Onohana Taketora

Onohana Taketora - 大乃花 武虎 (born June 23, 1958) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Yatsushiro, Yamanashi. He made his debut in March 1974 and wrestled for Taiho stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1988. His highest rank was maegashira 13 and he retired in November 1990.

## **Early Life**

Although Ono was a member of the baseball club at Yatsushiro Junior High School, he was also interested in sumo and he finished second in the Yamanashi Prefectural tournament. In his second year of junior high school, he moved to Tokyo and started training at Taiho stable while attending Fukagawa Daini Junior High School. After graduating junior high school, he officially joined Taiho stable.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He made his professional debut in March 1974 and was given the shikona "Horyu" (鵬龍). He was promoted to sandanme in July 1975 and makushita in September 1977. In March 1982 he reverted his shikona back to his surname "Ono" (大野) and in May 1983, he produced a 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 3 which earned him a promotion to juryo in July 1983.

### **Juryo Career**

Upon promotion to juryo, he changed his shikona "Onohana" (大乃花). He could only manage 4 wins in his sekitori debut and was demoted back down to makushita. After falling down to makushita, he produced a 6-1 record in September 1983 and participated in an eight-man playoff where he defeated Rinho in the second round. He later defeated future ozeki Konishiki in the second round and future yokozuna Futahaguro in the third round to claim the makushita yusho. He was promoted back to juryo in January 1984 and March 1985, but only remained there for one tournament in both stints. He was promoted back to juryo in September 1985, but eventually fell back down to makushita again in November 1986.

He returned to juryo for a fifth time in May 1987 and claimed the juryo yusho with a strong 11-4 record. Two tournaments later in September he won his second juryo yusho with a strong 13-2 record. Two tournaments later he was promoted to makuuchi.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Onohana made his makuuchi debut in March 1988. He struggled in his first top division tournament and finished with a poor 5-10 record. He was demoted back down to juryo and this proved to be his only tournament ranked in makuuchi.

### **Later Career**

Onohana spent the last two years of his career in the juryo division. He wrestled mainly in the lower ranks of juryo and was on the verge of losing his sekitori status on many separate occasions.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Onohana posted a 3-12 record in September 1990 at the rank of juryo 11. Rather than face his inevitable demotion to makushita, Onohana announced his retirement prior the November 1990 tournament. After retiring, he remained in the Sumo Association and was initially known as Sanoyama, before switching to Onoe in 1994. He left the Japan Sumo Association in 2001.

## **Personal Life**

Onohana's older brother, Yoshio (born 1956), was also a sumo wrestler. He joined Takasago stable in July 1972 and was given the shikona "Yatsushironishiki" (八代錦). His highest rank was sandanme 33 and he retired in September 1978.

Onohana's wife is the younger sister of stablemate Shoho.

## **Fighting Style**

Onohana was a yotsu-sumo wrestler who prefers grappling to pushing and thrusting techniques. He favored a migi-yotsu (left hand outside, right hand inside) position when gripping his opponent's mawashi (belt). His most common kimarite was yorikiri, or force out. He also regularly employs uwatenage, or overarm throw.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 483-428-30/909 (100 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 5-10/15 (1 basho)
* **Juryo:** 212-224-14/434 (30 basho),
* **Makushita:** 178-134-10/312 (46 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 55-43/98 (14 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 27-16-6/43 (7 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 2 **Juryo** Championships
	+ 1st (May 1987)
	+ 2nd (September 1987)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (September 1983)

## **Shikona History**

* Ono Hisayoshi (1974.03 - 1974.03)
* Horyu Hisayoshi (1974.05 - 1982.01)
* Ono Hisayoshi (1982.03 - 1983.05)
* Onohana Hisayoshi (1983.07 - 1984.09)
* Onohana Taketora (1984.11 - 1990.11)

## **Gallery**

Onohana poses with his kesho-mawashiOnohana wins his first of two Juryo Yusho (c. 1987)Onohana (c. 1988)Onohana's tegata
## **Sources**

* Onohana Taketora Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Onohana Taketora Rikishi Information