Wakatakakage Atsushi

Wakatakakage Atsushi - 若隆景 渥 (born December 6, 1994) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Fukushima City, Fukushima. He made his debut in March 2017 and currently wrestles for Arashio stable. He reached the makuuchi division in November 2019 and has four special prizes and one top division championship. His highest rank as of 2023 is sekiwake.

## **Early Life**

Onami began sumo wrestling during his first grade at Yoshiida Elementary School. He also participated in judo during his elementary school days. He did not leave an impressive track record in junior high school and even though he participated in national competitions, he could not get past the first round. He had to evacuate Fukushima due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and he lodged at the Arashio stable for where his older brother, Wakatakamoto, was already a wrestler. He stayed in the stable for around a month.

In his third year of high school, he won the All Japan Sumo Championship under 100 kg weight category and he won the whole World Junior Sumo Championship. At the time of gradation, he was ranked second nationally in his lightweight class. Unlike his older brothers, Onami decided to enter collegiate-level sumo, instead of professional sumo right out of high school graduation.

He enrolled at the Toyo University's Department of Law. In his fourth year, he became co-captain of his school's sumo team. Originally, Onami was unsure on whether he wanted to join professional sumo or become a businessman. He realized that qualifying for the newly created sandanme tsukedashi would be his best option for joining professional sumo. After a series of good performances in collegiate-level tournaments, he was able to obtain sandanme tsukedashi status.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

Onami joined Arashio stable since it was already home to his two elder siblings. He made his debut in March 2017 under the shikona Wakatakakage and produced a 5-2 record in his first tournament. In the following tournament he won all seven matches and took the sandanme yusho. As a result he was promoted to makushita in July 2017 and he posted a perfect 6-1 record in his makushita debut. In January 2018, he won all seven matches and claimed the makushita yusho. As a result, he was promoted to the top of makushita, where he produced a 4-3 record.

### **Juryo Career**

He made his juryo debut in May 2018, the second to do from Arashio stable after Sokokurai in 2010 and the first from Fukushima Prefecture since Sotairyu in 2009. He rose slowly up the juryo division, winning promotion to the top makuuchi division after a 9–6 record at juryo 3 in September 2019. Despite a poor 2–6 start to that tournament he won his final seven matches (including wins over top division veterans such as Toyonoshima and Kaisei) to secure his promotion. He was the third sandanme tsukedashi entrant to reach the top division after Yutakayama and Asanoyama.

### **Makuuchi Career**

Wakatakakage won his first four bouts in his top division debut in November 2019, but dislocated a joint in his right foot after landing awkwardly during his fourth day win over Terutsuyoshi and had to withdraw from the rest of the tournament. Back in juryo he put together two consecutive winning records of 9–6 and 10–5 upon his return from injury to earn promotion back the top division for the (subsequently cancelled) May 2020 tournament at his highest rank to date of maegashira 14. In July 2020 he completed his first full tournament in makuuchi, posting a respectable 10 wins. In September he was on the leaderboard for much of the tournament, although he picked up his fourth loss to Mitakeumi on Day 14 and finished in a share of third place on 11–4.

On 31 December 2020 – 10 days before the start of the January 2021 basho - it was announced by the Sumo Association that Wakatakakage tested positive for COVID-19. The entire Arashio stable – along with the Miyagino, Tomozuna and Kokonoe stables – sat out the tournament. He returned in March and produced a 10–5 record, defeating two ozeki and receiving the Technique Prize. He earned his second Technique Prize in May 2021 with a 9–6 record and was promoted to the san'yaku ranks for the first time as komusubi. He was the first from Arashio stable to reach the komusubi rank since its founding in 2002.

After consecutive winning records at the top maegashira rank in November 2021 and January 2022, Wakatakakage was promoted to a career-best rank of sekiwake for the March 2022 tournament. He followed up this sekiwake debut by winning his first makuuchi tournament after producing a 12-3 record and defeating co-leader Takayasu in a playoff, along with receiving his third Technique prize. This marked the first time in 86 years that a newly promoted sekiwake won the championship (after Futabayama in 1936), as well as the first time in 50 years that a wrestler from Fukushima Prefecture won the championship (after Tochiazuma in January 1972). Wakatakakage failed to defeat ozeki Shodai in the final regulation match (thus missing out on the Outstanding Performance Prize that he would have received with a 13–2 record), but was guaranteed at least a playoff as Takayasu had lost his own match to Abi earlier in the day.

Wakatakakage followed up his tournament win with a 9–6 record in the May 2022 tournament. Maintaining his sekiwake rank in July, Wakatakakage recovered from losing his first three matches in September to produce an 11–4 record. He received his fourth Technique Prize on the final day. He achieved an 8–7 record in the November tournament to close out the year.

