Wakatoba Hiromi

Wakatoba Hiromi - 若兎馬 裕三 (born June 15, 1977) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Fuchu, Tokyo. He made his debut in March 1993 and wrestled for Oguruma stable. He reached the makuuchi division in September 2003. His highest rank was maegashira 11 and he retired in September 2007.

## **Early Life**

Hiromi Yamada was born and raised in Fuchu, Tokyo. During his junior high school days, he played an active role in the National Junior High School Sumo Championship. After graduation from junior high school, he entered Oshiogawa stable in March 1993.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Yamada steadily climbed the ranks of the lower divisions. He was promoted to sandanme in July 1994 and makushita in January 1996. He fell back to sandanme on several occasions, but eventually established himself in makushita. He fell back down to sandanme in November 1999 and considered retirement, but he decided to persevere. After this, he produced nine straight winning records and was promoted to juryo in May 2001.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon his promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona to "Wakatoba" (若兎馬). In July 2001 he participated in a rare eight-man playoff after producing a normally average 9-6 record. He fell back down to makushita on two separate occasions due to persistent injuries. He returned as a full-time sekitori in January 2003 and produced four straight kachi-koshi and was promoted to makuuchi in September 2003.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Wakatoba produced a solid 8-7 record in his first tournament and was promoted to a career-best maegashira 11 in the following November 2003 tournament. He could only remain in makuuchi for only two tournaments and was demoted back down to juryo. He returned to makuuchi in July 2004, but could only win three of his fifteen matches and was demoted back down to juryo. On April 1st, 2005, his Oshiogawa stable closed down and he transferred to Oguruma stable. He returned to makuuchi in September 2005 and posted an 8-7 record. He was demoted back to juryo after two more tournaments in makuuchi.

### **Later Career**

He remained in juryo for another year, but pulled out of the January 2007 tournament after only five days with an injury to his left leg he was relegated to the unsalaried ranks.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

After the May 2007 tournament it was reported that Wakatoba had retired, and he was quoted as saying he had lost his will to continue, and that his most memorable match was one against Terao. However, he subsequently denied that he had retired, and he competed in the following tournament in July. However, after that tournament, having fallen to the rank of makushita 57, he did retire and became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under his old stablemaster's name of Oshiogawa the following month. His danpatsu-shiki, or official retirement ceremony, was held in February 2008, and he introduced his fiancé at the event. He worked as a coach at Oguruma stable until leaving the Sumo Association in August 2010. This move coincided with the death of the previous Oshiogawa, and the Oshiogawa stock was obtained by Takekaze.

In June 2018 he was featured in Tokyo Broadcasting System Television's The Friday, working alongside fellow ex-sumo wrestlers Wakanojo and Wakatenro, in care for the elderly. He also works as a guest sumo commentator for AbemaTV.

## **Fighting Style**

Wakatoba's favored techniques are listed at the Sumo Association as migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi) and yori (forcing). His most common winning kimarite are straightforward: yorikiri (force out) and oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 416-406-28/820 (87 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 39-66/105 (7 basho)
* **Juryo:** 170-180-10/349 (24 basho)
* **Makushita:** 113-102-2/215 (31 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 63-40-16/102 (17 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 26-16/42 (6 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-2/7 (1 basho)

## **Shikona History**

* Yamada Hiromi (1993.03 - 2001.03)
* Wakatoba Hiromi (2001.05 - 2007.09)

## **Gallery**

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

Wakatoba Hiromi - 2003 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakatoba Hiromi - 2001 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakatoba's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Wakatoba after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2003)Wakatoba and former ozeki Miyabiyama (c. 2003)Wakatoba gets thrown by Kasugao in Korea (c. 2004)Wakatoba throws Shunketsu in Los Angeles (c. 2005)Wakatoba during the dohyo-iriWakatoba's retirement ceremony (c. 2007)Wakatoba after retirement as Oshiogawa Oyakata
## **Sources**

* Wakatoba Hiromi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Wakatoba Hiromi Rikishi Information