournament in 1823. In October 1825, he was promoted to ōzeki, taking advantage of the retirement of the dominant Kashiwado, which left the ranking unbalanced. His ōzeki career was mixed, however, winning a sufficient number of victories without being able to establish himself as a dominant wrestler. He was eventually demoted in the rankings in favour of Ōnomatsu (then called Koyanagi), a dominant wrestler who had already won the equivalent of two tournaments. He retired shortly after his demotion, in March 1828.

After retiring, he assumed the name Hidenoyama and ran the eponymous stable as its second generation master. As a coach, he raised Hidenoyama, sumo's 9th yokozuna, who later inherited his stable because Genjiyama adopted him.

In December 2001, a bronze statue of him was erected in his home town near the Terazu locality. The inauguration ceremony was attended by wrestlers from the prefecture such as Kotonowaka I.

Top division record

 * The actual time the tournaments were held during the year in this period often varied.

''*Championships for the best record in a tournament were not recognized or awarded before the 1909 summer tournament and the above championships that are labelled "unofficial" are historically conferred. For more information see yūshō.''