Asashio Tarō I

In 1881, at the age of 17, he entered Osaka sumo's Oshiogawa stable, and took part to his first tournament in 1883 under the name of Asashio. Unsatisfied, Tarokichi moved to Tokyo in 1889 and was recruited by the Takasago stable to join Tokyo sumo . In Tokyo sumo, he debuted in January 1890 as a Juryo.

He was promoted to sekiwake in January 1893 and served as such for 11 consecutive tournaments (five years), when the tournaments were dominated by Nishinoumi and Konishiki. He was finally promoted to ozeki in May 1898 and was given a kesho-mawashi decorated with the Date family crest, "Bamboo and Sparrow," by Munenori Date, the former lord of the Uwajima Domain. Asashio served as an ōzeki for 5 years (10 tournaments) until January 1903. In 1900, he participated in a local tour in Ehime Prefecture, and a performance was also held in his hometown of Yawatahama. He participated in the cooperation of wealthy local merchants to build an earthen bridge. The bridge came to be called "Asashio Bridge" and although the river and bridge are gone, the name of the place is still associated with Asashio Bridge in current Osaka.[2]

In January 1903, Asashio lost his rank of ozeki. In December 1904, he was granted a one-day yokozuna license and permitted to do a dohyo-iri by the Yoshida Tsukasa family, in recognition of his many years of service as an ozeki.

He retired at the age of 43. After his retirement, he assumed the name of Sanoyama. He first founded his own stable but disbanded it and returned to his original Takasago stable as a coach, where he notably recruited Komota Chokichi and passed down his shikona to him. He died in old age on August 26, 1920.[3]

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