Wakanohana Masaru

Wakanohana Masaru - 若乃花 勝 (born January 20, 1971) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Nakano, Tokyo. He made his debut in March 1988 and wrestled for Futagoyama stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 1990 and has 9 special prizes, 2 kinboshi and 5 top division championships. He was the 66th yokozuna and he retired in March 2000.

## **Early Life**

Masaru Hanada comes from a family with a great sumo history, sometimes called the "Hanada Dynasty." His uncle Wakanohana Kanji was a yokozuna from 1958 to 1962, and his father Takanohana Kenshi had held the second highest rank of ozeki for a then record 50 tournaments from 1972 to 1981. Upon his retirement his father established the training stable (heya) Fujishima stable.

Masaru Hanada was born in Suginami, Tokyo, but raised in Nakano, Tokyo. He practiced sumo from an early age and attended Meiji Univ. Nakano Senior High School where he was a member of the school's sumo club. He intended to graduate high school, but his younger brother, Koji, intended to join sumo upon junior high school graduation in 1988. In order to not trail behind, Masaru Hanada dropped out of high school and joined his father's stable in 1988. He entered sumo in March 1988, at the same time as his younger brother Takanohana, and joined his father's training stable, then known as Fujishima stable. The two brothers moved out of the family quarters and joined all the other new recruits in the communal area, and were instructed to refer to their father as oyakata (coach) only. Future rivals Akebono and Kaio made their professional debuts in the same month.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Initially wrestling under the shikona "Wakahanada" (若花田), he claimed the jonokuchi yusho in his first tournament with a perfect 7-0 record. He then breezed through jonidan in one tournament and sandanme in two tournaments and he won the sandanme yusho as well with a perfect 7-0 record. By his sixth professional sumo tournament, he was ranked in the upper-half of makushita. After seven tournaments in makushita he was promoted to juryo in March 1990 at the age of 19.

### **Juryo Career**

Wakahanada made his sekitori debut alongside Akebono and Kumao. He posted a solid 9-6 record in his juryo debut and followed with an even stronger 10-5 record. In his third juryo tournament, Wakahanada took the juryo yusho with an outstanding 12-3 record and was promoted to makuuchi in September 1990 at the age of 19.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He entered the top division for the first time in September 1990, alongside Akebono and Takatoriki. He first reached a san'yaku rank in November 1991 when he was promoted to komusubi. In January 1992 he defeated Asahifuji in what was to be the yokozuna's last ever bout, to earn the second of his two kinboshi or gold stars. Lacking his brother's weight and strength, he took longer to rise up the ranks, still being a maegashira wrestler as late as January 1993, the tournament that Takanohana earned promotion to ozeki. However in the following tournament Wakahanada won his first top division championship or yusho with a 14–1 record. After winning his first yusho, he changed his shikona to "Wakanohana" (若乃花) which belonged to his uncle. After a 10–5 in May 1993 and runner-up honours in July, he joined his brother at ozeki, the first time that two brothers had held the rank simultaneously.

### **Ozeki Career**

His second tournament title came in November 1995, when he defeated Takanohana (by then a yokozuna) in a playoff. This was to be the only time he fought his brother in a competitive match. Wakanohana was injured in the next tournament however, and the same thing happened after his third championship in January 1997. On that occasion he missed two tournaments and only just preserved his ozeki status with a bare majority of wins upon his return in July 1997. He was a tournament runner-up on five occasions at ozeki, four of those coming in 1996. Due to the dominance of Futagoyama stable (which Fujishima stable was absorbed into in 1993), he was excused from having to fight several top wrestlers including Takanonami, Takatoriki and Akinoshima.

### **Yokozuna Career**

Wakanohana finally earned promotion to yokozuna in 1998 after winning two consecutive championships in March and May of that year. He had spent 29 tournaments at ozeki before reaching the yokozuna rank, the third longest wait ever. He and Takanohana became the first pair of brothers to become yokozuna. However his time at sumo's highest rank was brief and injury plagued, and he was unable to add to his tally of championship wins.

The best result he had as a yokozuna was in January 1999 when he came into the final day of the tournament as leader on 13–1. However he was defeated by Chiyotaikai and, in the subsequent playoff between them for the championship, he lost a rematch after the first bout was deemed by the judges to be too close to call, despite many observers feeling Wakanohana had clearly won the match. He was unable to complete the next three tournaments due to a leg sprain, and then his refusal to withdraw from his comeback tournament in September 1999 despite suffering a torn thigh muscle on the tenth day ensured that he became only the second yokozuna ever to finish a 15-day tournament with more losses than wins (the other yokozuna to suffer this fate was Onokuni, exactly ten years previously). He resolved to continue wrestling after consulting with his father, and was also supported by the head of the Japan Sumo Association, the former Yutakayama Katsuo, who said he saw no reason for retirement as his poor record was directly caused by injury.

After sitting out the next two tournaments Wakanohana returned in March 2000, even though he was not fully recovered from his injury, with most observers expecting him to wait until May. After losing three of his first five bouts he announced his retirement from sumo. He had been at sumo's top rank for only 11 tournaments, withdrawing from or missing six of them, and at 29 years of age, he was the sixth youngest yokozuna to retire. It was noted by a member of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council that had he not been promoted he would have been remembered as a fine ozeki like his father, rather than as a disappointing yokozuna.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After a brief spell as a member (or elder) of the Japan Sumo Association, he eventually left sumo completely and has worked as an entertainer in Japan, as well as trying to enter the professional world of American football. On March 23, 2002, Hanada signed with the Arizona Rattlers. Wakanohana owned and operated a chain of chankonabe (literally "meal pot", the staple food of sumo wrestlers) restaurants in Japan called "Chanko Dining Waka". On May 6, 2010, it was announced in the news that the "Chanko Dining Waka" chain was filing for bankruptcy, citing debts of over 147 million yen. He currently works as a sumo commentator for AbemaTV.

