other-martial-arts
Shikimori Inosuke
Image: Eckhard Pecher (Arcimboldo) / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
Shikimori Inosuke
An inherited name with several histories.
Shikimori Inosuke (式守伊之助) is the inherited professional name associated with the second tate-gyōji in sumo, immediately below Kimura Shōnosuke in precedence. The name has been borne by successive referees since the eighteenth century. Its history begins with the Shikimori professional household, but modern careers can cross between the Kimura and Shikimori names. The purple-and-white tassels distinguish the office within the hierarchy of officials. Because the name continues while its holder changes, historical images and records require careful dating. An Inosuke in an Edo-period account, an inherited fan and a modern referee carrying that name belong to related but distinct histories.
Office
The second tate-gyōji name.
Career
Professional names can change.
Object
A fan has its own chain of ownership.
At a glance
- Japanese
- 式守伊之助
- Romanisation
- Shikimori Inosuke
- Office
- Second tate-gyōji in the modern hierarchy
- Rank indication
- Purple-and-white tassels
- Historical context
- Shikimori professional household and successive holders
01
The second of the two senior names
Inosuke and Kimura Shōnosuke both belong to the highest tier of gyōji, with Shōnosuke holding precedence. The Association describes Inosuke’s normal assignment as the two bouts before the final scheduled contest. The name is not a wrestler’s shikona or a championship title.
02
An eighteenth-century professional lineage
The Association relates the first Inosuke to the Shikimori household and says that he initially entered sumo as a wrestler before becoming a referee. Its account identifies 1774 as the point at which he occupied the position next to Shōnosuke. Encyclopaedic histories distinguish the earlier household tradition from the first Inosuke’s own career.
03
The two surnames do not define closed bloodlines
Modern succession cannot be understood as a permanent separation of two biological families. Encyclopaedic accounts describe movement between the Kimura and Shikimori professional names and the emergence of a route from Inosuke to Shōnosuke. A name change is evidence about a professional career; it does not by itself establish ancestry.
04
A name, a holder and an object are different records
The Sumo Museum displayed a gunbai used by the first Inosuke in its 2025 centenary exhibition. A later inherited fan associated with the office has a separate chain of owners. The distinction is essential when reading labels.
- The inherited name
- Which office or succession is being described?
- A numbered holder
- Which individual and period does the record concern?
- An inherited object
- Who used it, and how was it transferred?
05
The inherited fan has its own history
The museum’s 2018 exhibition traced a fan through several users, including holders of different professional names. It became Inosuke’s inherited fan in 1960. That provenance shows why the age of an object, the origin of a name and the date of a particular succession cannot simply be equated.
06
A photograph captures one stage of a career
The January 2008 photograph shows Inosuke XXXVII, who subsequently became Shōnosuke XXXV. The different numbers belong to different successions. Identifying the name used at the time avoids relabelling every earlier photograph with the person’s later, better-known name. A dated image is evidence of one professional moment, rather than a timeless portrait of the office.
Sources
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