Wakabayama Sadao

Wakabayama Sadao - 若葉山 貞雄 (born November 9, 1922 - January 17, 2001) was a Chinese born Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yame, Fukuoka. He made his debut in January 1942 and last wrestled for Tokitsukaze stable. He reached the makuuchi division in June 1947 and has one special prize as well as four kinboshi. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in January 1961.

## **Early Life**

Sadao Iwahira was born in Beijing, China, and was separated from his parents while still a child. He attempted to locate his parents who he believed may have returned to Japan by joining a sumo touring party. Iwahira initially tried out for sumo in 1939 but was rejected by yokozuna Akinoumi. He later returned to Beijing and worked at a kimono store before transferring to the main store in Gyeongseong, Chosen (currently Seoul, South Korea). He was recruited by the active yokozuna Futabayama and joined his Futabayama stable (later Tokitsukaze stable) in January 1942.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in January 1942 and wrestled under his surname "Iwahira" (岩平). He was promoted to sandanme in May 1943 and makushita in May 1944. He reached the juryo division in November 1946 and won the juryo yusho with a strong 10-3 record in his first tournament as a sekitori. He was immediately promoted to makuuchi for the following June 1947 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He kept his surname of Iwahira as his ring name while wrestling in his first tournament in makuuchi as he thought the publicity might attract his mother's attention, however, this was not to be. He subsequently adopted the shikona of Wakabayama, taking two characters from his head coach Futabayama. His birthplace was recorded on the banzuke as Yame, Fukuoka, although he later changed his surname to Aoyama (his wife's) and his birthplace to Omiya, Saitama. His promotion followed his yusho or tournament championship in the juryo division in November 1946, the only tournament held that year. Following his strong performance in the May 1951 tournament, where he defeated two yokozuna and won the Outstanding Performance Prize, he was promoted to komusubi in September 1951, which was to be his highest rank. He fought in the top division for 49 tournaments with a win/loss record of 326/383. He was demoted from makuuchi in November 1959 after recording only one win against 14 losses. He competed in the juryo division until announcing his retirement after the January 1961 tournament.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Following his retirement Wakabayama remained with the Japan Sumo Association as an elder under the name Shikoroyama Oyakata, and worked as a coach at Tokitsukaze stable until reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 in November 1987.

### **Death**

He died of a cerebral thrombosis on January 17, 2001 in Fukushima. He was 78.

## **Family**

His son-in-law Masashi Onami was a sumo wrestler in the Tatsutagawa stable, fighting as Wakashinobu and reaching a highest rank of makushita 51. Three of his grandsons also became sumo wrestlers, all fighting out of the Arashio stable. The first was Onami (now Wakatakamoto) in 2009, followed by Goshi (now Wakamotoharu) in 2011 and Wakatakakage, an amateur champion at Toyo University, joined as a sandanme tsukedashi entrant in March 2017, reached the makuuchi division in November 2019 and won the 2022 Osaka tournament.

## **Fighting Style**

Wakabayama was small for a sumo wrestler at 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) and 94 kg (207 lb), but he was a noted technician. His favorite techniques included ashitori (leg grab) and shitatehineri (twisting underarm throw). He favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 413-466-6-1d/879 (66 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 326-383-6-1d/709 (49 basho)
* **Juryo:** 49-69/118 (8 basho)
* **Makushita:** 14-6/20 (4 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 11-5/16 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 6-2/8 (1 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 7-1/8 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Juryo** Championship (November 1946)

### **Achievements**

* **Sansho:** Outstanding Performance Prize (1)
* **Kinboshi:** 4: (2) Terukuni, (2) Azumafuji

## **Shikona History**

* Iwahira Sadao (1942.01 - 1947.06)
* Wakabayama Sadao (1947.11 - 1961.01)

## **Sources**

* Wakabayama Sadao Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Wakabayama Sadao Rikishi Information