Wakasegawa Taiji

Wakasegawa Taiji - 若瀬川 泰二 (born February 20, 1920 - September 3, 1993) was a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Amagasaki, Hyogo. He made his debut in January 1935 and last wrestled for Araiso stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1942 and has four special prizes as well as seven kinboshi. His highest rank was komusubi and he retired in January 1959.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

At the age of 14, Hattori joined Isegahama stable (later renamed Araiso stable) and made his professional debut in January 1935 under the shikona "Wakasegawa" (若瀬川). He was promoted to sandanme in May 1937 and makushita in January 1939. He won the makushita yusho with a perfect 8-0 record in January 1940 and was promoted to juryo for the following May 1940 tournament. After three tournaments in juryo, he was promoted to makuuchi in January 1942.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He fought in the top division for 54 tournaments, which at the time of his retirement was the most ever, winning 352 matches and losing 395, with 19 absences. His best result in a tournament was in November 1944, where at the rank of maegashira 14 he won nine out of his ten bouts, the same as ozeki Maedayama, but as he was the lower ranking wrestler he had to settle for runner-up honours as there was no playoff system at the time. Thirteen years later in September 1957 he was again runner-up, with a 12–3 record, one win behind yokozuna Tochinishiki. He had to withdraw from the November 1946 tournament through injury, as did Terukuni and Bishuyama, a rare example of three wrestlers from the same stable all missing a tournament. Over his long career he defeated yokozuna seven times, with two wins against Haguroyama, three against Kagamisato, one against Tochinishiki and one against Chiyonoyama. (He had another win over Chiyonoyama by default, which did not count as a kinboshi.) He spent just one tournament in the titled sanyaku ranks, at komusubi in September 1950, where he scored 7–8. He won the prestigious ginosho, or Technique Prize on three occasions, the final time coming in November 1958 at the age of thirty eight years and nine months. This made him the oldest winner of a sansho until Kyokutenho surpassed him in November 2014. He also won one Fighting Spirit prize, or kantosho, for his second runner-up performance.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Just one tournament after his final Technique prize, Wakasegawa withdrew on the second day of the January 1959 tournament with an ankle injury and announced his retirement after it ended. He became an elder of the Japan Sumo Association under the name Asakayama. He worked under his former stablemate Terukuni, who had run Araiso stable since his own retirement in 1953, renamed Isegahama stable from 1961. After Terukuni's death in 1977 he worked under the former ozeki Kiyokuni. He reached the mandatory retirement age in 1985 and left the Sumo Association. He also worked as a sumo commentator for NHK.

### **Death**

He died on September 3, 1993, at a hospital in Sumida, Tokyo, due to pancreatic cancer. He was 73 years old.

## **Fighting Style**

Wakasegawa was a yotsu-sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques which involved grabbing the opponent's mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite was yorikiri, a straightforward force out. However he was also fond of sotogake, the outer leg trip, winning almost 15 percent of his top division matches this way.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 414-434-19/845 (68 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 352-395-19/744 (54 basho)
* **Juryo:** 25-20/45 (3 basho)
* **Makushita:** 18-5/23 (3 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 6-8/14 (2 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 9-4/13 (2 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 4-2/6 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 1940)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Technique Prize (3), Fighting Spirit Prize (1)
* **Kinboshi:** 7: (3) Kagamisato, (2) Haguroyama, (1) Chiyonoyama, (1) Tochinishiki

## **Shikona History**

* Wakasegawa Tadao (1935.01 - 1940.01)
* Wakasegawa Taiji (1940.05 - 1959.01)

## **Sources**

* Wakasegawa Taiji Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Wakasegawa Taiji Rikishi Information