## **Personal Life**

* Wakanohana was known for having a warm and friendly personality, unlike his brother who was known to be aloof.
* He is known to be a car and motorcycle enthusiast. Some of the cars in his collection include the Porsche 911, Toyota Crown Majesta, and the Dodge Charger.
* It was announced in October 2007, he was divorcing his wife Mieko, whom he married in June 1994 and with whom he had four children. He has since remarried and has another child with his new wife.
* In 2011, Hanada started spelling his name 花田 虎上 professionally.
* Wakanohana published his autobiography, Dokuhaku: Strong Spirit (独白―ストロング・スピリット) in 2000. He wrote of his constant fear during his career that he could be badly injured in a bout, and revealed that he never slept well during tournaments.
* He stepped onto the dohyo at the Ryogoku Kokugikan for the first time since his retirement in 2000 when he attended the 2018 Hakuho Cup, an amateur sumo event for children.

## **Fighting Style**

Wakanohana was noted for his wide range of techniques, winning the prestigious Technique prize on six occasions. His favorite grip on his opponent's mawashi was hidari-yotsu, a right hand outside, left hand inside position. His most common winning kimarite was yorikiri, or force out, followed by oshidashi or push out. Together these two techniques accounted for almost fifty percent of his career victories. He had knowledge of a wide range of throwing moves, such as uwatenage (overarm throw), shitatenage (underarm throw), sukuinage (scoop throw) and kubinage (neck throw), as well as extremely rare techniques such as amiuchi (the fisherman's throw), kawazugake (hooking backward counter throw) and susoharai (rear footsweep).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 573-286-124/850 (73 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 487-250-124/728 (58 basho)
* **Juryo:** 31-14/45 (3 basho)
* **Makushita:** 29-20/49 (7 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 13-1/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-0/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 5 **Makuuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (March 1993)
	+ 2nd (November 1995)
	+ 3rd (January 1997)
	+ 4th (March 1998)
	+ 5th (May 1998)
* 1 **Juryo** Championship (July 1990)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (November 1988)
* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (May 1988)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Technique Prize (6), Outstanding Performance Prize (3)
* **Kinboshi:** (2) Asahifuji
* **Record:** Tied for **10th** most championship playoffs (4 playoffs)
* **1st** pair of brothers to be ranked ozeki simultaneously
* **1st** pair of brothers to be ranked yokozuna simultaneously

## **Shikona History**

* Wakahanada Masaru (1988.03 - 1993.03)
* Wakanohana Masaru (1993.05 - 2000.03)

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Wakanohana Masaru - 1999 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakanohana Masaru - 1996 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakahanada's tegataWakanohana's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Wakahanada joins his father's stable, Fujishima stable (c. 1988)Wakahanada and his brother join professional sumo (c. 1988)Wakahanada in Maezumo (c. 1988)Wakahanada wins the Jonokuchi Yusho (c. 1988)Wakahanada after promotion to Juryo (c. 1990)Wakahanada defeats Tamakairiki to win the Juryo Yusho (c. 1990)Wakahanada after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 1990)Wakahanada during the Makuuchi dohyo-iri (c. 1991)Wakahanada serves as Takahanada's flag bearer (c. 1992)Wakahanada throws Yokozuna Akebono (c. 1993)Wakahanada wins his first Yusho (c. 1993)Wakahanada celebrates his first Yusho (c. 1993)Wakanohana gets promoted to Ozeki (c. 1993)Wakanohana celebrates promotion to Ozeki (c. 1993)Wakanohana after promotion to Ozeki (c. 1993)Wakanohana serves as Yokozuna Takanohana's sword bearer (c. 1994)The first time any brothers fought in the top division (c. 1995)Wakanohana throws his brother to win his second Yusho (c. 1995)Wakanohana wins his second Yusho (c. 1995)Wakanohana's second Yusho parade (c. 1995)Wakanohana and his brother, Yokozuna Takanohana (c. 1996)Wakanohana wins his third Yusho (c. 1997)Wakanohana throws Yokozuna Akebono (c. 1997)Wakanohana wins his fourth Yusho (c. 1998)Wakanohana battles Oginishiki (c. 1998)Wakanohana defeats Yokozuna Akebono (c. 1998)Wakanohana defeats Musashimaru to win his fifth Yusho (c. 1998)Wakanohana's fifth and final Yusho parade (c. 1998)Wakanohana celebrates his fifth Yusho (c. 1998)Wakanohana gets promoted to Yokozuna (c. 1998)Wakanohana celebrates promotion to Yokozuna (c. 1998)Takanosato teaches Wakanohana the dohyo-iri (c. 1998)Wakanohana's first dohyo-iri as Yokozuna (c. 1998)Wakanohana presented with his Yusho portrait (c. 1998)Yokozuna Wakanohana defeats Tochinohana (c. 1999)Wakanohana loses the Yusho playoff against Chiyotaikai (c. 1999)Wakanohana and his brother Yokozuna Takanohana (c. 2000)Wakanohana after wrestling his final match (c. 2000)Wakanohana announces his retirement (c. 2000)Wakanohana's final dohyo-iri as Yokozuna (c. 2000)Wakanohana's retirement ceremony (c. 2000)Wakanohana after retirement as Fujishima Oyakata (c. 2000)Wakanohana's American football aspirations (c. 2001)Wakanohana as a sumo commentator for AbemaTV (c. 2019)
## **Sources**

* Wakanohana Masaru Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Wakanohana Masaru Rikishi Information