Sorakichi Matsuda
Encyclopedia
Matsuda Sorakichi was a Japan
ese professional wrestler of the 19th century of some national fame. While his name is largely unknown today, he remains the lone pioneer as a Japanese wrestler who became a feature attraction in America, competing in a distinctly western
sport, long before it was adopted by Japanese and developed as a business.
: 松田幸次郎, Hiragana
: まつだ こうじろう) in Japan. There he trained and competed for a time in sumo
, under the sumo name
Torakichi (荒竹光二郎). These names were later corrupted by American promoters and the sporting press into "Matsada Korgaree Sorakichi," as he would be known in America for the rest of his life. To the sporting fraternity he was simply "Mat" or "The Jap."
in 1883 and had his first match in New York City
on January 14, 1884. He lost to the Englishman
Edwin Bibby. In March, 1884, Matsuda beat Bibby and then James Daley in New York
. Over the next few months he went on the road and wrestled in Cleveland, Baltimore
, Buffalo
, Rochester
, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago
and Peoria
. His opponents included Duncan Ross, Jack Gallagher, Benny Jones, Joe Acton
, Carlos Martino and Ted George.
Greco-Roman
Champion
William Muldoon
was Matsuda's most famous opponent. Muldoon beat Matsuda in Chicago
on July 18, 1884. Matsuda returned to New York City
in August, 1884, where he lived until June, 1885. While in New York City
he beat James Quigley and Jack Herd, drew with Karl Abs
and William Muldoon, and lost twice to Abs. In June 1885 he wrestled in Cleveland and Scranton, Pennsylvania
in December.
During March, 1886, Matsuda lost to the British World Heavyweight Champion Tom Cannon in Cleveland and drew with the German World Heavyweight Champion Ernest Roeber
in New York City
. The match against Roeber took place at the Germania Assembly Roon, in the Bowery.
Matsuda was on the road the rest of 1886, wrestling in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Ashland, Wisconsin
and St. Louis
. opponents included Duncan Ross, Joe Acton
, Jack Carkeek
, James Doner, James Faulkner
and Bernarr MacFadden
.
During 1887, he wrestled in Buffalo
, Cleveland, Detroit, Rio de Janeiro
and Baltimore
. In 1888 he toured Pennsylvania
(Philadelphia
, Pittsburgh
, Erie
and Scranton
) and also visited Lowell, Massachusetts
. His opponents included Jesse Clark, Joe Acton
, Jack Hart, Jim Connors
, H.M. Dufar, Harvey Parker, William Muldoon
, and John McMahon
.
In January and February, 1889 he wrestled August La Grange, William Muldoon
and Ted George in Philadelphia.
His last match was on May 13, 1891 against Martin "Farmer" Burns
in Troy, New York
.
In February, 1902, eleven years after his death, Jack Carkeek
told the British
sporting paper Mirror of Life that he held "a high opinion of Sorakichi, the Jap, whom he considers to probably be the cleverest man in the world at his weight. The plucky little jap has suffered numerous defeats simply because he has tackled all the best men of the day , no matter what their size or weight might be, and the good little ones must ever go down to big ones".
Matsuda tried, unsuccessfully, to bring American wrestling to his homeland.
On August 16, 1891, he died penniless in New York City
at age 32.
an American wife, complained that Matsuda and his friends squandered her inheritance and threatened her with violence when she complained. She also said that Matsuda kept his Japan
ese girlfriend at their home.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese professional wrestler of the 19th century of some national fame. While his name is largely unknown today, he remains the lone pioneer as a Japanese wrestler who became a feature attraction in America, competing in a distinctly western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
sport, long before it was adopted by Japanese and developed as a business.
Background
Sorakichi was born Koujiro Matsuda (KanjiKanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
: 松田幸次郎, Hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
: まつだ こうじろう) in Japan. There he trained and competed for a time in sumo
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
, under the sumo name
Shikona
A shikona is a sumo wrestler's ring name.As with standard Japanese names, a shikona consists of a 'surname' and a 'given' name, and the full name is written surname first. However, the given name is rarely used outside formal or ceremonial occasions. Thus, the former yokozuna Asashōryū Akinori is...
Torakichi (荒竹光二郎). These names were later corrupted by American promoters and the sporting press into "Matsada Korgaree Sorakichi," as he would be known in America for the rest of his life. To the sporting fraternity he was simply "Mat" or "The Jap."
Career
Matsuda came to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1883 and had his first match in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on January 14, 1884. He lost to the Englishman
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Edwin Bibby. In March, 1884, Matsuda beat Bibby and then James Daley in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Over the next few months he went on the road and wrestled in Cleveland, Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Peoria
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
. His opponents included Duncan Ross, Jack Gallagher, Benny Jones, Joe Acton
Joseph Acton
Joseph Acton , known by his ringname "Little Joe" or "Limey Joe", was a British professional wrestler and world champion who competed in England and America during the late 19th century...
, Carlos Martino and Ted George.
