Tatsunami stable
History. The stable is one of the most prestigious in sumo. It was founded in 1876 by Onigazaki, but the current incarnation dates from 1915. In the 1930s, led by former "komusubi" Midorishima (1878-1952), the stable produced the 35th "yokozuna" Futabayama, the 36th "yokozuna" Haguroyama and "ōzeki" Nayoroiwa, and ended the Dewanoumi stable's long period of dominance in sumo. Futabayama left to found his own stable in 1941. After Haguroyama married the previous stablemaster's daughter, he became the new head in December 1952 while still an active "yokozuna". Haguroyama produced several strong wrestlers, including "ōzeki  Wakahaguro and sekiwake" Annenyama. Annenyama in turn married Haguroyama's daughter and succeeded to the leadership of the stable upon his father-in-law's death in 1969. Annenyama produced Asahikuni, an "ōzeki" in the 1970s, and "sekiwake" Kurohimeyama. Asahikuni retired in 1979 and left to found Ōshima stable in 1980, despite his stablemaster's opposition to the move. By the early 1980s the strength of the stable had declined and it was without any "sekitori" until Kitao was promoted to "jūryō" in 1984. Kitao became the 60th "yokozuna" Futahaguro in 1986, the first grand champion the Tatsunami "ichimon" had  produced in decades, but at the end of 1987 Anneneyama and Futahaguro had a row which ended with the "yokozuna" kicking the elderly chairman of the stable's supporter group and pushing his stablemaster's wife as he stormed out. Futahaguro was forced to leave the Sumo Association as a result. In the early 1990s the stable produced top division wrestlers such as "komusubi" Daishōhō and "maegashira" Daishōyama, both amateur champions from Nihon University. Asahiyutaka of Ōshima stable married Annenyama's daughter in 1995 and became the new head of Tatusnami when Annenyama reached the mandatory retirement age of 65  in 1999. However the two had a falling out and after Asahiyutaka was divorced, Annenyama sued him for 175 million yen as Asahiyutaka had obtained the Tatsunami elder name for free instead of having to pay the market value, although the award was reversed. Annenyama also attempted to evict Asahiyutaka from the stable premises. In April 2011, the stable's last "sekitori" at that point, the Mongolian wrestler Mōkonami, was forced to retire after being found guilty of match-fixing. Tatsunami stayed five and a half years without any wrestlers in the top two professional divisions, before Meisei was finally  promoted to "jūryō" after the September 2016 tournament. Meisei made the top division in July 2018. Another notable member is Hanakaze, who holds the distinction of having the longest career in the centuries long history of sumo, a career that began in 1986, one year before his current stablemaster. The stable's success was reflected in its postwar status as the leading stable in its "ichimon" or group of stables, which was called Tatsunami-Isegahama "ichimon" until 2006, when it became simply Tatsunami "ichimon" (reflecting the decline of the old Isegahama stable under former "ōzeki" Kiyokuni's leadership). However, in  2012, due to the head coach voting against the "ichimon"'s will in the Sumo Association's board elections, Tatsunami stable moved to the Takanohana "ichimon." Tatsunami "Ichimon" then renamed itself Isegahama "Ichimon" in January 2013. Tatsunami stable went independent in 2018, but after the Sumo Association indicated that stables must belong to an "ichimon", it aligned itself with the Dewanoumi group. The stable's foreign recruit is Hōshōryū, the Mongolian nephew of former "yokozuna" Asashōryū, who joined the stable in November 2017 and made his first tournament appearance in January 2018. He became a "sekitori" in November 2019 and  reached the top division in September 2020. The following tournament Akua became the fifth member of Tatsunami stable to reach the top division under the present stablemaster, following Ōhinode, Mōkonami, Meisei and Hoshōryu. In July 2021 Meisei became the first Tatsunami stable wrestler to reach the "komusubi" rank since Tomonohana in 1994 and for the September 2021 tournament he became its first "sekiwake" since Kitao in 1985. People. Ring name conventions. Many wrestlers at this stable have taken ring names or "shikona" that end with the character 浪 (read: nami), which is the last character of the elder name associated  with ownership of the stable. Examples include Kokuryūnami and Taranami. Location and access. Ibaraki prefecture, Tsukuba-mirai City, Tōkōdai Koiwa 4-3-4 5 minute walk from Miraidaira Station on the Tsukuba Express