Wakahaguro Tomoaki

Wakahaguro Tomoaki - 若羽黒 朋明 (born November 25, 1934 - March 2, 1969) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Naka Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa. He made his debut in October 1949 and wrestled for Tatsunami stable. He reached the makuuchi division in March 1955 and has 4 special prizes, 4 kinboshi and 1 top division championship. His highest rank was ozeki and he retired in March 1965.

## **Early Life**

Tomoaki Kusakuba was the eldest son of parents who operated a dry cleaning shop in Yokohama. He attended Yoshida Junior High School where was a swimming champion. However, during his third year of junior high school he was recruited into professional sumo by gyoji Shikimori Inosuke, who was known for his long white beard.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

He joined Tatsunami stable and made his professional debut in October 1949, wrestling under the shikona "Wakahaguro" (若羽黒). To meet the weight requirement, he had to drink an enormous amount of water prior to his physical. However, he was able to put on more weight as he moved up the ranks, peaking at 150 kg (331 Ib). He was promoted to sandanme in May 1951 and makushita in May 1952. In January 1954, he posted a 6-2 record at the rank of makushita 4 and was promoted to juryo for the March 1954 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

In his first tournament as a sekitori, Wakahaguro finished with an 8-7 record. In January 1955, he finished with an 11-4 record, but missed out on the juryo yusho after losing to Hoshikabuto in the playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makuuchi for the following March 1955 tournament.

### **Makuuchi Career**

His first big success in a tournament came in March 1956 when he won 12 out of 15 bouts and took part in a three way playoff for the championship with ozeki Wakanohana I and sekiwake Asashio. Although he was defeated, he was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. After three years of steady progress he worked his way up to sekiwake rank and in the September 1959 tournament was runner-up once again. This performance earned him promotion to ozeki.

### **Ozeki Career**

In his ozeki debut he took the tournament championship with a 13–2 record, the first ozeki debutant to do so since Chiyonoyama ten years earlier. After the tournament a party was held at the Imperial Hotel to celebrate both his ozeki promotion and his engagement.

Wakahaguro was expected to quickly push on to yokozuna promotion, but his second tournament as an ozeki ended with an extremely disappointing 7–8 record. After this it was clear that Wakahaguro had neither the consistency nor the determination to reach sumo's highest rank, and he was to be overtaken by two younger rivals, Taiho and Kashiwado. In November 1960 Wakahaguro managed to defeat Taiho for the first time in five attempts but could not prevent him from winning his first championship. Wakahaguro's 12–3 runner-up performance was the last time he was able to challenge for a tournament title. In January 1961 it was Kashiwado's turn to win his first championship, and Wakahaguro could produce only a 10–5 score. After a poor 5–10 record in July 1961 he missed the September tournament through injury. In November 1961, the same tournament in which both Taiho and Kashiwado made their yokozuna debuts, Wakahaguro lost his ozeki rank after managing only a 5–10 record on his comeback. The rules in place at the time meant three consecutive make-koshi or losing scores would result in demotion, and his absences in September were counted as losses.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Wakahaguro spent the last three years of his career in the maegashira ranks, but he was beset by personal problems, including a gambling addiction. He retired in March 1965 and left the sumo world completely as he had no elder stock in the Japan Sumo Association and the regulation allowing ex-ozeki to stay under their fighting names for a grace period did not exist at the time. Heavily in debt, he was further disgraced in May 1965 after being caught attempting to sell smuggled handguns to gangsters, which he had acquired in Los Angeles whilst on an overseas tour. He was tried, convicted and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. A formal retirement ceremony was impossible in such circumstances so a private one was done quietly at a hotel in Miura city.

### **Death**

Divorced from his wife and separated from his children, Wakahaguro spent his last years working at a sumo fan's restaurant in Okayama city. He died suddenly of a stroke at the age of 34.

## **Fighting Style**

Wakahaguro was an oshi-sumo specialist, for which his distinctive round, fleshy body type or anko-gata was ideally suited. He won over 40 percent of his matches by a straightforward oshidashi, or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 555-480-40/1034 (75 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 423-381-36/803 (56 basho)
* **Juryo:** 39-21/60 (4 basho)
* **Makushita:** 47-26-4/73 (7 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 20-18/38 (3 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 21-24/45 (3 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 5-10/15 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makuuchi** Championship (November 1959)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Technique Prize (2), Fighting Spirit Prize (1), Outstanding Performance Prize (1)
* **Kinboshi:** 4: (3) Yoshibayama, (1) Tochinishiki

## **Gallery**

Wakahaguro Tomoaki - (Retrieved from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai)Wakahaguro's signatureWakahaguro (right) with his Tatsunami heya stablematesWakahaguro prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1959)Wakahaguro defeats Tochihikari to ensure Ozeki promotion (c. 1959)Wakahaguro gets promoted to Ozeki (c. 1959)Wakahaguro congratulated for his Ozeki promotion (c. 1959)Wakahaguro reacts after winning the Yusho (c. 1959)Wakahaguro after winning the Yusho (c. 1959)Wakahaguro celebrates his first and only Yusho (c. 1959)Wakahaguro poses for his Yusho portrait (c. 1959)Wakahaguro and his fascination with gunsSumo wrestlers interrogated over the Wakahaguro scandal (c. 1965)
## **Sources**

* Wakahaguro Tomoaki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Wakahaguro Tomoaki Rikishi Information