Greco-Roman
Greco-Roman wrestling
Greco-Roman wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practised worldwide. It was contested at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1908. Two wrestlers are scored for their performance in three two-minute periods, which can...
Champion
Champion
A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition.There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions...
William Muldoon
William Muldoon
William A. Muldoon was the Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion, physical culturist and the first chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. He once wrestled a match that lasted over seven hours...
was Matsuda's most famous opponent. Muldoon beat Matsuda in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on July 18, 1884. Matsuda returned to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in August, 1884, where he lived until June, 1885. While in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
he beat James Quigley and Jack Herd, drew with Karl Abs
Karl Abs
Karl Abs was a German professional wrestler. He won the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship in 1894, a year before his death at the age of 44. His cause of death is unknown.Also known as "The German Oak"....
and William Muldoon, and lost twice to Abs. In June 1885 he wrestled in Cleveland and Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
in December.
During March, 1886, Matsuda lost to the British World Heavyweight Champion Tom Cannon in Cleveland and drew with the German World Heavyweight Champion Ernest Roeber
Ernest Roeber
Ernest Roeber was a German-American professional wrestler who held the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship in 1894 to 1900 and again in 1900 to 1901. It is believed that the newsreel of his 1901 match against August Faust at the old Madison Square Garden is shown briefly in the current...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The match against Roeber took place at the Germania Assembly Roon, in the Bowery.
Matsuda was on the road the rest of 1886, wrestling in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Ashland, Wisconsin
Ashland, Wisconsin
Ashland is a city in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon Bay. The population was 8,695 at the 2010 census....
and St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. opponents included Duncan Ross, Joe Acton
Joseph Acton
Joseph Acton , known by his ringname "Little Joe" or "Limey Joe", was a British professional wrestler and world champion who competed in England and America during the late 19th century...
, Jack Carkeek
Jack Carkeek
Jack Carkeek, was an American Cornish champion wrestler, from Rockland, Michigan United States. His parents were from Cornwall, United Kingdom. He met many wrestlers in his career. He died March 12 1924 in Havana, Cuba....
, James Doner, James Faulkner
James Faulkner
James Sebastian Faulkner is a British actor, known for his many various appearance on television and in movies, usually in supporting roles.Faulkner made his big screen debut as Josef Strauss in The Great Waltz in 1972...
and Bernarr MacFadden
Bernarr Macfadden
Bernarr Macfadden was an influential American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories...
.
During 1887, he wrestled in Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, Cleveland, Detroit, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
and Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
. In 1888 he toured Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
(Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Erie
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
and Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
) and also visited Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
. His opponents included Jesse Clark, Joe Acton
Joseph Acton
Joseph Acton , known by his ringname "Little Joe" or "Limey Joe", was a British professional wrestler and world champion who competed in England and America during the late 19th century...
, Jack Hart, Jim Connors
Jim Connors
Jim "JC" Connors was a popular radio personality of the 1960s through 1980s in the United States.-Highlights:...
, H.M. Dufar, Harvey Parker, William Muldoon
William Muldoon
William A. Muldoon was the Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion, physical culturist and the first chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. He once wrestled a match that lasted over seven hours...
, and John McMahon
John McMahon (wrestler)
John McMahon was an American professional wrestler who specialized in collar-and-elbow wrestling. He competed from 1861 to 1891, traveling throughout the United States and Canada to face the top wrestlers of the day. He competed in several styles of wrestling, and his biggest rivalry was with...
.
In January and February, 1889 he wrestled August La Grange, William Muldoon
William Muldoon
William A. Muldoon was the Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion, physical culturist and the first chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission. He once wrestled a match that lasted over seven hours...
and Ted George in Philadelphia.
His last match was on May 13, 1891 against Martin "Farmer" Burns
Martin Burns
Martin "Farmer" Burns was a world champion "catch-as-catch-can" wrestler as well as wrestling coach and teacher. Born in Cedar County, Iowa he started wrestling as a teenager and made money traveling around the Midwest wrestling in carnivals and fairs...
in Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
.
In February, 1902, eleven years after his death, Jack Carkeek
Jack Carkeek
Jack Carkeek, was an American Cornish champion wrestler, from Rockland, Michigan United States. His parents were from Cornwall, United Kingdom. He met many wrestlers in his career. He died March 12 1924 in Havana, Cuba....
told the British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
sporting paper Mirror of Life that he held "a high opinion of Sorakichi, the Jap, whom he considers to probably be the cleverest man in the world at his weight. The plucky little jap has suffered numerous defeats simply because he has tackled all the best men of the day , no matter what their size or weight might be, and the good little ones must ever go down to big ones".
Matsuda tried, unsuccessfully, to bring American wrestling to his homeland.
On August 16, 1891, he died penniless in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at age 32.
Personal life
Matsuda's EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an American wife, complained that Matsuda and his friends squandered her inheritance and threatened her with violence when she complained. She also said that Matsuda kept his Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese girlfriend at their home.