Takasago Uragoro

was a Japanese sumo wrestler from , Kazusa Province (now Tōgane, Chiba Prefecture). His highest rank was maegashira 1.

Although he never reached a high rank in professional sumo, Takasago is a personality known for having led the first social movements of sumo wrestlers in Japan and for having founded the eponymous stable which is still active and still bears his name.

Career Early life and career Yamasaki was the third son of a farmer. He joined the Edo-based sumo association at the age of twenty-one, in 1859, under the recommendation of an influential moneylender. He joined Chiganoura stable, where he was stablemate with Raiden Shin'emon. Later, he was given the , or ring name, , Around 1865, he came to wrestle under the patronage of the Himeji Domain, along with Raiden and future- Ayasegawa (then known as Aioi). In November 1869, he debuted in the division at the age of thirty-two, because of his late recruitment in professional sumo.

Secessionist incident In 1873, Takasago was still an active wrestler when he placed himself at the head of a group of some forty high-ranking wrestlers, again calling for reforms in the Tokyo-based sumo association. This second movement, launched in the middle of a joint tournament with the Osaka-based sumo association, immediately halted matches, threatening all wrestlers with a return to Tokyo without a participation bonus. Faced with this financial risk, some wrestlers denounced Takasago and the wrestlers who had followed him to the Tokyo elders, who later expelled all the strikers from the association.

Takasago and the other dismissed wrestlers joined forces with other wrestlers from the Osaka and Kyoto sumo associations to form the , with great wrestlers of the time such as Zōgahana and and promising new recruits including future- Nishinoumi I and future- Ōdate. The group toured the western part of the country for several years before reaching back Tokyo in 1876, settling in Kanda, Tokyo and challenging the Tokyo-based association. Between 1876 and 1878, Tokyo thus had two rival sumo associations, a situation that came to an end in early 1878 when the Tokyo Metropolitan Police issued a requirement for local government authorization to organize as a sports association, and Takasago, who was then on tour, arrived too late to assert his right. After several months of negotiation, the Takasago Kaisei-Gumi, strong of a hundred wrestlers, was reinstated in the Tokyo-based sumo association. The movement formed a stable and became Takasago stable, which still exists today. Following this merger, the sumo association carried out several reforms long requested by Takasago, including the presence of a high-ranking wrestler from each side of the to examine the promotions and demotions and the election of association directors, with low-ranking wrestlers delegating their voting rights to their stablemasters. Takasago himself was elected director in 1883. During his years in this position, he emerged as a key figure in the association, rivalled only by Ikazuchi (former Umegatani I).

Power struggles within the Tokyo Sumo Association Takasago stable ukiyo-e representing a training session under Takasago Uragorō. Takasago had a prolific career as a stablemaster, raising Ōdate to the rank of (before the latter left the stable after clashing with his master). He also raised Nishinoumi and Konishiki I to the rank of , and Asashio I and Ichinoya to the rank of .

Takasago took great liberties with the traditional organization of tournaments and rankings. In 1890, he specifically requested that the rank of , which until then had been more of a status than an actual rank, be noted as such on the , so that his disciple Nishinoumi would not have to be treated as a . Having a say in the organization of the rankings, Takasago began to abuse his position to favor his wrestlers. At the 1895 summer tournament, he himself tried to overturn a 's decision to declare Nishinoumi the winner in his match against then- Hōō. The , to avoid conflict with both parties, declared the match a hold. In January 1896, he tried to rank Konishiki on the same side of the as Hōō, so that Konishiki would not face Tokyo's rising star. This change led to the resignation of several wrestlers associated with the Tatsunami (or clan) and a protest movement (called the Nakamurarō incident) led by Oguruma stable's wrestlers Ōtohira and Ōzutsu.

Legacy Takasago's previous (ring name) of Takamiyama is considered a prestigious legacy in Takasago stable. The name is traditionally bestowed to promising wrestlers such as former Takamiyama Torinosuke. Hawaiian Takamiyama Daigorō was named after him but is actually the third Takamiyama Daigorō and the seventh Takamiyama .

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.