page_title: Wakanohana Kanji I
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Wakanohana Kanji I / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Wakanohana Kanji I VS Chiyonoyama Masanobu, Aki (Autumn) Basho in 1955. This Torikumi ended in a draw.日本語: 昭和30年秋場所9日目、若ノ花対千代の山。水入り、二番後取り直しの末に引き分け。
context_page_description: Wakanohana Kanji I was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler. He was the sport's 45th yokozuna. He was a popular wrestler and was nicknamed the "Devil of the Dohyō" due to his great fighting spirit and endurance.
  Wakanohana's younger brother was the late former ōzeki Takanohana Kenshi and he was the uncle of Wakanohana Masaru and Takanohana Kōji. He won ten top division yūshō or tournament championships during his career and at a fighting weight of around 100 kg was one of the lightest yokozuna ever. He had a long-standing rivalry with Tochinishiki and was one of the most popular wrestlers of the 1950s. After his retirement in 1962 he established Futagoyama stable and was also head of the Japan Sumo Association from 1988 until 1992.
context_section_description: Born Hanada Katsuji (花田 勝治) in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, he moved to Hokkaidō as a child. After working as a stevedore, he was scouted by the maegashira Onoumi, joining Nishonoseki stable in November 1946. He was trained harshly by Rikidōzan in Nishonoseki stable, and reportedly bit Rikidōzan's leg in retaliation for his training. He began sumo with the shikona or ring name Wakanohana Yoshimi (若ノ花 義美), before changing its given name to his real one in May 1948. Onoumi became head coach of Shibatayama stable after his retirement in May 1952, and Wakanohana followed him to the new stable. It was renamed Hanakago stable in September 1953.
  Wakanohana reached the top division in 1950. In September 1955 he fought a bout against yokozuna Chiyonoyama that lasted for over 17 minutes before being declared a draw. In contrast, most sumo matches are over in a few seconds. He was promoted to ōzeki after that tournament. Wakanohana won his first top division championship in May 1956. Shortly before the following tournament his four-year-old eldest son Katsuo was scalded to death when a boiling hot pot of chankonabe fell on him. Despite being devastated by the tragedy, Wakanohana chose to compete in the tournament but ended up dropping out with a fever. He changed the spelling of his ring surname in September 1957, and adopted the given name Kanji in May 1958.
  Wakanohana was promoted to yokozuna in January 1958, shortly after he took his second tournament championship. He was the first yokozuna produced by the Nishonoseki ichimon or group of stables in over 20 years and consequently had to borrow the keshō-mawashi of the former Futabayama to perform his first yokozuna dohyō-iri or ring entering ceremony.
  Wakanohana's great rival as yokozuna was Tochinishiki. They were very evenly matched, being of similar height and weight, and both ended up with ten top division titles each. In March 1960, they faced each other undefeated on the final day – the first time ever that two yokozuna had met like this. Wakanohana won the match and Tochinishiki retired after the next tournament. Wakanohana kept going until the new era of yokozuna Taihō and Kashiwado, retiring in May 1962.
  Wakanohana was such a popular wrestler that he even starred in a feature film about his life, Wakanohana Monogatari Dohyō no Oni made by Nikkatsu and released across Japan on December 27, 1956.
caption: Wakanohana and Chiyonoyama take a break during their 17-minute draw in September 1955
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