Tanikaze Kajinosuke
Katsukawa Shunshō (Japanese, 1726–1792)
c. mid-1780s
Medium
color woodblock print
Dimensions
37.8 × 17.6 cm
Classification
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore
Accession Number
1930.209
Tags
gender unknown
About this artwork
Tanikaze Kajinosuke (1750–1795) was an extraordinary champion sumo wrestler who hailed from what is now Sendai, a city in northern Japan. Even at his death from influenza at age 44, he was dominating the ring and was one of the first to be given sumo’s highest rank, yokozuna (横綱), during his lifetime. In this print, Katsukawa Shunshō showed him as he may have appeared strolling the avenue, spied by his fans.