In the January 2023 tournament Wakatakakage earned a 9–6 record. He withdrew towards the end of the March 2023 basho after injuring his right ACL and meniscus in his win over Kotonowaka on Day 13. The following month stablemaster Arashio (former maegashira Sokokurai) announced that Wakatakakage would be sidelined for up to one year after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery. After his operation, Wakatakage resumed training at the end of August 2023, notably facing sandanme stablemates. When withdrawing from the September tournament, his medical certificate with the Sumo Association indicated he would need "approximately one month of treatment and outpatient rehabilitation."

In preparation for the November 2023 tournament, Wakatakakage was demoted to the makushita division, where he was ranked sixth. No longer a sekitori, observers noted that he now wore the black mawashi of the lower-ranked wrestlers during his trainings. Noting his training sessions without knee braces, Sports Hochi speculated about a possible return to competition for the Kyushu tournament that same month, something that Wakatakakage's master, Arashio, had already hinted at at the beginning of October. Wakatakakage's return at the November tournament was confirmed when his name was listed among the makushita matches for the first day. He began his comeback with a defeat but bounced back to finish the tournament with a score of 5–2.

## **Personal Life**

* Wakatakakage married a caregiver in May 2018. They share a daughter who was born in January 2019.
* In college, Wakatakakage was well balanced with his academics and his sumo.
* Wakatakakage's hobby is watching movies.

### **Family**

The three Onami brothers are the grandchildren of former komusubi Wakabayama. They were given their shikona or sumo names by Arashio stable's head coach Oyutaka, after the three sons of Mori Motonari in the well-known Japanese parable "Lesson of the three arrows" – Takamoto, Motoharu, and Takakage. The eldest brother, Wakatakamoto, has a highest rank of makushita 7 and has been in sumo the longest, debuting in November 2009. Wakatakakage and Wakamotoharu are the 19th pair of brothers in sumo to both reach sekitori level. Wakamotoharu is the second eldest and entered in November 2011, but did not make his juryo debut until after Wakatakakage, in March 2019. On the March 2022 banzuke Wakatakakage reached his highest rank to date, sekiwake. Wakatakakage, the youngest brother, has had by far the quickest rise up the rankings of the three.

## **Fighting Style**

According to his Japan Sumo Association profile Wakatakakage prefers a migi-yotsu (right hand inside, left hand outside) grip on his opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite are oshidashi (push out), yorikiri (force out) and okuridashi (push out from behind). He is below the average weight for a sekitori at 124 kilograms (273 lb) and makes use of his speed and agility.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 277-188-71/463 (40 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 146-98-56/242 (20 basho)
* **Juryo:** 90-75-15/165 (12 basho)
* **Makushita:** 29-13/42 (6 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 12-2/14 (2 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makuuchi** Championship (March 2022)
* 1 **Makushita** Championship (January 2018)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (May 2017)

### **Achievements**

* **Special Prizes:** Technique Prize (4)

## **Gallery**

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

Wakatakakage Atsushi - 2023 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakatakakage Atsushi - 2022 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakatakakage Atsushi - 2019 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakatakakage Atsushi - 2018 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakatakakage Atsushi - 2018 (Retrieved from the JSA)Wakatakakage's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Wakatakakage gets recruited into Arashio stable (c. 2017)Wakatakakage gets measured upon joining professional sumo (c. 2017)Wakatakakage wins the Makushita Yusho (c. 2018)Wakatakakage throws Enho to ensure promotion to Juryo (c, 2018)Wakatakakage after promotion to Juryo (c. 2018)Wakatakakage presented with his kesho-mawashi (c. 2018)Wakatakakage defeats Hakuyozan (c. 2018)Wakatakakage after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 2019)Wakatakakage with his brothers (c. 2019)Wakatakakage pushes out Tokushoryu (c. 2019)Wakatakakage defeats former Ozeki Takayasu (c. 2020)Wakatakakage with his first of many sansho (c. 2021)Wakatakakage after promotion to Komusubi (c. 2021)Wakatakakage defeats Ozeki Shodai (c. 2021)Wakatakakage defeats Meisei (c. 2022)Wakatakakage after promotion to Sekiwake (c. 2022)Wakatakakage defeats Takayasu to win his first Yusho (c. 2022)Wakatakakage wins his first Yusho (c. 2022)Wakatakakage poses with the Emperor's cup (c. 2022)Wakatakakage presented with his Yusho portrait (c. 2022)Wakatakakage prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2023)Wakatakakage defeats Meisei (c. 2023)Wakatakakage injures his knee against Kotonowaka (c. 2023)Wakatakakage after falling down to Makushita (c. 2023)
## **Sources**

* Wakatakakage Atsushi Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Wakatakakage Atsushi Rikishi Information