Re: Shikona and given names

[abe@kaleida.com (Masumi Abe)]

At  1:00 PM 10/6/94 -0700, Mitsuhiro Kawase wrote:
>Mizutori-san's intriguing comments on the shikona and the "given name"
>prompted several questions in me. Would anyone care to answer them?
>Thanks in advance.
>
>(1) Is it a common practice for a rikishi to change his given name
>also when he adopts a shikona? 

Usually they go with their original given names with their shikona. When
something wrong or not-so-desirable things happened, they (shisho, sponsors
and rikishi himself) consult with a fortune teller, or relegious leader of
some sort to change given names to change their bad luck.

>(2) What are the given names, to go with the shikona, of non-Japanese rikishi? 
>We know Konishiki's is Yasokichi (a very curious one!). Akebono's, I believe,
>is 
>Taro. How about Musashimaru? Do Hoshiandesu and Sentoryu have Japanese "given
>names"? How did they all choose theirs?

Takamiyama Daigoro and Konishiki Yasokichi are from the famous rikishi with
same 
names from Meiji Era. They just adopted their names. Their legal Japanese
"given" names are the same. They both use Japanese family name the same as
their wive's maiden names.
Takamiyama's real Japanese name is Watanabe Daigoro in Japanese. Of course
Watanabe is his family name in Japanese. The process of deciding their
names are done mainly by their respected shisho and okamisan.

As I mentioned before, Musashimaru's image is a ship coming from Hawaii to
Japan over the sunny Pacific ocean. Maru is the stereotypical suffix for a
boat or a ship, which also happened to be reflecting a portion of his given
name.

Akebono Taro (Big Son or First Son)
Musashimaru Mitsuhiro (Light Ocean)
Konishi Yasokichi (Eighty Luck)
Hoshiandesu Hose (Keep the World)
Hoshitango Imachi (Respected True Wisdom)
Sentoryu Hiromitsu (Wide Light)

-Masumi
>
>- Mitsuhiro Kawase, U. Washington
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